Choudary will be free by end of next year
THE jailed Islamist extremist accused of grooming the London Bridge terrorists will be out of prison by the end of next year, presenting a massive headache to the security services.
Anjem Choudary will be released from Belmarsh prison in December 2018 – and no later than January 2019 – at a time when intelligence agencies are facing an unprecedented threat.
Choudary, 50, was jailed for five and half years for terrorism offences last September but will be freed after serving less than half his sentence.
He will be released on licence halfway through his jail term with a further 140 days – almost five months – knocked off for time spent on remand awaiting trial and sentencing.
Choudary ran al-muhajiroun, an extremist group banned after the 7/7 bombings in London in 2005. Al-muhajiroun and its other incarnations have been linked to a quarter of all Islamist terrorist attacks and offences committed in the UK.
Khuram Butt, 27, the ringleader of the London Bridge attacks, was a member and appeared in a Channel 4 documentary that followed al-muhajiroun disciples, including posing in front of the black flag of Isil.
The two other terrorists, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba, are also thought to have been linked to the group through Butt. Hannah Stuart, author of Islamist Terrorism, a definitive analysis of UK attacks and offences, said: “Choudary’s release is going to be a massive headache. When Theresa May talks about longer sentences for terrorists, she will have had in mind extremists like Choudary who are accused of such offences as disseminating terrorist material and glorifying terrorism.”
Ms Stuart, co-head of the security and extremism unit at the Policy Exchange, added: “When he is let out he will have to be carefully monitored. He will pose major problems.”
Choudary, who has spent two decades radicalising would-be terrorists, was convicted after swearing an oath of allegiance to Isil. There have been questions over why it took so long to bring a successful prosecution against Choudary. One analysis suggested he had links to 15 terror plots since 2000.