Hate preacher ‘will poison a generation’
A NOTORIOUS hate preacher due to be released from jail within days is ‘more dangerous than ever’ and will ‘poison the minds’ of a new generation, it was claimed last night.
Anjem Choudary could be freed this week from maximumsecurity Frankland Prison in County Durham after serving less than half of his five-and-ahalf-year sentence.
He was jailed in 2016 for publicly supporting the Islamic State terror group.
A source said: ‘He is still a dangerous individual. He has become more aggressive in his views.’
Keeping Choudary in a safe house after his release will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds.
He is accused of radicalising Khuram Butt, 28, ringleader of the 2017 London Bridge attacks, and Michael Adebolajo, 33, who murdered soldier Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks in May 2013.
Internal monitoring by the Ministry of Justice has deemed that he has not changed his views, and will portray himself as a ‘martyr’ when he leaves jail.
He will be provided with a safe house in a well-to-do suburb of North London, where renting a modest two-bedroom flat can cost £1,300 a month.
Round-the-clock monitoring to ensure that Choudary adheres to bail conditions will add to the expense facing taxpayers, which could exceed £100,000 a year.
The Mail on Sunday has also learned that the preacher has written a book inside prison, recording his experience within an isolation unit, presenting it as an example of how the state oppresses Muslims. A source said: ‘He is writing that he is being oppressed. He believes his human rights are being violated.’
Fiyaz Mughal, founder and director of inter-faith antiextremism group Faith Matters, said: ‘The victimhood narrative is utterly toxic. I would have liked to see Choudary serve his whole sentence and I hope that the conditions placed on him are restrictive enough within the law, to ultimately save other young lives from his poison.’
Choudary, leader of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), is a trained lawyer but has shamelessly claimed state benefits all of his working life, and even nicknamed Jobseeker’s Allowance ‘Jihad Seeker’s Allowance’.
When released, he will be free to travel to his family home in Ilford, East London, to see his wife and three children, but will have to observe a night-time curfew and sleep at his safe house.
He will be banned from visiting certain mosques, including London Central Mosque.
He is also banned from the internet, will be allowed to use only one mobile phone, monitored by the police, and must wear a GPS tag.
Fellow ALM leader Mizanur Rahman, 35, jailed for five years in 2016, will also be released in the coming weeks.