Luton extremists guilty of encouraging young children to support Islamic State

Extreme support: Mohammed Istiak Alamgir, second right, and Rajib Khan, back third right, with Islamic militant leader Omar Bakri Muhammed, centre
Metropolitan Police
Chloe Chaplain17 August 2016
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Three men from Luton who encouraged people to support Islamic State have been convicted and condemned for "infecting the young minds of children”.

Mohammed Istiak Alamgir, Yousaf Bashir and Rajib Khan arranged meetings at a local church in Luton during Ramadan last year and gave talks about extremism.

The meetings were attended by up to 80 people, including “very young” children.

The men thought to be supporters of the jihadi terrorist group al-Muhajiroun, were exposed after a police officer went undercover in the group for almost two years.

'Dividing society': Yousaf Bashir gave speeches about Islamic State 
Metropolitan Police

Sue Hemming, CPS Head of Counter Terrorism, said: "These men sought to divide our society with messages of hate and extremism and their desire for a role in conflict and conquest has only ended in a conviction."

Commander Dean Haydon, added: "What this group of people were doing was infecting the young minds of children.

“The biggest concern we had was with children present of a very young age, as people start growing up, particularly in Luton, we need to avoid individuals either travelling to Syria or becoming involved in extremist acts or even terrorist acts.”

Alamgir, 37, was found guilty of three counts of addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organisation, namely IS, or to further its activities.

Extremist alliance: Rajib Khan organised meetings attended by young children

Bashir, 36, was found guilty by a majority of addressing a similar meeting on June 29.

Khan, 38, was convicted of arranging, managing or assisting in arranging a meeting to support IS on July 11, and addressing a similar meeting on July 11. They are all from Luton.

The defendants made no reaction as the verdicts were delivered after eight days of deliberations.

The jury of 10 was unable to reach verdicts on two co-defendants - Mohammed Choudry and Zaiur Rahman - who will face a retrial at the Old Bailey on November 14.

Rahman, 38, from Luton, faces three counts of arranging a meeting to support IS while Choudry, 23, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, is charged with a single count of encouraging support for IS.

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