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3 months ago
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Islamic hate preacher Anjem Choudary, dubbed Britain's 'number one radicaliser' claimed his terror cell 'doesn't exist' in the UK after being arrested at his east London home.
Choudary, 57, was today sentenced to life with a minimum term of 28 years in jail after being found guilty of directing a terrorist organisation and encouraging support for a proscribed organisation.
New footage released by police reveals how he tried to claim that bugged conversations did not prove that he had kept his organisation - which he helped found in 1996 - running in secret.
Interviewed by police on July 22 last year, Choudary insisted that his lectures to the Islamic Thinkers' Society in New York were nothing to do with the US branch of al-Muhajiroun.
He told officers: 'There is nothing called al-Muhajiroun in Britain at all'.
Anjem Choudary , 57, from Ilford, East London, helped found al-Muhajiroun (ALM) in 1996 and spent nearly 30 years running their operations under dozens of different names
Khalid Hussein, 29, a member of the Islamic Thinkers Society living in Edmonton, Canada, who idolised Choudary, helped him run an online magazine called al-Aseer [the prisoners]
But a jury convicted him of heading up the terrorist organisation after a series of damning evidence from bugged phone calls, messages and voice notes.
Members of al-Muhajiroun, which has operated under around 30 different names, have been linked to at least 16 different terrorist plots and senior members travelled to Syria, where Siddhartha Dhar and Reza Haque, joined an ISIS execution squad.
He celebrated the 9/11 attacks as a 'towering day in history' and Omar Bakri Muhammad, the group's leader, labelled the 7/7 attackers the 'fantastic four' before he fled the UK in August 2005, claiming he had shut down the organisation nine months earlier.
Choudary was also an associate of Woolwich killer Michael Adebolajo, London Bridge terrorist Khuram Butt and Fishmongers' Hall attacker Usman Khan.
But speaking to officers he claimed that the conversations only referred to his own notoriety and events in the past.
He insisted: 'When I say 'us' or 'we', I am always talking about me, I am talking about my experience, I am talking about people in the UK.
'In no shape or form am I ever addressing them in the use of those pronouns. When I say 'us' or 'we' I am talking about myself.'
He added: 'I want to make it absolutely clear that there is nothing called al-Muhajiroun in Britain at all and the Islamic Thinkers' Society does not exist in Britain at all, as far as I am aware.
'I am not sure of any platform with that name and therefore the Islamic Thinkers Society, from my understanding of reality is purely in America.'
Choudary was arrested at his home in London on July 17 last year, almost five years after his release from prison
When interviewed by police, Choudary claimed his organisation 'doesn't exist' in the UK
Choudary was arrested at his home in East London during a raid by police after Hussein, his associate, flew to the UK
Choudary was released from prison in 2018 after being convicted of encouraging support for Isis, but was banned from accessing the internet until 2021.
Days after his licence conditions expired, he was already giving speeches and discussing the group, as evidenced by recordings made by undercover police officers.
In his first speech, recorded by NYPD undercover officers on June 12 2022, Choudary boasted that 'so many people became shaheed alhamdulillah' [martyrs, praise god].
He said he had been labelled 'the number one radicaliser in Britain,' adding: 'That is a badge of honour for me. It's a medallion on my chest. What do you want to call me? An extremist? Fanatic? All of these.'
In another recording on June 26, Choudary told them: 'You know we always manage to escape prosecution. You know no one has ever been prosecuted in this country for being a member of al-Muhajiroun.'
After his arrest, Choudary was asked about a conversation in which he discussed al-Muhajiroun with his wife at their home in Ilford, East London.
Choudary told police: 'This should be clear as well. There is nothing there in the present tense whatsoever and that supports my contention that I'm not a member of any group.
Police officers in London worked with those in the US before entering Choudary's home to arrest him last July
Police in Britain, the US and Canada had been running separate investigations as they became concerned that Choudary was seeking to recruit a new generation of younger followers (Pictured: Choudary speaking in 2012)
'I'm not supporting any group, I'm not instigating support or directing any group or organisation.
'We're talking, whatever existed, existed in the past, there's absolutely nothing at the moment in any of this.'
The officer pointed out that in the recording Choudary speaks in the present tense, implying his role in the group 'is still ongoing'.
The preacher replied: 'No, no, no, this is talking about the profile, it's clear all of this is talking about the profile over the years.'
Choudary was co-accused alongside Khalid Hussein, 29, a member of the Islamic Thinkers Society living in Edmonton, Canada.
Hussein idolised Choudary, helped him run an online magazine called al-Aseer [the prisoners].
In a voice note sent to Choudary, Hussein said: 'There is a lot of media stigma against al-Muhajiroun so I usually don't advertise it.
'But I've kind of gotten involved in this campaign and I just wanted to let you know, that this is who I am.'
He added: 'Most people don't know I'm part of al-Muhajiroun.'
English (US)