Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has appeared in court charged with three terror offences relating to banned organisation Al-Muhajiroun, which he is accused of leading.

The 56-year-old, from Ilford in East London, is accused of directing a terrorist organisation, being a member of a proscribed organisation and addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organisation.

Appearing in the dock of Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday wearing a black jacket and glasses, he spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.

He was not asked to enter any pleas to the alleged offending during the hearing, which lasted around 30 minutes.

Khaled Hussein, 28, from Edmonton in Alberta, Canada, appeared separately at the same court charged with one count of being a member of a proscribed organisation.

His lawyer said he would not be entering any pleas.

The court heard that the case relates to “an extreme form of Islam”.

Choudary is alleged to have provided lectures to the Islamic Thinkers Society, which is Al-Muhajiroun “for all intents and purposes”, the court heard.

Al-Muhajiroun has been banned in the UK since 2010 but has continued under “many names and guises”, the court heard.

Bespectacled Hussein spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address in a Canadian accent during a 10-minute separate hearing.

He is alleged to have been in “close contact” with Choudary online to provide “a platform” for the group’s views for around two years.

Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring remanded them into custody until they appear at the Old Bailey on August 4.

Choudary was arrested in east London on July 17, while Hussein was detained at Heathrow after arriving on a flight the same day.

Nick Price, from the Crown Prosecution Service Counter Terrorism Division, said: “The CPS has authorised charges in relation to Anjem Choudary and Khaled Hussein under the Terrorism Act.

“The charges relate to the proscribed organisation Al-Muhajiroun, also known as the Islamic Thinkers Society.

“Criminal proceedings against Mr Choudary and Mr Hussein are now active and they each have the right to a fair trial.”

Read more: Radical Islamist preacher Choudary guilty of inviting support for IS

A ban on radical preacher Anjem Choudary speaking in public is being lifted as licence conditions which were imposed after his release from prison come to an end.

The extremist was jailed five years ago after being convicted of inviting support for the Islamic State terror group, and he left Belmarsh high-security jail on licence in 2018.

Choudary, from Ilford in east London, was freed automatically half-way through a five-and-a-half year sentence.

A string of more than 20 strict licence conditions which Choudary has been subject to since his release will expire on Sunday, the PA news agency understands.

As well as being prohibited from speaking in public, his internet and mobile phone use was restricted and he was banned from being in contact with people who may be suspected of extremist-related offences without prior approval.

He had to wear an electronic tag and abide by a night-time curfew, only attend pre-approved mosques and stay within a set area, as well as adhere to other standard requirements, like having regular meetings with probation officers.

Police and MI5 were thought to be among a host of bodies involved in monitoring him under the system known as multi-agency public protection arrangements (Mappa).

Separate measures saw his name added to a UN sanctions list, which meant he was banned from travelling and had assets frozen.

Once a leading figure in the now-banned group al-Muhajiroun (ALM), the former solicitor had previously stayed on the right side of the law for years – despite being seen as a radicalising influence.

From the 1990s, the father-of-five was a prominent figure in ALM, which also operated under a number of other names.

Over 20 years he voiced controversial views on Sharia law while building up a following of thousands through social media, demonstrations and lectures around the world.

While there has been no suggestion Choudary organised any attacks, others previously linked to ALM include Michael Adebolajo, one of the murderers of Fusilier Lee Rigby, and Khuram Butt, the ringleader of the London Bridge terror attack.

During his teenage years the Fishmongers’ Hall attacker Usman Khan also took an interest in Choudary’s views.

Muslim convert Lewis Ludlow, who plotted a terror attack on Oxford Street, attended a demonstration led by Choudary and the ALM group.

But former head of counter-terror policing Mark Rowley previously said Choudary was not “some sort of evil genius”, dismissing him as a “pathetic groomer” during an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“I think we have to be careful not to overstate his significance,” he added.

Whether counter-terror police and MI5 will continue to track Choudary or consider him a person of interest has not been confirmed. But ALM is expected to remain of considerable interest.

Other measures available to security services and police which could be considered in such instances are Tpims (Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures). They are seen as the strictest monitoring tool available to use against people suspected to be involved in terrorism or who present a threat, but cannot be prosecuted or deported.

A Tpim notice – which can be in place for up to two years – can involve conditions like an enforced curfew, tagging, having to stay away from certain locations and restrictions on overseas travel.

A senior security source told PA: “Disruptive measures – including jail terms and licence conditions – have had a substantial impact on the ability of ALM to propagate their toxic ideology.

“While the group cynically preys on vulnerable individuals, its spokespeople have hidden behind their cult-like status while encouraging others to commit acts of violence. The group breeds on propaganda, and should be starved of the oxygen of publicity it relies on to spread hatred.”

A Muslim convert nicknamed “The Eagle” has been jailed for at least 15 years for planning a “spectacular” terror attack on Oxford Street in London.

Lewis Ludlow, 27, swore allegiance to Islamic State as he prepared to drive a van through London’s shopping district or Madame Tussauds.

The former Royal Mail worker, who called himself “The Eagle” and “The Ghost”, bought a phone under a false name and wrote down his attack plans, which were later found ripped up in a bin.

He identified Oxford Street as an “ideal” spot, writing: “It is expected nearly 100 could be killed in the attack.”

Last year, he pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to plotting an attack in the UK and funding IS abroad.

Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC jailed Ludlow for life with a minimum term of 15 years.

Ludlow was also sentenced to a further seven years in prison to run concurrently for the funding offence.

The judge said Ludlow had been engaged in preparations for a “spectacular” multi-casualty attack “with the intention of causing death or terror”.

He told the defendant: “Your commitment at the time we are concerned with to violent extremism ran very deep and for some time.

“There could be no other explanation for your preparing to kill innocent people in a vehicle attack for ideological reasons.”

Judge Hilliard rejected the suggestion Ludlow had been coerced by an Islamic State supporter in the Philippines, saying the defendant was “nobody’s fool”.

He added: “I do not regard you as suggestible or easily taken advantage of. You were well able to resist the Prevent programme.”

The court heard how Ludlow, from Rochester in Kent, first came to the attention of police in 2010 when he attended a demonstration led by radical preacher Anjem Choudary and his banned Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) group.

When he was arrested in 2015, IS material was found on Ludlow’s electronic devices but no further action was taken.

In January 2018, he bought a ticket to fly to the Philippines on February 3 but was stopped at the airport and had his passport seized.

Having set up a PayPal account and a fake Facebook site called Antique Collections, he sent money to an IS supporter, Abu Yaqeen, in the Philippines.

Ludlow also turned his attention to launching an attack in Britain, with encouragement from Yaqeen, the court heard.

He visited an internet cafe in Vauxhall Bridge Road in central London where he searched online for shopping centres, Oxford Street and the Isis flag.

Police later recovered torn-up scraps of paper from Ludlow’s bin detailing potential attack sites, including Madame Tussauds, Oxford Street, St Paul’s Cathedral and a “Shia temple in Romford”.

He detailed a potential attack on Oxford Street using a van mounting the pavement, noting the lack of safety barriers.

He wrote: “Wolf should either use a ram attack or use … on the truck to maximise death … it is a busy street it is ideal for an attack. It is expected nearly 100 could be killed in the attack.”

On April 13 Ludlow’s mobile phone was retrieved from a storm drain and found to have videos of the defendant swearing allegiance to IS and evidence of “hostile reconnaissance”.

When Ludlow was arrested by counter-terrorism police he refused to explain himself in interview.

Following his guilty plea, autistic Ludlow told how he rejected an MI5 advance in March 2017 but agreed to engage with the Prevent programme.

He became “bitter” and “heartbroken” when he was barred from going to the Philippines, he said: “I felt that I was trapped like an animal unable to escape its cage.”

At first, Abu Yaqeen asked for money then talked him into plotting an attack in Britain, saying “you have to kill them”, he claimed.

Ludlow told the court: “I said no at first, I did not want to because I felt this was a bit scary and then he said, ‘You have to do it. You have to kill them, make them pay in blood, you must get revenge. They are not innocent. They deserve to die’.

“He said the best way to do so was using a ram attack. He said in order to achieve such a spectacular attack we should use a truck bomb attack to achieve the necessary effect.

“He said to me, ‘Don’t you want to die a martyr? They deserve it’.”

A convicted terrorist has been banned from being involved in the running of schools in order to protect children from “dangerous influences”.

Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, an associate of Anjem Choudary, was barred under Section 128 of the Education Act.

He was previously a proprietor of the unregistered Siddeeq Academy in Tower Hamlets, east London, which closed in 2015 after his arrest.

In 2016 he was jailed for five-and-a-half years, alongside Choudary, for inviting support for Islamic State.

Rahman was released from prison in October 24 last year, prompting Education Secretary Damian Hinds to issue the direction which was made last month but only published on Thursday.

It is the third time powers under section 128 have been exercised since it came into force in September 2014.

The direction states that Rahman is “unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school (including an academy or Free School)”.

It continues: “The barring decision also has the effect of disqualifying the person from being a governor at a maintained school.”

As well as the 2016 conviction, in 2006 Rahman was convicted of inciting racial hatred, the following year he was convicted of solicitation to murder.

The direction issued by Mr Hinds further states: “He (Rahman) also engaged in social media activity that was aimed at undermining fundamental British values and, in addition, was so inappropriate that, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, it makes Mr Rahman unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school.”

A Department for Education spokesman said: “The Government has a duty to protect children from dangerous influences and Mizanur Rahman, who has been convicted under the terrorism act, quite clearly has no place in our schools.

“We will always act swiftly and decisively to safeguard our young people and this order is evidence of that.”

The first ever barring order was issued in 2015 to Tahir Alam who was at the heart of the alleged Trojan Horse plot by hard-line Muslims to take control of governing boards.

It said he engaged in conduct “aimed at undermining fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs”.

In 2017, Waseem Yaqub, former chairman of governors of Al-Hijrah School in Birmingham, was found to have engaged in inappropriate conduct which made him “unsuitable to take part in the management of an independent school”.

The direction said that: “In his various roles on Al-Hijrah’s governing body, Mr Yaqub promoted, permitted or failed to challenge inadequate financial monitoring and decision-making on the part of the governing body.”

Convicted criminal Anjem Choudary who was found guilty of telling British citizens to join ISIS, is to be released this week. He will be living in a tax-payer funded safe house in North London and we have learnt that he will be living within reach of his wife and family, so that his human rights are not infringed.

Yet, this very man has never cared about the human rights of others. He has been the poisonous inspiration for young men who have gone on to murder and maim others and his decades of  Islamist agitation have caused enormous tensions and further fuelled far right activism, as some people thought that his views represented all Muslims. They clearly did not.

Just a few days ago, former EDL member, Ivan Humble made clear on a Newsnight interview about child grooming and the rise of the far right, that he was inspired to join the English Defence League since he believed that Anjem Choudary reflected the views of Muslims in general.

Choudary has used the legal and democratic process, to circumvent arrest for years and is now in the process of being released half-way through his sentence. Granted, he is under severe and restrictive conditions but the Government’s inability to stop his release, raises many questions. Why for example, is he being released half-way through his sentence? On what basis is this being done and does the Government realise that his early release is a gift for Islamist and far right groups. Both will use this opportunity, with Islamist extremists suggesting that Choudary has resisted the Government and ‘stood up against them’, whilst far right extremist groups will once again, make out that the Government is not working for the general public’s safety and that the Government is in cahoots with Muslims. This will be their narrative.

This whole affair leaves a foul taste in the mouth. How can a man who has been a driver for Islamist extremism be released half-way through his sentence? His actions have been a national security threat, yet he will now live in London, enjoying access to his family and living at the tax-payers expense.

If we are to send out a message to extremists that they will be given no quarter to spread their poison, the release of Choudary makes a mockery of this. This whole affair has shown how weak we are when many Muslims themselves, do not want this man released until he serves his whole sentence.

Anjem Choudary, Britain’s best-known Islamist preacher whose followers have been linked to numerous plots around the world, was sentenced to five years and six months in prison on Tuesday for inviting support for Islamic State, Sky News reported.

Choudary had been convicted previously by a jury at London’s Old Bailey court of using online lectures and messages to encourage support for the banned group which controls large areas of Syria and Iraq.

Notorious in Britain where the tabloids denounce him as a hate preacher, he is also well-known abroad, making regular TV appearances in the wake of attacks by Islamist militants to blame Western foreign policy for targeting Muslims.

Prosecutors said that in postings on social media, Choudary had pledged allegiance to the “caliphate” declared by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and said Muslims had a duty to obey or provide support to him.

Choudary had denied the terrorism charges and claimed the case was politically motivated. He was found guilty after trial in July.

The former head of the now banned organization al-Muhajiroun, Choudary became infamous for praising the men responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the United States and saying he wanted to convert Buckingham Palace into a mosque.

Despite his often controversial comments and refusal to condemn attacks by Islamists such as the 2005 bombings on the London transport system, Choudary has always denied any involvement in militant activity and had never been previously charged with any terrorism offence.