Anjem Choudary: Muslim vigilantes who terrorised non-believers ‘deserve pat on back’

 
Muslim cleric Anjem Choudary speaks to a group of demonstrators protesting a film apparently made in the US that they say insults the Islamic faith as they demonstrate outside the US embassy in central London on September 14, 2012. The group gathered at Regents Park mosque before heading to the embassy to protest over the film, the release of which has sparked violent protest in much of the Muslim world. LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images
David Churchill9 December 2013
WEST END FINAL

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Hardline Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary today said two followers jailed for attacking non-Muslims “deserve a pat on the back”.

Convert Jordan Horner, 19, and Ricardo MacFarlane, 26, admitted being part of a “Muslim Patrol”, a group of vigilantes opposing Western culture on the streets of the East End.

They told one couple they could not hold hands because it was “a Muslim area” and said a young woman would face “hellfire” because of the way she dressed. Mr Choudary said the men regularly attended his lectures, adding: “Essentially, they didn’t do anything wrong. They didn’t harm anyone. What they did in essence, it’s commendable. They are trying to address issues like drug abuse and prostitution.”

He said they “could have done it differently” with “different styles and means”, but added: “I did have a word with them afterwards and said there are certain things that can’t be changed physically, but these guys should be patted on the back for some of the other work they have done.

“I don’t condemn them at all. They are upstanding, upright members of the Muslim community. Their character is immaculate, they are fantastic individuals. People say much worse things on football terraces.”

The Old Bailey heard how Joshua Bilton and Anna Riddiford were shouted at through a megaphone for holding hands in Bethnal Green in December last year.

Two weeks later five friends were told to stop drinking in the street because it was “Allah’s land”. During the same incident Horner threatened to stab the men saying “get the shank (knife) from the car,” while another of the group shouted “kill the non-believers”. Horner was jailed for 17 months on Friday after admitting assault and using threatening words and behaviour. MacFarlane pleaded guilty to affray and got 12 months.

Judge Rebecca Poulet told them: “Islam is a peaceful religion and this conduct was anything but.” Ibrahim Megra of the Muslim Council of Britain said their views “are not held by the vast majority of British Muslims”.

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