Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Algerian man found with fake Belgian ID and 11,000 terror images on his phone after moving to UK is jailed for two years

  • Algerian who moved to Scotland posted messages praising ISIS online
  • When police searched his home they found terror images and fake ID
  • He has been jailed for two years after admitting Terrorism Act charges
Mourad Mosdefaoui posted messages praising ISIS online and was found with a fake Belgian ID card
Mourad Mosdefaoui, who entered the UK seven years ago and was living in Edinburgh, put three posts on Facebook from September 2014 to March 2015 celebrating ISIS and their terrorist acts.

One showed a photograph of the 34-year-old holding a notepad with Arabic text, translated as: 'The Islamic State will remain and expand God willing.'

In another, he wrote he was troubled to be 'living in a country of blasphemy' and appeared to suggest he would be willing to fight in Iraq and Syria.

More than 11,000 images were later found on a mobile phone in his possession, a number of which showed imagery and propaganda associated with IS.

 One of the pictures appeared to show a beheading carried out by the man who was known as 'Jihadi John'.

A search of Mosdefaoui's Edinburgh flat this summer also uncovered a forged Belgian identity card, which he said he owned to find work in the UK.

Mosdefaoui admitted posting the messages at a hearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month, where he pleaded guilty to two charges under the Terrorism Act 2006 and the 2010 Identity Documents Act.

Sheriff Frank Crowe jailed him for a total of two years when he returned to court for sentencing on Wednesday.

Speaking after the case, Lindsey Miller, Scotland's Procurator Fiscal for Counter Terrorism, said: 'Social media is a critical tool for ISIL, both in their attempts to radicalise and recruit new members, and in the spreading of their propaganda.


'Mosdefaoui repeatedly posted comments in support of ISIL and its leader on a public Facebook page, and was dealt with swiftly by prosecutors as soon as the offences came to light.

'We will continue to work closely with Police and the intelligence services to ensure that Scotland has a robust line of defence against the spread of such damaging ideologies.

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