Anjem Choudary’s wife investigated after ‘filthy Jews’ tirade
The radical preacher's wife Rubana Akhtar is being probed by police after featuring in a documentary broadcast in 2015
Anjem Choudary’s wife is under police investigation after being featured in a documentary about British women who support Islamic State.
The programme, broadcast in November 2015, features Rubana Akhtar, referred to as Umm L, ranting about plots against Muslims and referring to “filthy Jews”.
On Tuesday it could be reported for the first time that her husband Choudary is facing a prison sentence for drumming up support for Isis, after 20 years of carefully staying on the right side of the law.
The father-of-five was a leading figure in the since-banned extremist group al-Muhajiroun, and a string of his followers have gone on to be involved in terrorist plots including the murder of soldier Lee Rigby.
Choudary’s Old Bailey trial heard that Akhtar had run up £100 phone bills while trying to spread her extremist views.
Scotland Yard confirmed that an investigation was launched in the wake of the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, and is ongoing.
The documentary shows footage obtained by an undercover reporter of her addressing a group of women and teenagers, telling them of “plots” against Muslims and describing the “audacity and the arrogance of these Jews” over the Palestine conflict.
She also hails the establishment of a caliphate – a symbolic Muslim state – by Isis, saying: “The good days have already begun, nobody ever have thought in our lifetime we would see the establishment of the Khilafah [Islamic State].”
And she claims that more people are becoming radicalised as a result of government moves to stop extremism.
“If they thought it was a plan to deradicalise people, God they got it so wrong, because if anything more and more people are becoming what they call radicalised,” she said.
Jurors in her husband’s trial were also told that, when he sent her a text message to confirm he had pledged support for the caliphate set up by IS, she responded “with happiness and approval”.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We are aware of the documentary and have been making a number of inquiries. Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command executed a number of search warrants at addresses in east London on Monday May 16 in relation to these inquiries.
“There have been no arrests and inquiries are ongoing.”
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