Man who posted ISIS videos on Google+ account with two followers jailed for five years
A man has been jailed for uploading Isis videos to a Google+ account with two followers as a crackdown on the spread of terrorist propaganda continues.
Sagheer Hussain, from Bradford, was sentenced to five years in prison for uploading extremist footage at Leeds Crown Court.
The court heard how the 39-year-old had uploaded three videos to his Google+ profile via his YouTube account that were supportive of Isis.
“He had also added comments to these videos, again in support of Isis,” a spokesperson for the North East Counter Terrorism Unit said.
“Although the Google+ account only had two followers, because it was uploaded to a public account, over 25,000 views had been recorded before they were removed from internet.”
Hussain, of Bishop Street, was arrested by counter-terror police in January 2016 and charged with three counts of disseminating terrorist publication in August.
Detective Chief Superintendent Clive Wain, head of counter-terror policing in the North East, said: “Sagheer Hussain openly shared videos from a terrorist group over the internet.
“Terrorist groups such as Daesh [Isis] rely heavily on their propaganda being shared online where it is used to radicalise, encourage support and provoke individuals to carry out attacks abroad and in the UK.
“Tackling extremist material is an essential part of protecting the public and preventing offences that incite or encourage acts of terrorism.”
When Isis declared the formation of the so-called Islamic State in 2014, its propaganda was easily accessible online via mainstream social media and blogging websites, with foreign fighters able to post regular calls to supporters on Twitter.
But an international crackdown that intensified in the wake of a series of gory propaganda videos showing the beheading of hostages including James Foley and David Haines, has made the material much harder to access.
Isis propaganda has been discovered in the possession of terrorists including the Spain attackers and plotters across Europe, prompting warnings from authorities over its power to radicalise and instruct jihadis.
Source: Independent
