Two men jailed for distributing ISIS leaflets on London streets

LONDON: Two persons who distributed Islamic State leaflets on the streets of London were jailed today for up to three years for inviting support for a terrorist group.

Ibrahim Anderson, 38, was sentenced to three years and Shah Jahan Khan, 63, given two years jail term for inviting support for a banned organisation at Old Bailey court in London.

The court was told that the pair, from Luton in the east of England, spent hours on London's famous shopping district of Oxford Street in August 2014 distributing leaflets on a "so-called Caliphate".

When police later raided Anderson's home, they found a notebook which included a set of instructions for travel to Syria to support jihad.

"These three documents taken together clearly contained information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism -- namely by going to Syria to fight for ISIS," Prosecutor Mark Seymour told the jury.

The two were arrested after sisters Asmaa al-Kufaishi, a junior doctor and Reem al-Kufaishi, a dentist, confronted them and then informed the police.

Their stall was set up on a side street with a sign saying, "Khilafah, the dawn of a new era".

Anderson, a Muslim convert who represented himself in court and had previous convictions for assault and possessing an imitation firearm, told jurors he had only wanted to practise his religion and exercise his freedom of speech.

"I have been brave enough to come and fight my corner because I know I am innocent and have done nothing wrong," he said.

Anderson and Khan had both denied charges of inviting support for a proscribed organisation.

Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command said today's sentencing showed that supporting a terrorist organisation would not be tolerated.

Detective Chief Inspector Glen Channer said, "We are committed to working with our communities to crack down on any small minority with extreme views who seek to radicalise vulnerable people in our society."