Islamic Preacher Anjem Choudary Charged in U.K. With Inviting Support of Terror
Choudary has denied supporting violence and says he hasn’t broken any laws
Anjem Choudary speaks after prayers at the Central London Mosque on April 3. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON—British prosecutors charged one of the country’s most controversial Islamic preachers with supporting terrorism for comments published online allegedly praising Islamic State.
Anjem Choudary, a 48-year-old British-trained lawyer, pleaded not guilty in the opening court hearing Wednesday afternoon and expressed confidence that his actions didn’t break any laws.
Mr. Choudary, a mainstay on British airwaves and other media channels, holds some religious views similar to those of radical Islamic terror groups, yet he repeatedly has said he doesn’t support violence. He also boasts an exhaustive knowledge of the minutiae of British legal codes, a fact he mentioned in court.
The judge denied his motion for bail in the brief hearing in which prosecutors filed one charge of breaching the nation’s terrorism law against Mr. Choudary and one charge against another of his supporters, who also pleaded not guilty and who was also denied bail.
Britain’s chief prosecutor in charge of terrorism crimes said Wednesday that a lengthy investigation had resulted in enough evidence to secure a conviction under the Terrorism Act of 2000 for Mr. Choudary and Mohammed Rahman.
“It is alleged that Anjem Choudary and Mohammed Rahman invited support for ISIS in individual lectures which were subsequently published online,” said a statement from prosecutor Sue Hemming, using an alternate name for Islamic State. “Criminal proceedings have now commenced.”
Prosecutors say that the men voiced support for Islamic State between June 29, 2014 and March 6, 2015. The statement announcing the charge didn’t give further details. Mr. Choudary was arrested last September, accused of being a member of Islamic State. The prosecutors didn’t charge him with that offense.
A devotee of social media, Mr. Choudary regularly tweets and moderates online discussions about religious topics such as the creation of an Islamic caliphate and the primacy of Shariah law over Western legal codes.
At the time of Mr. Choudary’s arrest, police also detained eight other men—including Mr. Rahman—who were affiliated with the preacher and a religious group that he founded. It wasn’t immediately clear what the legal status was of the seven other men.
Mr. Rahman also pleaded not guilty and was denied bail.
The charge against Mr. Choudary follows years of frustration among British security services about how to deal with fundamentalist Islamic leaders who have used the country’s strong laws supporting freedom of speech and religion as a platform to espouse controversial views.
Mr. Choudary supports the fundamentalist strain of Islamic teaching known as Salafism and believes that Muslims can only attain a state of purity by living in a nation that is based on religious law, known as Shariah.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Britain offered asylum to several Islamic preachers who ran afoul of their home governments for the position that it was part of a Muslim’s religious duty to overthrow unjust leaders. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and the advent of the war on terror, British politicians have found it difficult to balance the men’s fundamentalist views and the nation’s legal rights of liberty.
Mr. Choudary has courted controversy in recent years by protesting against British soldiers who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and for his association with several British citizens who were later convicted on terrorism charges. They include Michael Adebolajo, one of the convicted killers of Lee Rigby, a British soldier who was attacked on the streets of London in 2013.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal that year, Mr. Choudary said he knew Mr. Adebolajo under his nickname Mujahid. But he said he had no inkling that Mr. Adebolajo, who he said had converted in 2003 and wasn’t a member of his group, would carry out a terrorist attack.
A report published last year by a British antiracism activist organization concluded that at least 70 British Muslims who have been convicted of terrorist crimes in the U.K. or committed suicide attacks abroad had links to Mr. Choudary or the group he founded called Muhajiroun. The government banned the group in 2010.
In 2006, a law came into effect that made it illegal to praise, celebrate or glorify terrorism. The law also made it illegal to disseminate terrorist publications and was part of an effort to restrict who can preach to British congregations.
Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to introduce beefed-up legislation later this year that the government says will help security services monitor people online who are trying to radicalize British citizens.
Write to Margaret Coker at margaret.coker@wsj.com and Jenny Gross atjenny.gross@wsj.com
