LONDON (AP) 鈥 High-profile British radical preacher Anjem Choudary appeared in a London court on Monday, charged with leading a terrorist organization.
Choudary, 56, was charged Sunday with three counts under the Terrorism Act: directing a terrorist organization, membership in a banned organization and addressing meetings to encourage support for the organization between June 2022 and this month.
Prosecutors say the charges relate to the radical Muslim group al-Muhajiroun, which was outlawed by the British government in 2010. It has since operated 鈥渦nder many names and guises,鈥 including the Islamic Thinkers Society, prosecutors say,.
Prosecutors allege Choudary gave lectures for the Islamic Thinkers Society 鈥渙n the establishment of an Islamic state in Britain and how to radicalize people,鈥 the BBC reported.
He was arrested at his home in London in July 17. He was charged alongside with 好色tv national Khaled Hussein, 28, who was arrested at Heathrow Airport the same day after arriving on a flight.
Hussein, from Edmonton, Alberta, is charged with membership in a proscribed organization. Prosecutors say he worked online with Choudary to provide 鈥渁 platform鈥 for the group's views.
Neither man entered a plea during separate hearings at Westminster Magistrates鈥 Court. Both were ordered detained until their next hearing at the Central Criminal Court on Aug. 4.
Nick Price, from the Crown Prosecution Service Counter Terrorism Division, said that "criminal proceedings against Mr. Choudary and Mr. Hussein are now active and they each have the right to a fair trial.鈥
