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Fears raised over Choudary release

The imminent release from prison of Anjem Choudary and other supporters of the banned extremist group al-Muhajiroun has raised security concerns. Choudary will leave prison next month, and in light of that news Security Minister Ben Wallace has reassured that the government works to reduce the risk of freed terrorist offenders and claimed that there are a ‘suite of powers and measures we can put in place’ to ensure there are no issues. Adam Deen, of the the counter-extremism organisation Quilliam, raised concerns over the timing of his release, along with that of his right-hand man Mizanur Rahman and other supporters of al-Muhajiroun, saying it was ‘troubling’ that it will happen at the same time as an increased threat of violent extremism by far right groups. He said: "Put that in the mix with the growing threat and the growing noise from the far right about anti-Muslim bigotry - that's a disastrous cocktail where young Muslim minds can be manipulated and used for the agenda of these extremist organisations.” [block:block=35] Choudary was convicted in August 2016 of inviting support for Islamic State and was jailed for five-and-a-half years. The al-Muhajiroun group was linked to violent jihadists who carried out terror attacks, including the killers of Fusilier Lee Rigby in 2013 and the London Bridge attack in which eight members of the pubic were killed in 2017.

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