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On Sunday, Chowdhury, 56, was charged with three counts under the terrorism law: directing a terrorist Organization and membership in a proscribed organization and addressing meetings to encourage support for the organization. He was not required to file a petition. Al-Muhajiroun was banned in the UK in 2006 for glorifying terrorism. Many of its members have been involved in terrorist attacks. These include the murder of Lee Rigby and the 2017 London Bridge attack.
British-Indian terrorist Siddhartha Dhar was also a member when he joined the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria in 2014, where he is believed to have executed hostages. The group first emerged in 1996 under the leadership of Syrian Islamist Omar Bakri Muhammad. He has since reappeared under various aliases to avoid law enforcement. Prosecutors told the court it had changed its name to the Society of Islamic Thinkers and alleged Choudary had been giving weekly online lectures to small groups belonging to the ITS on how to radicalize people and set up an Islamic state in Britain. Chowdhury was born in London to parents who emigrated from Punjab Pakistan.
Khaled Hussein, 28, a Canadian citizen, also appeared before the same court in a separate session where he was accused of membership in the Al-Muhajireen Organization. On 17 July, Chaudhry was arrested in a dawn raid on his home while Hussain was arrested at Heathrow Airport after landing from Canada. Both men were taken into custody to appear at the Old Bailey court on 4 August.
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