Radical British preacher Anjem Choudary has been jailed for five and a half years for encouraging support for the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.
Choudary, 49, was sentenced on Tuesday at London’s Old Bailey court, following a conviction in July for using online lectures and messages to encourage support for Daesh.
Choudary, who was born in London to Pakistani parents, was convicted along with his associate Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, 33.
Choudary told his followers to support Daesh in a series of videos on YouTube.
Police say his followers carried out attacks in Britain and overseas.
The court heard that Choudary and Rahman pledged allegiance to Daesh and used a convicted terrorist to publish their oath on an Indonesian website in 2014, Scotland Yard said.
“We have watched Choudary developing a media career as spokesman for the extremists, saying the most distasteful of comments, but without crossing the criminal threshold,” said Commander Dean…