Twisted terror preacher Anjem Choudary will spread his hate in jail and turn hordes of lags into radicals
Fears from terror experts over Britain’s most prolific jihadi recruiter
TWISTED terror preacher Anjem Choudary will spread his hate in jail and turn hordes of lags into radicals, it is feared.
Experts say the militant recruiter, who faces ten years in prison, is “just as dangerous inside as he is outside”.
Authorities are said to be desperate to prevent him from brainwashing impressionable inmates.
Britain’s most prolific jihadi recruiter is currently on remand but will likely be held at Belmarsh maximum security prison in south east London.
The notoriously tough prison is already home to a large number of convicted terrorists and has previously been described as a “jihadi training camp”.
Security expert professor Anthony Glees, from Buckingham University, said: “He’s just as dangerous inside prison as he is outside prison, because he will have access to other prisoners unless he’s in solitary confinement.”
Father-of-five Choudary, 49, can only be held in solitary with the permission of the Justice Secretary, thanks to human rights laws.
Professor Glees added: “He’s an extremely dangerous man. Virtually everybody who has gone off to fight for IS, as a killer for them - he is associated with between 300-600 of them, we believe.
“They are out there as a direct result of his brainwashing.
“He’s a man associated with incitement to murder, he’s as dangerous inside prison because he will incite others to murder.”
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Experts also fear if the bearded cleric he gets hold of internet access, he will wear his jail time as a badge of honour - becoming a martyr to militants on the outside.
Professor Glees said: “So it will beg the question, is the right thing to do to lock him up for a long time, or should his rapid departure to the so-called Islamic State be arranged?
“He thinks it’s such a wonderful place, why not send him there?
“We have a duty of care to those vulnerable youngsters who have travelled to Syria, but in his case, why keep him in a UK prison at the taxpayers’ expense? He’s cost us enough.
“Daesh could have the pleasure of him.
“He’s far more dangerous here in our free United Kingdom than he would be with Daesh.”
Staff shortages are making it harder to tackle Islamic radicalisation in England’s prisons, the former head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office warned earlier this year.
Cops have searched a number of addresses in east London associated with Akhtar – who married Choudary in 1996 – after she was recorded by an undercover reporter for Channel 4's Dispatches praising the birth of ISIS as a true Islamic caliphate.
A Met Police spokesman said: “We are aware of the documentary. The Met’s Counter-terrorism Command executed search warrants at addresses in east London in relation to these inquiries. There have been no arrests. Inquiries are ongoing.”
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