London preacher who called for gays to be killed charged with encouraging support for ISIS granted bail
A radical London preacher who has called for gay people to be stoned to death has been charged with encouraging support for terrorist group Islamic State and granted bail.
Anjem Choudary has been granted bail from the high security Belmarsh prison.
The 47-year-old is the former UK head of the Islamist group al-Muhajiroun or Islam4UK, which was banned in the UK in 2010.
He suggested at a press conference in 2009 that gay people should be stoned to death, and has maintained that stance since.
Choudary, who frequently causes controversy with his extremist views and high-profile protests, is charged with allegedly calling on social media for people to support ISIS.
The 48-year-old, from Ilford, east London, appeared in the Old Bailey via video link on Friday.
His trial is set to begin next year, on January 11.
He was charged alongside Mohammed Rahman, 32, of Whitechapel, east London, with one offence under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which bans people from “inviting support for a proscribed organisation”.
Rahman was also released on bail.
The court heard the alleged offence took place between June 29 2014, and March 6 this year.
The preacher is known for his extreme anti-gay views.
He claimed in a Fox News interview last year that he thought those found guilty of “sodomy”, where there are four witnesses, should be stoned to death under Sharia law, which he said should be implemented worldwide.
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