Man Charged Over Extremist Video Translations

A 25-year-old man has been jailed after pleading guilty to five counts of possessing documents containing information of a kind likely to be of use to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism and two counts of distributing a terrorist publication.

Mohammad Aftab Suleman, of Peakdale Avenue, Crumpsall, was sentenced at The Old Bailey to 33 months in prison.

On Friday 19 December 2014, officers from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit carried out a search warrant at Suleman's home in Crumpsall.

Officers seized digital media, including a pen drive that was found in a jacket pocket in Suleman's bedroom.

The pen drive was examined and found to hold more than 430 documents containing extremist literature. Two further laptops were also seized, one of which was found to have software that allowed access to the 'dark web'.

Officers also saw travel documents belonging to Suleman, who was planning to fly to Pakistan on 23 December 2014.

A few hours after officers had searched his house, Suleman tried to change his flight to Pakistan, firstly to that evening, but when that wasn't available he changed it to 9pm the next day, Saturday 20 December from Manchester.

After finding documents supporting an extremist Islamic mind-set on Suleman's pen drive, officers then went to Manchester Airport where Suleman was arrested attempting to leave the country.

Some of the electronic documents found in Suleman's possession included magazines detailing how to make homemade bombs and car bombs, training to become a jihadi fighter at home rather than 'risking a dangerous travel abroad', information on security measures including the sending and receiving of encrypted messages and methods to detect and foil the plots of spies.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Mole from the North West Counter Terrorism Unit said: "From the literature and videos found in Suleman's possession, it is clear he is a staunch supporter of Islamic extremism and whilst there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest he engaged in any attack planning, he went out of his way to distribute extremist materials and make them accessible to others.

"The materials downloaded contained extremely dangerous and disturbing information, which were not stumbled upon by chance, but were actively searched for.

"Suleman also translated a number of existing extremist videos into English and uploaded them onto You Tube, so others could view and understand their content.

"This case highlights the very real dangers of misusing material that is readily available on the Internet. The reach of the Internet is vast and extends worldwide, so while Suleman himself may not have been planning any sort of attack, he could easily have influenced someone else with the propaganda he was uploading.

"We know that there are vulnerable people using the internet who may be easily influenced, and we are committed to taking action against people who use the internet to influence these people to engage in acts of terrorism.

"I hope therefore that this welcome result acts as a stark warning to others - this is not about policing people's freedom to browse the Internet, but taking action against those who choose to misuse the Internet and social networking sites for criminal activity.”

Anyone with concerns is urged to contact police on 999 in an emergency, or 101, or contact the Anti-Terrorist Hotline on 0800 789 321.

(MH)