Dad accused of encouraging terrorism
A civil engineering worker posted ISIS videos on his Facebook page in a bid to encourage terrorism, a court has heard.
A jury was told Abdulrahman Alcharbati, who had worked for the firm Capita and for the institute for civil engineering at Newcastle University, made 110 references to martyrdom and the proscribed terrorist organisation on his open social media profile and, in the space of one day last February, posted links to six videos.
The 31-year-old Sunderland man allegedly had a copy of a manual titled Easy Explosives: 4th edition on how to make improvised explosive devices, specifically suicide bomb vests, downloaded onto his mobile phone.
When the married dad, who is from Syria, was arrested at his home in Noble Street, Hendon, Sunderland, last May, he allegedly told officials: “I just posted the news.”
Alcharbati denies six offences of dissemination of a terrorist publication and one of possessing a document containing terrorist information and is being tried by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court .
Prosecutor Dan PawsonPounds told the court: “This is a case about the dissemination, distribution, and possession of terrorist material.
“Not bombs, or bullets or knives but internet links to extremist Islamic videos, encouraging the watcher to commit acts of terrorism, and an electronic copy of a document which gives step-by-step, detailed instructions on how to make improvised explosive devices, IEDs, specifically suicide bomb vests.
“The links to the videos were posted by this defendant onto his Facebook page, open for anyone to view and accessible to anyone who clicked on those links.”
The court heard one of the videos, which lasted two minutes and seven seconds, was in Arabic and showed three men in military uniform being paraded in front of crowds, killed and then tied up and dragged along the road on the back of a motorbike.
The court heard the videos were mostly in Arabic and often featured an ISIS flag.
Alcharbati, who has bipolar disorder, denied having extremist views and claimed he was reporting news and trying to discourage others.
He denies all charges.