07/02/2006

Hamza found guilty of race hate charges

Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has been sentenced to seven years in prison after being found guilty of soliciting to murder and race hate charges at the Old Bailey.

Egyptian-born Hamza, 47, was found guilty of 11 of the 15 charges against him.

The cleric, who preached at the Finsbury Park mosque in London, was found guilty of six out of nine charges of soliciting to murder, as well as three out of four charges of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with the intention of stirring up racial hatred.

He was also convicted of one charge of possession of video and audio recordings intended to stir up racial hatred and another charge of possessing a document - the Encyclopaedia of the Afghani Jihad - that was deemed likely to be of use to terrorists.

Hamza was sentenced to seven years for the soliciting to murder charges, 21 months for the use of threatening words of behaviour, three years to possession of the video and audio recordings and three-and-a-half years for possession of the document. The sentences will run concurrently.

During the four-week trial, Hamza - whose real name is Mustafa Kamel Mustafa - was accused of using his speeches at the Finsbury Park mosque to act as a recruiting sergeant for terrorism.

(KMcA)

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