Andjem Choudhary

I am not sure that the Muslim Council of England has much of a leg to stand on when criticising the BBC's attitude to Choudhary. They were not remarkable for the strength of their condemnation of him and his views.

I think the BBC misunderstand what giving a balanced view is. It is not giving equal time to both sides of an argument. The time given to alternative ideas should be proportional to the amount of support those alternative ideas have and people like Choudhary, who are just one man bands with large mouths and a few followers, should be treated as addendums to the coverage of terrorist events, not as on an equal basis with those opposed to those preaching violence and the overthrow of legitimate government.

The BBC made the same mistake over Dr Andrew Wakefield and his arguments against the MMR vaccination. There were reports after that and we were told that 'lessons had been learned' but clearly quickly forgotten.

Please note that, to clarify, in my post of Wed 17-Aug-16 21:40:50
the He referred to in this part of the post:
He sparked an outcry after refusing to condemn the May 2013 murder and describing Lee Rigby murderer Adebolajo as a 'man of impeccable character' in interviews with Newsnight
is Choudary himself, not Miqdaad Versi of course!

The rest of the quotes are (reportedly) those of Miqdaad Versi

I don't feel sorry for the BBC either. They didn't have to broadcast parts of Choudhary's speeches to report news about his activities or hi arrest and sentencing. Who on earth is in charge there these days?

I don't feel a bit sorry for the BBC and they deserve the criticism.

Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said the corporation had given him a 'loudspeaker' even when he was barred from mosques.
He questioned why in BBC news reports Choudary was still being called an Islamic preacher.
He sparked an outcry after refusing to condemn the May 2013 murder and describing Lee Rigby murderer Adebolajo as a 'man of impeccable character' in interviews with Newsnight

He told Channel 4 News: 'He was a person who was thrown out of mosques across the UK

I feel sorry for the BBC. They'd be criticised either way.

Good point, Jalima.

The BBC has been criticised very strongly by Muslim groups for giving him so much airtime when they had banned him from preaching in their mosques.

Last night Miqdaad Versi, Assistant Secretary General, Muslim Council of Britain, said on Channel 4 News: "In reality, he didn't have that much of support within Muslim communities but what happened was that many places within the media were allowing him and providing him a loudspeaker to spread his hatred which he wasn't able to do within mosques across the UK."
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/16/questions-raised-about-bbc-giving-anjem-choudary-a-platform-for/

Very interesting article charting his life and why he managed to avoid being arrested and convicted for so long.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36979892

The best thing to do would be to form a special unit for Islamic prisoners sentenced to long period in prison. They could then busily proselytise each other, with us having the security of knowing that none of them is going to be out on the streets for 15 years or more.

The others could be spread out through all the prison stock, on the basis that there will not be enough in any prison at any one time for them to form association groups and the Parole Board could require evidence of successful de-radicalisation for early release.

Just have to be Rockall. Actually, I'm being flippant. He's a seriously dangerous person who shouldn't be anywhere near the potentially vulnerable prison population -or any other population! He's not too fussy about other people's human rights.

He's British, why should he be inflicted on the already suffering people of Syria?

It seems that the prisons in England that cater for long term, 'difficult' prisoners have a problem with groups of so called radical Muslim prisoners exerting considerable power and influence. Prisoners are persuaded to convert to Islam. It's safer to be part of that big group, plus you get Friday prayers and a different diet. I'm sure there are other reasons to convert and I don't mean to be offensive about the faith, so apologies if my post gives that impression.

Prisons are very difficult places to manage and control. The riot at Strangeways/hmp Manchester was largely initiated by a very small number of famous 'names' including one of Manc's home grown gangsters.

I honestly don't know what the solution to this is. I am relieved that Choudary has finally been convicted. I do believe we're safer with him in HMP but he should have no access to the internet. If he wants to complain that is against his human rights, let him do so.

Devils island. We probably can't put him in solitary confinement because of his 'uman rights. And he is the expert at exerting them.

Good idea Daphne! Bet Lee Rigby's parents would agree.

Rockall?

Choudary has already been deported from Lebanon to the UK, so I doubt if anybody else will have him.

He was born in the UK, so where could he be extradited to?

I know. I suppose that British law and sentencing regulations were drawn up before this sort of thing became such an issue. However, its so dangerous that maybe the govt in its (currently non existent) free time should consider.

Extraditing him would seem to be reasonable; but the sentences for this crime will be set down, so the judge will have to abide by this. A condition that his jail sentence is in solitary confinement might be the answer.