Anjem Choudary

IslamPreacherRadicaliserIslamic Extremism

Jul 14

Current status: Arrested on suspicion of terror offense.

**DOB:** 18 January 1967

**Nationality:** UK

**Location:** UK

**Ideology/Affiliation:** Islamist Extremism/Pro-Daesh

**Type of Leader:** Preacher/ Radicaliser

Biography

Anjem Choudary is a British-Pakistani radical Islamist preacher that was sentenced to five years in prison by a British court in 2016 for inviting support for Daesh. Choudary also led the “Muhajiroon” network - an Islamist extremist group that advocated for an extreme interpretation of Islam, and which called for Sharia law in Muslim lands, and eventually, a conflict with Western liberal democracy.

Al Muhajiroon was banned under UK anti-terrorism laws. The UK’s former Metropolitan Police Terror Chief, Richard Walton described Choudary “as someone who has had a huge influence on Islamist extremism in this country”.

Choudary often appeared on television stating that “All Muslims believe that Sharia should be installed as the mode of governance around the world”, and has been criticised numerous times by prominent Muslim intellectuals. He is also responsible for inciting hatred that led to the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby in London by Michael Adebolajo, a follower of Choudary who killed the soldier in May 2013.

Choudary was declared as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. State Department in March 2017, and in October 2018 was added to the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee List of the UN Security Council. Following his five-year imprisonment in 2016, and despite being released on parole in 2018, Choudary was taken to a probation hostel instead of being free to return home. His supervision regime is strict, and is closely monitored by authorities.

Choudary was released in July 2021, with his movements and communications being monitored closely by authorities. His ban on public speaking also ended on July 18, alongside other conditions that were placed on him following his release from jail. This has provided Choudary with an opportunity to continue calling for support to extremist Islamist organisations and terror groups.

In October 2021, Choudary was accused by former friends of Ali Harbi Ali - a lone-wolf Islamist extremist that murdered Conservative MP Sir David Amess, of radicalising Harbi Ali, who went from being a popular pupil to an extremist. Also in October 2021, and despite being banned from social media, Choudary was accused of orchestrating social media campaigns on Twitter and Telegram to free fellow Islamist extremists imprisoned in the UK, and Daesh prisoners held in Syria.

In July 2023, Choudary was detained over allegations he was a member of a banned organisation.

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Evidence of Hate Speech/Incitement:

July 2023: According to police, Anjem Choudary was detained at his Ilford home on suspicion of a terrorism offense. The arrest was made over allegations that he was involved with a banned organisation.

January 2023: Choudary urged jihadis to target British troops in ‘Syria, Iraq and North Africa where many British soldiers are deployed’.

2015: During a live interview, Choudary stated that some Nusayris in Syria who have killed 200,000 Muslims would deserve capital punishment. In the same televised interview, he disputed the interviewer’s comments that Daesh was responsible for killing Yazidis and other minorities, stating rather that “they were implementing Sharia, and as a result, no Muslim that was implementing Sharia would kill innocent people”.

September 2014: In an interview with a journalist from The Guardian, Choudary defended the use of crucifixion by Daesh, and acknowledged Daesh leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as "the caliph of all Muslims and the prince of the believers".