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Speedwell man who glorified extreme Islamist terrorism jailed
A Bristol man who glorified extreme Islamist terrorism by sharing graphic videos online has been sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.
Faseh Sajid from Speedwell was found guilty of five counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006.
The 21-year-old was found not guilty at the Old Bailey of another count of the same offence.
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Sajid’s sentencing follows an investigation by officers from Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE).
In November 2022, a search warrant was executed by police at his home where police seized a number of electronic devices which were found to contain evidence of his extreme Islamist ideology.
As a result, Sajid was arrested in January 2023.
A vast amount of material on the social media messaging app Telegram was found on Sajid’s mobile phone. He used the name ‘John Ross’ in his Telegram chats, stating in one of the chats that it was to avoid him getting arrested.
Further investigation revealed that Sajid regularly shared material with other users on the chats and downloaded, edited, and created his own videos based on footage from Daesh (more commonly known as the Islamic State) which he further shared.
The videos he created contained footage of soldiers fighting, mass executions and beheadings carried out to the sound of hip-hop or techno music.
On the chats, he often requested specific videos and nasheeds (popular style of music throughout the Islamic world) related to Daesh, which he used to create his own videos.
The court also heard details of how Sajid had sent a video published by the Al Qaeda media wing which encouraged terrorism against the West.
It featured footage of the killers of Lee Rigby killers, imagery of 9/11 and jihadi fighters training, the 7/7 bombings, and a video of Osama Bin Laden.
Evidence showed that he was also part of group chats with other members in which they shared graphic and extremist content with each other.
Sajid posted videos on the chat which it appeared he had edited including montages of improvised explosive devices, executions by gunshot, beheadings and flag waving for Daesh, overlaid with drill music.
Detective chief superintendent Olly Wright, head of CTPSE, said: “Sajid shared extremely graphic propaganda videos showing battle scenes in Iraq and Syria, deceased fighters and a live execution.
“By doing so, he was making attempts to radicalise people who viewed this hate-filled content.
“While Sajid tried to cover his tracks, such as by attempting to anglicize his name online, our officers carried out extensive work examining his electronic devices and uncovering his extreme Islamist ideology.
“Sajid was just 18 years old when he began spreading this extremely harmful rhetoric.
“I therefore stress how important it is that, if you are concerned about a young person, or indeed anyone who is sharing or viewing extreme material, please do report this to keep everyone safe.”
Main photo: Counter Terrorism Policing South East
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