Three family members to be sentenced today for owning Islamic State propaganda
All three were sentenced at the Old Bailey today. Picture: Google - Credit: Google
Three members of the same family could be jailed today for having Islamic State (IS) propaganda.
Ahmed Aweys, 33, from Chadwell Heath, his sister Asma Aweys, 30, her partner Abdulaziz Abu Munye, 27, are due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey.
Mother-of-two Aweys, from Edmonton, was found to have three copies of the English language IS magazine Rumiyah on her phone in April.
Articles in the publications offered advice such as how to “inflict misery and destruction on the enemies of Allah” through methods including vehicle attacks.
Tips on the best way to injure people using knives, including which type of blade is most effective, were also contained in the magazines.
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There was also information about how to make Molotov cocktails and napalm to be used in arson attacks.
Rhiannon Crimmins, defence counsel for Aweys, said: “I think she has been greatly shocked by her arrest.”
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This has “caused her to reflect” on her actions, Ms Crimmins said, adding: “In particular she feels she has let down her children.”
Last month Ms Aweys pleaded guilty to collecting three copies of the magazine in November and December 2016 and January 2017.
Munye, also of Edmonton, has previously admitted sending a 58 minute-long IS propaganda video, called Flames of War 2, to his brother-in-law Aweys.
The video contained footage of brutal executions, battle scenes and references to attacks in the West.
Osama bin Laden also appeared in the film, as well as images of rockets heading towards the US.
Afterwards the pair discussed the footage, with one message reading: “Bowling with kafir heads ... lol.”
Aweys then forwarded the video to a further three people, including his wife.
He said to one recipient: “Tell the world.”
The trio came to police attention after Ahmed was arrested over a separate matter and had his electronic devices seized.
Munye previously admitted a single charge, while Aweys pleaded guilty to four counts.
Peter Corrigan, defence counsel for Aweys, argued that IS material had not been widely circulated.
He said: “This is a family group passing all sorts of materials, some of it objectionable and some of it not.”
Mr Corrigan also said his client first became interested in IS material in 2015 when two of his brothers disappeared and were suspected of having joined the organisation in Syria.
Aweys started looking at IS material to see if he could see any mention of them, but “started feeling potentially sympathetic for what the brothers had tried to do”, Mr Corrigan told the court.
Munye “was not in any way condoning any form of violence”, according to his defence barrister Piers Marquis.
