Anjem Choudary, Islamic State sympathizer, sentenced to 5 years in prison

Anjem Choudary, an east London Islamic cleric who has frequently defended Shariah law on cable news outlets, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on Tuesday for expressing support for the Islamic State.

“The 49-year-old was convicted at the Old Bailey after backing the group in an oath of allegiance published online,” the BBC reported Tuesday. “Police say Choudary’s followers carried out attacks in the U.K. and abroad.”

Both Choudary and his confidant, 33-year-old Mohammed Mizanur Rahman were convicted in August of violating a section of a counterterrorism law from 2000 that forbids individuals from inviting others to support a terrorist group.

As the BBC reported, the sentencing judge, Sir Timothy Victor Holroyde, was unswayed by defense attorney pleas for leniency.

“You are both mature men and intelligent men who knew throughout exactly what you were doing. You are both fluent and persuasive speakers,” the BBC quoted Mr. Justice Holroyde.

An outspoken apologist for Shariah Law and opponent of the depiction of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, Mr. Choudary may perhaps be most recognizable among American cable-news viewers for his recurring on-air bouts with Fox News Channel anchor Sean Hannity.

“You don’t believe in freedom of expression, you believe in Islamic fascism, that people must abide by your laws,” Mr. Hannity thundered at Mr. Choudary in a notable January 2015 TV segment. The Islamic cleric had been brought on Mr. Hannity’s eponymous prime-time program to discuss tweets in which the Islamist cleric essentially excused the deadly terrorist strike on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

“Muslims love the Messenger Muhammad (saw) more than their parents, children and even themselves! Why don’t people understand?” Mr. Choudary tweeted at the time.

“I still think you’re an evil SOB, but I really want people to hear you,” noted Mr. Hannity at the close of that exchange, explaining why he gave the London imam air time.