German soldier in alleged far-right plot faces trial

February 16, 2021 Article

A German court has said that a military officer indicted on allegations that he plotted to kill prominent politicians and blame the attack on refugees will go on trial in May.

The case of the officer, identified only as 1st Lt Franco A in line with German privacy rules, raised concerns about extremism in the country’s military.

The Frankfurt state court said he will go on trial on May 18.

The 32-year-old suspect, who is currently free pending trial, is accused of planning a serious act of violence among other offences.

Prosecutors allege the suspect, whom they have described as a “right-wing nationalist”, managed to pose as a Syrian asylum seeker and planned to carry out his attack under that identity so that refugees would be blamed.

His alleged targets included then-justice minister Heiko Maas and he had stockpiled four firearms including an assault rifle, more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition and more than 50 explosive devices, some stolen from military stores, prosecutors said.

The suspect came to the attention of authorities after he was arrested in February 2017 while going to retrieve a pistol he had stashed in a Vienna airport bathroom.

He was freed, but Austrian authorities informed Germany.

When the soldier’s fingerprint matched the one he had given when he registered as a refugee, it triggered the investigation.

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Categories: Germany, News, refugees, Right wing nationalist

Charity sees third highest annual tally of anti-Semitic abuse despite lockdown

February 11, 2021 Article

Anti-Semitic abuse recorded by a Jewish community charity fell last year but the number of incidents remained its third highest annual total.

The Community Security Trust (CST) said it had recorded 1,668 anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in 2020, down from 1,813 in 2019, but still the third highest total it has ever recorded.

The highest monthly totals were before lockdown in January (188 incidents) and February (140), and when restrictions were eased in June (178) and July (180).

Amid the pandemic and increased use of video calls, 19 events were so-called Zoom-bombed by anti-Semites interrupting the meetings, the CST said.

The events targeted included online synagogue services, memorial prayers for someone who had died, and a Holocaust survivor’s talk.

The incidents involved anti-Semitic comments in the group chat, verbal abuse, as well as anti-Semitic images or usernames.

Amid the pandemic, there were also 41 incidents linked to Covid-19, including conspiracy theories about Jewish involvement in spreading the virus itself or a hoax about the virus, or expressing a desire that Jews would die from the illness.

While the number of physical assaults decreased from 158 in 2019 to 97 in 2020, there were an additional three – two stabbings and an arson attack – classed as extreme violence.

Incidents of online abuse fell from 700 in 2019 to 634 last year. Those recorded included a flurry of abuse sparked by a series of anti-Semitic tweets by rapper Wiley in July.

The CST recorded 23 incidents linked to users who shared his racist views. He has since been banned from a number of social media sites.

It said that the 634 incidents of online abuse were the second highest yearly total, and that 527 of them took place on social media.

They included 389 on Twitter, 66 on Facebook, seven on YouTube and 65 on other social media.

The number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded at people’s homes rose from 118 in 2019 to 158 last year, which the Trust put down to perpetrators lashing out at those in close proximity as frustration built during lockdown.

CST chief executive Mark Gardner said: “CST had hoped that anti-Semitic incidents would fall by more than this during 2020.

“The fact that they didn’t means we must remain even more vigilant for 2021, especially as the economic impact of Covid-19 may cause more extremism and division within society.”

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Categories: Antisemitic abuse, Assaults, Community Security Trust, CST, Figures 2020, Jewish communities, News

Charity sees third highest annual tally of anti-Semitic abuse despite lockdown

February 11, 2021 Article

Anti-Semitic abuse recorded by a Jewish community charity fell last year but the number of incidents remained its third highest annual total.

The Community Security Trust (CST) said it had recorded 1,668 anti-Semitic incidents in the UK in 2020, down from 1,813 in 2019, but still the third highest total it has ever recorded.

The highest monthly totals were before lockdown in January (188 incidents) and February (140), and when restrictions were eased in June (178) and July (180).

Amid the pandemic and increased use of video calls, 19 events were so-called Zoom-bombed by anti-Semites interrupting the meetings, the CST said.

The events targeted included online synagogue services, memorial prayers for someone who had died, and a Holocaust survivor’s talk.

The incidents involved anti-Semitic comments in the group chat, verbal abuse, as well as anti-Semitic images or usernames.

Amid the pandemic, there were also 41 incidents linked to Covid-19, including conspiracy theories about Jewish involvement in spreading the virus itself or a hoax about the virus, or expressing a desire that Jews would die from the illness.

While the number of physical assaults decreased from 158 in 2019 to 97 in 2020, there were an additional three – two stabbings and an arson attack – classed as extreme violence.

Incidents of online abuse fell from 700 in 2019 to 634 last year. Those recorded included a flurry of abuse sparked by a series of anti-Semitic tweets by rapper Wiley in July.

The CST recorded 23 incidents linked to users who shared his racist views. He has since been banned from a number of social media sites.

It said that the 634 incidents of online abuse were the second highest yearly total, and that 527 of them took place on social media.

They included 389 on Twitter, 66 on Facebook, seven on YouTube and 65 on other social media.

The number of anti-Semitic incidents recorded at people’s homes rose from 118 in 2019 to 158 last year, which the Trust put down to perpetrators lashing out at those in close proximity as frustration built during lockdown.

CST chief executive Mark Gardner said: “CST had hoped that anti-Semitic incidents would fall by more than this during 2020.

“The fact that they didn’t means we must remain even more vigilant for 2021, especially as the economic impact of Covid-19 may cause more extremism and division within society.”

The post Charity sees third highest annual tally of anti-Semitic abuse despite lockdown appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: Antisemitic abuse, Assaults, Community Security Trust, CST, Figures 2020, Jewish communities, News

Rapping jihadi bought 18in sword amid terror plot, court told

February 9, 2021 Article

A rapping jihadi bought an 18in sword as he plotted a terror attack in the midst of the pandemic, a court has heard.

Before his arrest on July 9 last year, Sahayb Abu, 27, purchased online two blades, a combat vest, two balaclavas, fingerless gloves and a combat-style hat, the Old Bailey was told.

He is on trial alongside his brother Muhamed Abu, 32, who allegedly knew he was planning an act of terrorism but failed to report it.

Prosecutor John McGuinness QC said the brothers supported the aims of so-called Islamic State (IS) and rapped to each other of their extremist beliefs.

On June 17 last year, Muhamed Abu rapped: “Let’s get merky, let’s get hurty, I’ve got bombs that are just worthy…”

Mr McGuinness said that “merky” was slang for killing or injuring someone.

A minute later, Sahayb Abu rapped: “Got my under armour on, cos I gotta stay strong….

“I’ll be sending bombs and you’ll be getting smoked…and you’re just like an ant and you’ll be getting crushed under my boot…”

On June 28, Sahayb Abu posted a recording of himself singing: “No matter the way the wind blows, I will always be down with my bros, I will always be ready to eliminate the foes…”

Over three months before his arrest, Sahayb Abu allegedly made 110 searches for IS.

Last June, he also searched the internet for embassies, including the US, Russian and Israeli embassies in London, jurors heard.

When interviewed by police, Sahayb Abu denied being a supporter of IS.

He told police he got a smaller knife to fix a kitchen sink and the 18in blade because it “looked cool”.

He had the combat vest, balaclavas, gloves and hat because he parodied rap or drill videos, he said.

Any searches online for IS videos were to find out what had happened to two of his other brothers, who had been reported as having travelled to join IS and were thought to be either dead or missing, he said.

Chat on a Telegram group called Servants of the Unseen was an attempt to show off to women, he said.

Muhamed Abu denied he had any knowledge of a plan to commit a terrorist attack in the UK by his brother Sahayb or anyone else.

He told the police that IS was “a cancer, a tumour that needed to be excised from the face of the earth”.

Mr McGuinness countered the defendants’ claim not to be “anti-British” by telling jurors of an incident three years before.

On October 13 2017, in Ilford, east London, they put up posters of a red poppy headed: “Britain uses your tax money to kill Muslims in Muslim lands!”, the court heard.

Sahayb Abu, of South Norwood, south-east London, denies preparation of terrorist acts.

Muhamed Abu, of Dagenham, east London, denies failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.

Read more: Brothers to face trial over terror plot

The post Rapping jihadi bought 18in sword amid terror plot, court told appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: Embassies, Islamic State, News, Pandemic, Rapping Jihadi, Sahayb Abu, Sword, Terror Attack

UK’s terrorism threat level reduced from ‘severe’ to ‘substantial’

February 8, 2021 Article

The UK’s terrorism threat level has been reduced from “severe” to “substantial” due to a significant reduction in the momentum of attacks in Europe.

Home Secretary Priti Patel told MPs the lowered threat level still meant an attack on the UK remained “likely” and the public should remain vigilant.

The threat level was raised to severe by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) in November following Islamist attacks in Austria and France.

But on Thursday last week the expert analysts reduced the level, Ms Patel told MPs on Monday.

“The decision to lower the threat level from severe to substantial is due to the significant reduction in the momentum of attacks in Europe since those seen between September and November 2020,” the Home Secretary said.

“However, the UK national threat level is kept under constant review and is subject to change at any time.

“Terrorism remains one of the most direct and immediate risks to our national security.

“Substantial continues to indicate a high level of threat; and an attack on the UK is still likely.

“The public should continue to remain vigilant and report any concerns to the police.”

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Categories: Home Secretary, Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, News, Substantial, Uk Terrorism Threat

Indonesia to deport British woman who married militant

February 3, 2021 Article

Indonesian authorities have said they plan to deport a British woman married to a slain Indonesian militant because of a visa violation and her alleged link to a hard-line religious group.

Police said Tazneen Miriam Sailar was taken to Jakarta’s immigration detention centre after the country’s Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre linked her to the religious group Islamic Defenders Front, which was officially outlawed on December 30.

National Police spokesperson Ahmad Ramadhan said Ms Sailar, a charity fundraiser who grew up in Manchester, converted to Islam when she married a now-deceased Indonesian militant, Asep Ahmad Setiawan, in 2010.

Mr Setiawan, a member of Indonesia’s al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network, died in a combat zone in Syria in 2014, Mr Ramadhan said.

The group was blamed for a series of attacks in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists.

“We are still investigating whether she has a role in terrorist acts,” Mr Ramadhan said.

Ms Sailar’s lawyer, Farid Ghozali, said her client had been a humanitarian activist for disaster victims in Indonesia and abroad since 2005.

“We are only focusing on her immigration offences as she has no terrorism charge,” the lawyer said.

Immigration authorities have been co-ordinating with British diplomats on her deportation, Ahmad Nursaleh, spokesperson for the Directorate General of Immigration, said.

He added that Ms Sailar’s visa had expired two years ago.

Mr Nursaleh did not say when the deportation would occur.

Ms Sailar has a 10-year-old son born in Indonesia.

The British Embassy in Jakarta declined to comment.

The politically influential Islam Defenders Front was banned after its leader, Rizieq Shihab, was arrested on charges of inciting people to breach pandemic restrictions by holding events with large crowds.

It wants Islamic Shariah law to apply to all of Indonesia’s 230 million Muslims. The group has gained significant influence in recent years through humanitarian and charity work.

A court banned Jemaah Islamiyah in 2008, and the group was weakened by a sustained crackdown on militants by Indonesia’s counterterrorism police with US and Australian support.

A new threat has emerged in recent years inspired by Islamic State group attacks abroad.

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Categories: deport, Hardline Religious Group, Indonesian authorities, Islamic Defenders Front, News, Tazneen Miriam Sailar

Bill to tackle radical Islamic beliefs in France under debate

February 1, 2021 Article

French legislators are set to debate a bill to tackle radical Islamic ideology.

Some authorities maintain that such radical beliefs are creeping into public services, schools and online platforms, with the goal of undermining national values.

The bill is broad and controversial, with 1,700 proposed amendments, and guarantees heated debate for the next two weeks in the lower house of the French parliament.

It reflects a priority for France’s president Emmanuel Macron, who in an October speech painted a dark picture of a perverse version of Islam, France’s second most-popular religion, quietly making inroads and creating a “counter-society”.

Interior minister Gerald Darmanin, a right-leaning member of Mr Macron’s centrist party, wrote a short book on the subject, due to be released in a matter of days. His Manifesto For Secularism outlines fundamental values of France that the bill he sponsors is meant to protect.

“Islamism is a Trojan horse hiding the fragmentation bomb of our society,” Mr Darmanin wrote, according to excerpts from the daily Le Figaro.

“In the face of such a dangerous and insidious enemy, which we know is far from the religion of the prophet (of Islam), it is normal that public officials take unprecedented measures.”

Multiple terrorist attacks in France by Islamist extremists provide a backdrop for the bill.

The text applies to all religions, but some Muslims say the legislation once again points the finger at Islam.

Other critics say the bill covers ground already addressed in current laws.

Meanwhile, far-right leader Marine Le Pen says the bill does not go far enough or even name the enemy: radical Islam.

In ways small and large, the bill seeks oversee the functioning of associations and mosques, including foreign financing, aiming plug up entry points for Islamist ideology into the lives of Muslims.

Among the 51 articles, the bill aims to ensure that public service employees respect neutrality and secularism, while protecting them against threats or violence.

In a bid to protect children from indoctrination and to do away with underground schools, the text requires all children from the age of three to attend a regular school.

Some 50,000 children were home-schooled in 2020, according to French media. But the number of “clandestine schools” where children are reportedly indoctrinated in radical ideology is unknown.

Among other key points, the bill aims to keep a close watch on associations, including those that often run mosques, with measures including one aimed at ensuring that outsiders cannot take control of an association.

Another measure requires associations receiving state funds to sign a “contract of Republican commitment” ensuring they honour French values.

Funding must be reimbursed if the contract is broken. While foreign funding for mosques is not banned, amounts over 10,000 euros (£8,800) must be declared.

If some Muslims feel they have been stigmatised, France’s other religions say they are suffering collateral damage.

Le Monde newspaper reported religious leaders were unanimous in their criticism of the treatment of associations, telling a parliamentary commission that it adds unnecessary layers of work and oversight and arouses suspicion over all faiths.

The proposed law also seeks to halt doctors issuing virginity certificates, as well as the practice of polygamy and forced marriage.

Doctors would be fined and risk jail for providing virginity certificates.

The law includes an article that justice minister Eric Dupond-Moretti has called the “Paty law” after the beheading of school teacher Samuel Paty, who showed students in a civics class caricatures of the prophet.

It creates a new crime for hate speech online in which someone’s personal details are posted.

A Chechen refugee beheaded Mr Paty after information about the teacher was spread online.

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Categories: Emmanuel Macron, Manifesto for Secularism, Marine Le Pen, News, Radical Islamism

Lee Rigby murderer fighting for life after Covid-19 diagnosis

January 25, 2021 Article

One of Lee Rigby’s killers is reportedly fighting for life after catching coronavirus.

Michael Adebowale is serving a life sentence for murdering Fusilier Rigby in May 2013 on the streets of Woolwich, south-east London.

The Sun reported that the 29-year-old Islamic terrorist was removed from Broadmoor last week following a deterioration in his condition after he contracted Covid-19.

Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo ran over the 25-year-old soldier close to Woolwich Barracks in May 2013 before stabbing him to death in broad daylight.

The father-of-one died as a result of multiple cut and stab wounds after the attack fuelled by Adebowale and Adebolajo’s extremist beliefs, described as a “betrayal of Islam” at their murder trial in 2014.

Read more: Lee Rigby murder: Murdered soldier is not forgotten, says army colleagues

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Categories: COVID-19, fighting for life, Lee Rigby, Michael Adebolaje, Michael Adebowale, News

Terror watchdog launches inquiry into radicalisation in jails

January 25, 2021 Article

An inquiry into the way prisons deal with convicted terrorists is being launched by the independent terror watchdog amid concerns of growing radicalisation behind bars.

Jonathan Hall QC said there had been a “steady drumbeat” of terror attacks on prison officers while other inmates were coming under the influence of “high status” terrorist prisoners.

Mr Hall, the Government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said that if terrorist activity was taking place in jails then it had to be dealt with.

“There has been a steady drumbeat over recent years of terrorist attacks against prison officers, and an increasing number of individuals who may well have formed their terrorist intent in prison under the influence of high status terrorist prisoners,” he told The Times.

“If terrorism exists (in prison) then it ought to be dealt with. We need scrutiny of how prisons operate to either contain, or worse encourage, terrorism.”

His comments follow a series of high-profile cases, including the 2019 London Bridge attack when Usman Khan, a terrorist prisoner out on licence, stabbed two people to death.

Khairi Saadallah, who was given a whole life sentence earlier this month for murdering three men in a terror attack in a Reading park, had been befriended by a radical preacher while serving an earlier prison term.

Last year Brusthom Ziamani, who was serving a 19-year sentence for plotting to behead a soldier, was convicted of attempted murder for trying to hack an officer to death in the maximum security Whitemoor jail.

Mr Hall said that he had been amazed at the way terrorist prisoners were looked up to by other inmates.

“I find it astonishing that someone should go to prison for plotting a terrorist atrocity and the concern is not that they themselves are at risk of attack, like a paedophile is often at risk of attack because prisoners generally say what they’ve done is terrible,” he said.

“Terrorists automatically achieve a sort of status.”

A Ministry of Justice spokesman told The Times that they had trained more than 29,000 prison officers to better spot signs of extremism, increased the number of specialist counter-terrorism staff, and would separate the most subversive prisoners where necessary.

“Our tough measures to stop extremists spreading their poisonous ideologies in prison have been stepped up,” the spokesman said.

“We ended the automatic early release of terrorists and our new legislation means they will also face tougher sentences and monitoring on release.”

Read more: Serving inmates convicted of terrorist murder plot against prison officer

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Categories: Inquiry, jail, Jonathan Hall QC, News, radicalisation, Terror watchdog

Schoolboys in court on ‘terror charges’ linked to far-right extremism

January 24, 2021 Article

Two schoolboys accused of being part of an online far-right extremist group have appeared in court on terror charges.

It is alleged the teenagers were part of a Telegram chat group which was found to contain images of Adolf Hitler and the white extremist involved in the 2019 Christchurch massacre.

One of the boys, a 16-year-old from Kent, is accused of providing an electronic link that allowed others to access a terrorist publication, namely the “white resistance manual”.

It is alleged he did so with the intention it would encourage others to commit a terrorist act.

He is charged with the dissemination of a terrorist publication on August 28 last year.

His co-defendant, a 15-year-old from South Derbyshire, is accused of possessing a terrorist publication, namely the Anarchy Cookbook Version 2000 on or before September 22.

He is also charged with disseminating a terrorist publication on September 18 2020.

The teenagers, who are both white, appeared in person at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, but did not enter pleas.

The 16-year-old was granted conditional bail with restrictions on his internet use and a curfew ordering him to remain at home between 8pm to 6am.

The 15-year-old defendant was remanded in custody.

Both teens are due to return to Westminster Magistrates’ Court on February 26.

Read more: Extremists change narrative to attract vulnerable youths

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Categories: News, online far right extremism, schoolboys, Telegram chat group, Terror charges