Scottish Daily Mail

Fanatic was barred by mosques ... but welcomed on BBC

- By Rebecca Camber Crime Correspond­ent

British Muslims condemned the BBC last night for giving Anjem Choudary a platform to spread his vile ideology.

Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the corporatio­n had given him a ‘loudspeake­r’ even when he was barred from mosques.

Last night he questioned why in BBC news reports Choudary was still being called an islamic preacher.

he told Channel 4 News: ‘he was a person who was thrown out of mosques across the UK.

‘in reality he didn’t have that much support within Muslim communitie­s but what happened was that in many places in the media were providing him with a loudspeake­r that he wasn’t getting in mosques across the UK.

‘Our organisati­on condemned him over ten years ago. Why was the today programme calling someone like this on to the stage to publicise his hatred and publicise his views?

‘And today we’ve seen the BBC callthe ing him an islamic preacher, and this is someone who is outside the scope of any mainstream Muslim organisati­on or country.’

For 20 years Choudary has revelled in the media spotlight, bragging ‘i have had hundreds of interviews on the BBC, CNN, you name it’. he told supporters the corporatio­n provided a ‘fantastic opportunit­y’.

After his followers Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale slaughtere­d Fusilier Lee rigby he was invited onto BBC2’s Newsnight.

he sparked an outcry after refusing to condemn the May 2013 murder and describing Adebolajo as a ‘man of impeccable character’ in interviews with Newsnight and Channel 4. then home secretary theresa May responded by announcing plans to ban hate preachers from television, saying: ‘Anjem Choudary has disgusting views and i think it is right that we look at how those views are being presented.

‘there were many people who did indeed say, “What is the BBC doing interviewi­ng Anjem Choudary?”.’

But Choudary was then invited to appear on radio 4’s today programme and ranted for 12 minutes. he said he was very proud of Adebolajo as a practising Muslim.

host John humphrys referred to Choudary during the interview as being ‘representa­tive of part of your community’, provoking fury from Muslim communitie­s and a flood of complaints from listeners.

the fiancée of Fusilier rigby, Aimee West, 23, said: ‘i’m all for free speech, but the BBC is wrong to give such a big platform to hate preachers who are brainwashi­ng young people and inciting such acts of horrific violence.’

the Muslim Council of Britain said: ‘Mr Choudary is a selfservin­g publicity seeker and the BBC was unwise to give him so much airtime, unchalleng­ed.’

the corporatio­n remained defiant with a spokesman saying: ‘We have given great considerat­ion to our reporting of the Woolwich murder and the subsequent trial, and carried a wide range of views from across the political and religious spectrums.

‘We believe it is important to reflect the fact that such opinions exist and feel that Choudary’s comments may offer some insight into how this crime came about.’

the watchdog Ofcom later cleared the BBC, and a number of other channels of breaching the broadcasti­ng code over their interviews with Choudary.

During his trial, exchanges between Choudary and his supporters revealed how the preacher relished live tV interviews where his views could not be edited.

he told one follower who had been invited by the BBC to speak the day after the islamic state execution of American journalist James Foley by Jihadi John: ‘Fantastic opportunit­y, i’d definitely do it.’

Maajid Nawaz, of Quilliam, a counter-extremism thinktank, said: ‘We have been tolerating the most intolerabl­e views in the name of multicultu­ralism and free speech. his conviction has come to symbolise the end of that era.

‘there are many caliphates­upporting Muslims in our communitie­s and a whole generation need to get up and start challengin­g those ideas.’

 ??  ?? Platform: Anjem Choudary appearing on Newsnight
Platform: Anjem Choudary appearing on Newsnight

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