Man shared ‘terror’ song, court hears

A CARDIFF man has gone on trial accused of sharing a terrorist song entitled Virgins Of Paradise.

Zakaria Afey, 20, from St Mellons, allegedly disseminated the nasheed poem on January 12, 2017.

He is also accused of having the terrorist manual How To Survive In The West on May 15, 2017.

Opening his trial, prosecutor Michael Bisgrove said: “This is a case about dissemination and the possession of a terrorist manual.

“It is not bombs or bullets or knives, it’s electronic material, the kind that is used with frightening effect to indoctrinate and train predominantly young men who go on to commit acts that are becoming all too familiar.

“The defendant is charged with two offences, both relate to documents discovered when Mr Afey’s phone was seized and interrogated.

“The majority of the evidence comes directly from his phone handset.”

Mr Bisgrove told jurors the manual allegedly found on the defendant’s phone could be used to train would-be terrorists on “how to commit acts of terror and how to remain undetected while living in the West”.

The prosecutor went on to describe how the defendant’s Samsung Galaxy was seized after a search of his home in October 2017.

Afey confirmed it was his and handed over the password to the handset, asking if the search was related to terrorism, the Old Bailey heard.

He allegedly told officers he was “interested in my religion” and read a lot but did “not support terrorism in any way”.

He expressed concern they might find something but insisted he only wanted to understand all the aspects of his religion.

The defendant denies the charges against him and the trial continues.