Convicted terrorist handed further jail term for posting online propaganda

Appearing at The Old Bailey on 31 July, 35-year-old Saleem was sentenced to a total of ten years (nine years’ imprisonment with one year on license) for sharing Daesh propaganda footage of a series of suicide bombings on one of his private social media feeds.

Police officers were able to obtain proof of this post and, following further investigations conducted by the Metropolitan Police Service’s Counter Terrorism Command, Saleem was arrested on 14 February last year at Heathrow Airport as he landed back in the UK on a flight from Pakistan. He was charged the following day.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police Service’s Counter Terrorism Command, explained: “We know that extremist content online causes serious harm in communities, particularly so for young and other vulnerable people. It’s often intended to radicalise and recruit individuals to terrorist causes. That’s why we work hard to identify those who post this kind of material and have that content removed from websites.”

Murphy went on to state that those convicted of a terrorism offence will also have conditions imposed when released from prison in order to minimise the risk of reoffending and also protect the public.

“The fact that we have twice identified Saleem as having breached these requirements twice,” added Murphy, “also shows how closely we monitor them and how strictly we look to enforce them.”

Dissemination of a terrorist publication

Saleem was found guilty of the dissemination of a terrorist publication (contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006) on 20 February this year following a trial at The Old Bailey.

Saleem previously pleaded guilty to breaching a Part 4 Notification Order requirement under the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 (relating to his being in possession of an additional/unregistered SIM card) and using threatening words to cause alarm (contrary to Section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986), which relates to his behaviour towards officers when he was arrested.

Saleem was previously jailed for two years back in February 2018 for encouragement of terrorism after posting images and messages promoting Daesh on social media.

He was released from prison in February 2019, on a probation licence and subject to a ten-year Part 4 Notification Order. In December 2020, Saleem was jailed for ten months for breaching this Part 4 Order.