Instagram suspends radical cleric Anjem Choudary’s account

INSTAGRAM has suspended the account of British radical cleric Anjem Choudary for violating its policies, within hours of him joining the social media platform.

The move by Instagram under its 'Dangerous Individuals' policy comes days after its parent Facebook and Twitter permanently suspended his accounts.

Choudary, 54, who had been jailed for inviting support for the Islamic State, had set up social media profiles soon after the legal restrictions on his public speech ended last month.

The preacher joined Instagram as ‘anjemchoudary1967’ and began posting on Monday (2). He used WhatsApp to promote his account with the message ‘feel free to follow’, MailOnline reported.

In a ‘press release’ put out on Saturday (31), he called upon people to have a “firm basis for their beliefs'' which he said, “not only shape our own lives but also impact upon others”.

He regretted that a majority of Muslims in the UK who have had secular education are “indoctrinated with concepts which are an anathema to Islam” and wholeheartedly adopted secularism and democracy without knowing the Shari'ah.

“Sadly, due to the fact that not only are Muslims a minority in this country but also the fact that the majority of Muslims have had a secular education and have been indoctrinated with concepts which are an anathema to Islam and Muslims like, democracy freedom and liberalism, it is true that the majority of Muslims not only do not know what the Shari'ah or Islam is in terms of ruling and the economy etc, but they have also wholeheartedly adopted secularism and democracy instead”.

“This has led many to, unfortunately, leave the fold of Islam and among them are also a vocal few who not only have abandoned Islam but have become propagandists for secularism and democracy!” he said in the press release, cited by MailOnline.

He also advocated that the Shari'ah should be implemented “everywhere” and denied that his views were radical or extreme.

The preacher who had criticised the UK government for its involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan wars was sentenced to five years and a half in jail in 2016 for seeking support for the Islamic State but was released from London’s Belmarsh prison in 2018 on licence.