Abu Izzadeen, the radical Muslim cleric who heckled former home secretary John Reid at a public meeting and called for volunteers to fight against British and US troops in Iraq, was yesterday jailed for four-and-a-half years for inciting and funding terrorism.
Izzadeen, a former electrician who converted to Islam at age 17, was one of six defendants convicted over terror offenses this week after a three-month trial.
As the men awaited their sentences, one of the accused, Shah Jalal Hussain, reappeared, 10 days after he absconded while the jury was deliberating at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court, west of London.
Hussain, who had failed to arrive at court on Tuesday, handed himself in yesterday morning. He was sentenced to two years for his part in the fundraising charge and three months — to be served consecutively — for breaking his bail conditions.
Another of the accused, Simon Keeler, a British-born Muslim convert, received a four-and-a-half-year sentence. The father of five had worked as a builder before his arrest. Both Keeler and Izzadeen were also given a two-and-a-half-year sentence for funding terrorism, to be served concurrently.
Judge Nicolas Price told the defendants that, while freedom of speech was a central tenet of democracy, they had “abused” those rights.
Referring to Izzadeen, he said: “I am left in no doubt that your speeches were used by you as self-aggrandizement and not as an expression of sincerely held religious views ... You are arrogant, contemptuous and utterly devoid of any sign of remorse.”
Of Keeler, the judge said: “You are someone with extremist and dangerous views. Not only the words themselves, but the tone in which they were issued, showed the depth of your fanatical zeal.”
Bethan David, the Crown Prosecution Service’s counterterrorism division reviewing lawyer, said: “It is not an offense to have negative views about Britain and its values and culture, but it is an offense to encourage acts of violence. This case was not about attacking free speech. It was about upholding the law.”
Izzadeen, who was born in Britain and named Trevor Brooks by his Christian parents, was one of the “leading lights” in the terrorism enterprise, along with Keeler, the judge said.
On Nov. 9, 2004, Izzadeen and his co-defendants made a series of extremist speeches at the Regent’s Park mosque in London, calling for volunteers to fight against British and US troops in Iraq and to donate money to fund terrorism.
The men had gone to the mosque to observe Ramadan, the court was told, but their speeches had become more inflammatory as the day wore on.
In one speech, Izzadeen said soldiers of the Black Watch would be raping women and killing children as they helped the US.
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