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Samina Malik was the first person to be convicted under the UK's 2000 Terrorism Act. Malik, then a 23-year-old Heathrow Airport shop clerk from Southall, west London, was found guilty of "possessing a document or a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism", but was earlier acquitted on the more serious charge of "possessing an article for terrorist purposes". Her conviction was later overturned on appeal.
The name "Lyrical Terrorist" is Samina Malik's on-line handle, which she used to post poems on extremist websites. Malik picked the name, she said "because it sounded cool". At various times she also called herself "Stranger Awaiting Martyrdom" and "Daughter of the Martyr". The last was a tribute to her grandmother who had died in 2002, Malik said. [1] That year, while attending Villiers High School, she began writing, starting with love poems. Later she turned to poetry inspired by the rap of 50 Cent and Tupac Shakur, writing under the name "Lyrical Babe". In 2004 she became more religious, began wearing the hijab and changed her nom de plume to "Lyrical Terrorist". Although her defence counsel has compared her poems to the British poet Wilfred Owen, Malik herself has called her poetry "meaningless". [1] She says that her words have been taken "too literally and out of context". She is also quoted as saying "I am not a terrorist", and blames her exposure to radical cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri on "the media's continuous spotlight and through his preaching, which the media continuously kept shedding light upon."
The documents in question include books on techniques of terrorism, firearms and heavy weapons, poisons, and hand-to-hand combat. Many of these books and manuals are written by and for extremist Islamic groups. A large number of poems and personal writings were also found, dealing with a wide range of subjects. In several poems, Malik expresses her admiration for the Mujahideen, her desire to be a martyr, her approval of beheadings, and her contempt for non-Muslims (whom she refers to as "kuffars"). Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, Head of the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command, has said that Malik associated on-line with other extremists and has accused her of being involved with "terrorist-related" groups (including "Jihad Way", an organization which promotes al-Qaeda and other radical Islamist groups). He also contends that in the past she has tried to donate money to a terrorist organization.
Malik had been regularly in e-mail contact with a man named Sohail Qureshi. [2] She advised him on the levels of security at Heathrow Airport, shortly before he travelled to Heathrow with the purpose of flying to Pakistan and then joining a terrorist group. This fact was kept from the jury during her trial, but it later emerged when he pleaded guilty to offences under the UK's 2000 and 2006 Terrorism Acts. [3]
Malik was held under house arrest prior to sentencing. The judge in this case, Peter Beaumont QC, has said that Malik is "in some respects a complete enigma to me". He also warned that "all sentencing options" would be available on December 6, when the case was due to return to court. On 6 December, she was given a nine-month suspended jail sentence. She was the first woman to be convicted under the 2000 Terrorism Act.
On 17 June 2008, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to seek a re-trial following a successful appeal. [4]
Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, or simply Abu Hamza, is an Egyptian cleric who was the imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in London, England, where he preached Islamic fundamentalist views. In 2004, Hamza was arrested by British police after the United States requested he be extradited to face charges. He was later charged by British authorities with sixteen offences for inciting violence and racial hatred. In 2006, a British court found him guilty of inciting violence, and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment. On 5 October 2012, after an eight-year legal battle, he was extradited from the UK to the United States to face terrorism charges and on 14 April 2014 his trial began in New York. On 19 May 2014, Hamza was found guilty of eleven terrorism charges by a jury in Manhattan. On 9 January 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2001, a network of interconnected terrorist cells in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands was uncovered by law enforcement. The network had connections to al-Qaeda and was planning to commit one or more bombings.
Lynne Irene Stewart was an American defense attorney who was known for representing controversial, famous defendants. She herself was convicted on charges of conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists in 2005, and sentenced to 28 months in prison. Her felony conviction led to her being automatically disbarred. She was convicted of helping pass messages from her client Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric convicted of planning terror attacks, to his followers in al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, an organization designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States Secretary of State.
Abdul Nacer Benbrika, also known as Abu Bakr, is a convicted criminal, currently serving an Australian custodial sentence of fifteen years, with a non-parole period of twelve years for intentionally being the leader and a member of a terrorist organisation. Benbrika was one of 17 men arrested in the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne in November 2005, charged with being members of a terrorist organisation and of planning terrorist attacks on targets within Australia. Benbrika is alleged to be the spiritual leader of the group. All 17 men pleaded not guilty. On 15 September 2008 Benbrika was found guilty as charged and subsequently sentenced.
Joseph "Jihad Jack" Terrence Thomas is an Australian citizen who undertook pistol, light firearm and demolition training with Al-Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden visited his training camp three times while he was in attendance and he shook hands with him. He was convicted for received funds from Al-Qaeda which was later overturned on appeal. Thomas, commonly referred to in Australian media as "Jihad Jack", was acquitted of providing resources that would assist in a terrorist act before becoming the first Australian to be placed under a control order under the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005.
The 2006 Ontario terrorism case refers to the plotting of a series of attacks against targets in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the June 2, 2006 counter-terrorism raids in and around the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 14 adults and 4 youths . These individuals have been characterized as having been inspired by al-Qaeda.
Mohammed Ali Dirie was one of 17 people connected to arrests on June 2 and June 3, 2006, in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was released in October 2011, left Canada in 2012, and reportedly died in 2013 fighting in the Syrian Civil War, although his death has not been conclusively verified.
Rachelle Ranae "Shelley" Shannon is an American anti-abortion extremist who was convicted in a Kansas state court for the attempted murder of George Tiller by shooting him in his car in Wichita, Kansas in 1993. She was also convicted in U.S. federal court for ten attacks at abortion clinics using arson or acid. At her sentencing in U.S. District Court in 1995, the presiding judge described Shannon as a terrorist and agreed with prosecutors that she was a threat even from behind bars. She served her sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Waseca, Minnesota and was released in November 2018.
Malika El Aroud is a Moroccan terror activist with ties to al-Qaeda known for her writings on the Internet.
Mohammad Momin Khawaja is a Canadian found guilty of involvement in a plot to plant fertilizer bombs in the United Kingdom; while working as a software engineer under contract to the Foreign Affairs department in 2004 became the first person charged and found guilty under the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act following the proof that he communicated with British Islamists plotting a bomb attack. On March 12, 2009, Khawaja was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison and was eligible for parole five years into the prison term. On December 17, 2010, Khawaja's sentence was increased to life imprisonment by the Ontario Court of Appeals.
Giuseppe Valerio "Giusva" Fioravanti is an Italian former terrorist and actor, journalist and human rights activist, who, with Francesca Mambro, was a leading figure in a far-right terrorist group Nuclei Armati Rivoluzionari. Fioravanti appeared in films and television from a young age, and in his early teens was the most famous child in Italy. He and Mambro were fugitives wanted for terrorist offences by their early twenties, they spent a further period on the run as suspects in the Bologna bombing. Both were captured after gunfights with police. Although Fioravanti, Mambro and a third NAR member were convicted of the bombing, there were those who thought that a higher level of the conspiracy was never uncovered. Fioravanti and Mambro admit involvement in terrorist murders, but have consistently denied having any part of the Bologna station massacre.
Anser Farooq is a Canadian defence attorney based in Mississauga, Ontario, who gained notability defending suspects during the 2006 Ontario terrorism plot.
Mohammed Atif Siddique is a Scottish prisoner who was found guilty, but later cleared on appeal, of one of his convictions "collecting terrorist-related information, setting up websites...and circulating inflammatory terrorist publications", resulting in a sentence of eight years' imprisonment. His defence has consistently been that he was a curious 20-year-old youth, still living with his parents, who was "looking for answers on the internet". One of his convictions was quashed on appeal on the 29th of January, 2010. He remains a convicted terrorist.
Mohammed Hamid is a Muslim British national most known for his ties with the 21 July 2005 London Bombings and as a disciple of the radical preacher Abdullah el-Faisel. Mohammed Hamid had been convicted with having relations and training terrorists involved with the unsuccessful 21 July 2005 London Bombing attack. Also known as “Osama Bin London,” he has lived a life of crime throughout his life. From petty crimes and drug addiction in his early age, he later became a radical Islamic preacher/tutor of terrorism.
This page lists trials related to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The 2005 Sydney terrorism plot concerned a group of five men arrested in 2005 on charges of planning an act of terrorism targeting Sydney, Australia's most populous city and the capital of New South Wales. The group was found guilty on 16 October 2009 and were sentenced on 15 February 2010 for terms up to 28 years.
Terrorism in Denmark refers to terrorist attacks are carried out in Denmark or by people connected to Denmark. Like other countries Denmark increased its focus on defending against terrorist attacks after the September 11 attacks in New York in 2001. The September 11 attacks led to strengthened laws in a number of areas. 31 May 2002 the parliament of Denmark approved anti-terror legislation with the aim of preventing terrorism in Denmark and internationally. The new legislation aligned with the definitions of terrorism which were in use by the European Union and the United Nations.
Rasmea Yousef Odeh in Arabic رسمية يوسف عودة is a Palestinian Jordanian and former American citizen who was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine convicted by Israeli military courts for her role in the murder of two students, Leon Kanner and Eddie Joffe in the 1969 Jerusalem supermarket bombing. After her release in a prisoner exchange, she immigrated to the United States, became a U.S. citizen illegally, and served as associate director at the Arab American Action Network in Chicago, Illinois.