Terror officer ‘did not know videos were available online’

A POLICE officer yesterday told a terrorism trial he did not know that videos and documents seized f r om a hard drive found in a student’s flat were all freely available on the internet.

Detective Constable Mark White, a member of the counter terrorism team based in Aberdeen, was giving evidence for a third day in the trial of Yousif Badri, 29, who denies three terrorism charges.

The medical student’s flat in Ashgrove Road, Aberdeen, was searched by a police team on June 6, 2013.

The jury at the High Court in Glasgow has seen videos from a hard- drive found in a bedroom, including footage of military vehicles being blown up and soldiers shot. They have also been shown documents, including an Al Qaeda training manual.

Defence QC Murdo Macleod asked Mr White if he knew that the videos and documents ‘were all freely available on the internet’. The officer replied that he did not know this. Asked if he had viewed all the videos and documents from beginning to end, he replied: ‘No.’

Mr Macleod asked: ‘Were you given information about Islamic culture and faith?’ Mr White said: ‘ No.’ The court was told that although much of the content of the documents was in Arabic, police did not get all of this translated.

The QC asked Mr White: ‘Do you agree that in the videos and documents there is a lot of reference to religion and politics?’ He replied: ‘Yes’. The QC told the jury that one way to look at the evidence would be to examine Badri’s life and his interests. Mr Macleod asked the officer: ‘Were you aware there were thousands of photographs of Mr Badri with friends and family at holidays in this case?’ Mr White said he was aware of this.

The QC said another way of looking at things would be to see if Badri was planning for the future.

He added: ‘If applications were found in a room, you might conclude that is something they were thinking of?’ Mr White agreed.

Badri faces a number of allegations, including an accusation he was involved in conduct ‘with the intention of committing acts of terrorism’. The offences are said to have been carried out at two places in Aberdeen: Badri’s former flat and at Berryden Retail Park.

Badri’s current address in Halifax, Yorkshire, also features in the alleged offences.

Prosecutors claim that between 2007 and 2013, Badri collected or made a record of information likely to be useful to a person ‘committ i ng or preparing an act of terrorism’.

This allegedly included footage of terror attacks as well as instructions on ‘guerrilla tactics’.

The second charge alleges that Badri ‘with the intention of committing acts of terrorism’ engaged in various actions between 2006 and 2013. Accusations listed in the indictment include a claim he had an ‘equipment list’ for attending a terrorist training camp.

He is also said to have possessed ‘advice for those involved in conducting terrorist attack planning operations’.

The charge further states that he had documents, recordings and files containing ‘extreme ideology’.

The final accusation claims that on April 16 last year Badri posted on Twitter the phrase: ‘ Whoever feels safe from punishment, misbehaves’. This is said to have come from a magazine allegedly linked to Al Qaeda.

Badri denies all the charges against him.

The trial, before judge Lord Turnbull, continues.