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| Britain | |
| Hate preaching cleric jailed | |
| 2003-03-07 | |
A Muslim cleric who urged followers to kill non-believers, Americans, Hindus and Jews has been jailed for nine years. Jamaican-born Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal, 39, was told he had "fanned the flames of hostility", as Old Bailey judge Peter Beaumont delivered the sentence. The judge recommended that el-Faisal, from Stratford in east London, should serve at least half of the sentence and then be deported.
"How could they do this to such a gentle man?!" Outside court, defence lawyer Jerome Lynch QC said there were plans to appeal, adding: "There is a realistic prospect that many Muslims will regard this sentence as harsh, even though they don't share his views." Well, duh, guess it wasn't them he wanted dead, was it? El-Faisal received seven years for soliciting murder, 12 months to run concurrently for using threatening and insulting words and a further two years — to run consecutively — for using threatening and insulting recordings. During the trial el-Faisal argued that his words were taken from the Koran, the Muslim holy book, and that he had been misrepresented. But the judge said that while Britain prided itself on its freedom of speech, it could not accept it when other people's rights were breached. He told el-Faisal: "As the jury found, you not only preached hate, but the words you uttered in those meetings were recorded to reach a wider audience. You urged those who listened and watched to kill those who did not share your faith." Pax islamica Defence lawyer Jerome Lynch QC, said it was unfair that people such as controversial cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri had been seen by police and not brought to court like el-Faisal. Abu Hamza — who was dropped as a defence witness hahaha after a police raid on Finsbury Park mosque — told the judge in a pre-trial hearing that he had been seen seven times by Special Branch. Mr Lynch said of el-Faisal: "This was a man who, although misguided, was not malicious." He said el-Faisal had helped | |
| Posted by:Bulldog |
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| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-03-07 18:51:14 |
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| Posted by: john 2003-03-07 17:24:43 |
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| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-03-07 13:27:45 |
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| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-03-07 11:55:32 |
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| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-03-07 11:16:57 |