Leicester activist charged with terror offences appears in court

A 36-year-old man accused of spreading “misinformation” during Hindu-Muslim unrest in Leicester two years ago appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court in London on Wednesday (24), charged with unrelated terror offences.

Majid Novraska, also known as Freeman, appeared in the dock as the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) read out the charges of encouragement of terrorism and supporting Hamas, a proscribed organisation. The Leicester-based community activist, whose supporters gathered outside the court waving Palestinian flags, was released on conditional bail, prohibiting him from transmitting or posting messages on social media.

District judge Louisa Cieciora determined that the case was unsuitable for a summary trial and transferred it to the Terrorism List at the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey in London, to be heard on August 16.

The Henry Jackson Society's report, entitled ‘Hindu-Muslim Civil Unrest in Leicester’ from November 2022, states, “Many of Freeman's allegations of violence against Muslims perpetrated by Hindus in Leicester have later been found to have no evidence,” referring to the clashes triggered in the city following an India-Pakistan cricket match.

The report named him as one of the social media "influencers spreading misinformation” in the lead-up to the clashes in September 2022.

During his hearing on Wednesday, the court heard that between December 26 last year and June 20 this year, Freeman expressed support for Hamas, a proscribed organisation, and was “reckless” as to whether his expressions would encourage others to support Hamas.

The second charge under the UK's Terrorism Act 2006 states that in March, he used his social media accounts to post messages related to the 2015 Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack in France, intending for the public to be “directly or indirectly encouraged or otherwise induced to commit, prepare or instigate acts of terrorism.”

The investigation was carried out by the Counter Terrorism Police in the East Midlands, who arrested, interviewed, and charged Majid Novraska, referred to on social media as Majid Freeman, on July 9.

His defence team requested that his strict bail conditions regarding social media access be amended to allow him to review his past posts for the court hearings, which Judge Cieciora agreed to.

The context of the allegations relates to social media posts dating from October 7 last year, the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, and subsequent conflict.

The accused spoke only to confirm his name, age, and address and did not enter a plea at this stage. (PTI)