Anjem Choudary

British citizen Anjem Choudary is an internationally designated Islamist cleric and convicted ISIS supporter. He is the co-founder of the banned al-Muhajiroun network, which the British government accuses of fomenting support for ISIS. Andrew Anthony, “Anjem Choudary: the British extremist who backs the caliphate,” Guardian (London), September 6, 2014, .× For years before his 2014 arrest, Choudary’s Islamist speeches, anti-Western rhetoric, and declared support for foreign Islamist movements such as ISIS drew the attention of British authorities, who connected Choudary to multiple terrorist-related cases in the United Kingdom and Europe. Choudary was convicted in July 2016 of inviting support for ISIS. Jamie Grierson and Shiv Malik, “Preacher Anjem Choudary charged with encouraging support for Islamic State,” Guardian (London), August 5, 2015, ; “Anjem Choudary and Mohammed Rahman convicted of inviting support for Daesh,” Crown Prosecution Service, August 16, 2016, ; Alexis Flynn and Jenny Gross, “U.K. Preacher Anjem Choudary Convicted of Inviting Support for Islamic State,” Wall Street Journal , August 16, 2016, .× Choudary returned to social media for a short time, but he was arrested again in July 2023 on multiple terrorism charges related to the continuation of his banned al-Muhajiroun terrorist network. Robert Mendick, “Hate preacher Anjem Choudary arrested on suspicion of terror offence,” Telegraph (London), July 17, 2023, ; “Men arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences,” Metropolitan Police, July 17, 2023, ; “Radical UK Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary charged with three terrorist offences,” Reuters, July 24, 2023, .× On July 30, 2024, he was sentenced to life in prison. Dominici Casciani, “Anjem Choudary jailed for life,” BBC News, July 30, 2024, .× Choudary is the son of Pakistani immigrants and grew up in a secular home in London. As Choudary became more religious in the 1990s, he met Islamist cleric Omar Bakri Muhammad at a mosque in Woolrich, England. Robert Mendick, “Hate preacher Anjem Choudary to be freed from jail despite remaining ‘genuinely dangerous,’” Telegraph (London), September 11, 2018, .× Bakri Muhammad and Choudary founded al-Muhajiroun in 1996 after Bakri Muhammad was expelled from the international Islamist network Hizb ut-Tahrir . Al-Muhajiroun was modeled on a similar organization Bakri Muhammad created in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s. Robert Mendick, “Hate preacher Anjem Choudary to be freed from jail despite remaining ‘genuinely dangerous,’” Telegraph (London), September 11, 2018, ; Richard Watson, “Has al-Muhajiroun been underestimated?” BBC News, June 27, 2017, .× Choudary and al-Muhajiroun have been linked to several notable extremists, and the group openly praised the 9/11 attacks. Andrew Anthony, “Anjem Choudary: the British extremist who backs the caliphate,” Guardian (London), September 6, 2014, .× U.K. officials have noted that Choudary is a “deeply pernicious, destabilising influence.” Robert Mendick, “Hate preacher Anjem Choudary to be freed from jail despite remaining ‘genuinely dangerous,’” Telegraph (London), September 11, 2018, .× Among others, Choudary is believed to have influenced al-Muhajiroun members Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale , who in 2013 beheaded British soldier Fusilier Lee Rigby in southeast London. Chris Greenwood, Neil Sears, and Sian Boyle, “Muslim firebrand is arrested as police hold nine rabble-rousers,” Daily Mail (London), September 25, 2014, .× Choudary also reportedly radicalized Abdul Latheef Mohamed Jameel, one of the nine suicide bombers who blew himself up in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019, killing more than 250 people during the Easter Sunday attacks. Jameel reportedly attended Choudary’s lectures and met with the propagandist while studying in London. Anbarasan Ethirajan, “Sri Lanka attacks: The family networks behind the bombings,” BBC News, May 11, 2019, ; Alasdair Pal and Shihar Aneez, “The Western-educated bomber who botched Sri Lanka hotel a