Anjem Choudary's Conviction Ends Years Of Police Cat And Mouse

Anjem Choudary and his followers had played cat and mouse with the police for 20 years before they finally overstepped the line.

Now, Choudary and his co-accused, Mizanur Rahman, 32, face a decade in jail after being found unanimously guilty of inviting support for a terrorist organisation.

During the trial, the jury were shown pictures of Choudary and Rahman at a demonstration outside the Lebanese embassy in central London in April 2014, before the so-called Islamic State group was proscribed.

Some of the crowd were holding placards which had writing at the bottom which said: "Islamic State Is Solution" with the first letter of each word underlined to make ISIS.

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In court, Choudary denied wiping incriminating material from his computer using a programme called CCleaner and said his devices were always running slowly.

"I'm plagued by computers that always slow down. I don't know what the kids do, there are always lots of pop-ups and viruses," he said.

Statements from Rahman in November 2013, under the Twitter name @AbuBaraaUK said: "Re-establishing the Khilafah (Caliphate) is a compulsory duty on all Muslims."

Another, on Facebook, said: "If anyone says martyrdom operations are not allowed ... do not take ilm (religious advice) from him."

On 10 June 2014, Rahman wrote on Facebook: "It is time for the Western world to recognise ISIS as a state and agree terms of withdrawal of Western forces from their land."

But when media reports began to circulate that IS was due to be proscribed by the Government, Rahman boasted: "There is always cat and mouse going on with the media and the police.

"We know the law very well and know how to speak the truth while staying on the safe side of the line, without compromising the deen (religion). (Much to the frustration of the police and government)."

IS announced it had revived the ancient Caliphate later that month on 29 June, causing an instant outpouring of emotion from Choudary's followers.

Siddhartha Dhar pushed Choudary for a response, messaging: "Sheikh, ur words would be gold on Twitter. A lot of Muslims saying all sorts."

On 1 July, Choudary's wife, Rubana Akhtar, also known as Umm Luqman told him: "It's haram (forbidden) to spend more than three nights without giving bayah (swearing allegiance) once it has been announced."

The next evening, Choudary tweeted: "May Allah (SWT) grant success to the Khalifah & aid the Muslims in Dur ul Islam (land of the Muslims) to fulfil the important role that Allah has bestowed on them!!"

"Anyone who read that would think I believed the criteria were there," Choudary admitted in court.

From September 2014 Choudary released a series of speeches he called the "Road to Jannah (Paradise)" in which he laid out all the theological conditions for a legitimate Caliphate and then explained how IS met them.

Many scholars regarded the self-declared state as illegitimate but Choudary warned his followers that anyone who died without swearing allegiance to a Caliph died the death of "jehelia" - ignorance of Islam - and that "obedience to the Caliph is an obligation".

"Obviously we only fight behind the leader of the state and therefore this is a request to establish him as well," Choudary told the audience.

At a time when the IS executioner known as Jihadi John had recently beheaded two American hostages and posted the videos online, Choudary quoted a saying of the Prophet: "Whoever comes to dispute with him, strike his neck."

He went on: "From this narration we can see that it is an obligation to have a Calipha. Obliged to obey him and, as well, that there can only be one Calipha and we must fight those who differ with him."

Choudary referred to IS propaganda videos, and particularly to cutting off the hands of thieves, stoning adulterers and executing apostates, before adding: "We can see that in relation to all of the different areas the sharia is being implemented.

"Everyone feels very secure and you can see in fact that the food is being handed out and the provisions are being handed out for those people who don't have it," he added.

Choudary admitted he liked to "bait" the media, adding: "There is the message and the messenger. People won't listen unless they know who you are.

"If you talk about controversial topics, the media will all come to you and I use that as a vehicle for wider analysis of the social system and other matters."

Choudary's approach to TV interviews was revealed in an exchange the day after the execution of American journalist James Foley by the British IS member Mohammed Emwazi - dubbed Jihadi John.

Dhar, who went on to replace Emwazi, told Choudary the BBC World Service wanted to interview him.

"Fantastic opportunity, I'd definitely do it if I were you," Choudary said.

"How should I respond if they ask me regarding that journalist who got executed?" Dhar queried.

"Say that his words made sense, Obama should listen to them, whatever you may think of the beheading," Choudary advised.

Then he added: "That's why live is so good" adding a large yellow smiley face.