A Birmingham-based imam on trial to be extradited to Spain where he is wanted on terrorism charges can be sent to the country, a UK court ruled today. (Image: IE)
A Birmingham-based imam on trial to be extradited to Spain where he is wanted on terrorism charges can be sent to the country, a UK court ruled today. Tarik Chadlioui, accused of being a recruiter for the Islamic State (ISIS) through extremist videos, had claimed he is an “anti-terrorist preacher” in his bid to fight extradition at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London last week. His lawyers were fighting against his extradition on the grounds that it will be “a clear interference with his right to a family life”.
But Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot rejected the claim, saying Chadlioui’s family were eligible for state-funded social care benefits and could seek help from his mosque. “At worst, and I accept it might be a hardship, the oldest two children could go out and get jobs – they are 17 and 18 after all,” she said. Chadlioui was one of six people arrested across Europe in June this year as part of a Spanish investigation into support for the terrorist group.
Spanish authorities allege that Chadlioui made three videos for extremist forces in Syria during two visits to Mallorca in 2014 and 2015. The 43-year-old faces a charge of collaboration with, or membership of, an armed group for which the maximum sentence is 20 years’ imprisonment.
The 43-year-old faces a charge of collaboration with, or membership of, an armed group for which the maximum sentence is 20 years’ imprisonment. “He has uploaded thousands of videos to YouTube. This is what he does, he is an anti-terrorist preacher,” Malcolm Hawkes, Chadlioui’s barrister, had told Westminster Magistrates’ Court last week. Chadlioui, a Moroccan-born Belgian national of Middle Eastern origin, moved to the Sparkhill area of Birmingham in 2015, where he lives with his family comprising eight children. Spanish authorities believe he is behind radicalising one of the terrorists Omar Mostefai who killed 89 music fans at the Bataclan theatre in Paris in November 2015 before blowing himself up. He has also been linked with Anjem Choudary, a radical Muslim cleric currently in a UK jail for supporting the ISIS.
A Birmingham-based imam on trial to be extradited to Spain where he is wanted on terrorism charges can be sent to the country, a UK court ruled today. (Image: IE)
