A Canadian man is facing up to 14 years in prison after being charged with a terrorism offence Monday by British police, along with a British man previously jailed for supporting the Islamic State group.
The 28-year-old man from Edmonton was arrested on July 17 after arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport on suspicion of being a member of a “proscribed organization” under British terror law, Metropolitan Police said in a news release.
The Canadian, and a British national who was arrested earlier in the day, were held under a section of Britain’s Terrorism Act 2000, and “detectives were granted warrants of further detention allowing them to detain the men until Monday,” according to the statement.
Canadian Khaled Hussein, 28, was charged Monday with membership of a proscribed organization.
Anjem Choudary, 56, of east London was charged on Sunday with membership of a proscribed organization, addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organization and directing a terrorist organization.
British police did not elaborate on Hussein’s alleged involvement with the organization, which was not named. Under British terror law, the penalties for proscription offences are a maximum of 14 years in prison and/or a fine.
Meanwhile, Choudary was jailed in Britain in 2016 for encouraging support for the Islamic State before being released in 2018 after serving half of his five-and-a-half-year sentence.
Choudary, former head of the now-banned organization al-Muhajiroun, drew attention for praising the men responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the United States, and saying he wanted to convert Buckingham Palace into a mosque.
His followers have been linked to numerous plots across the world.
Both men were expected to appear in court on Monday.
— with files from Reuters, The Canadian Press and Global’s Stewart Bell.
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