A man has been convicted of sharing terrorist material through his social media account following an investigation by detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Mehdi Bira, 45 (20.09.71) of Hampstead Road, Camden was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday, 14 August of two counts of dissemination of terrorist material, contrary to section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006. He was released on bail to be sentenced on Thursday, 7 September at the Old Bailey.
Bira was arrested on 7 September 2016 at his home after officers became aware that he had posted extremist material on his Facebook account.
Officers seized his phone, computer and media devices from his home and when they were analysed, detectives found that Bira had shared terrorist content of an extremist nature via Facebook. In all, officers found 48 terrorist-related videos on his devices. Bira had deleted 25 of these, however the investigation team were able to recover them and prove he had shared videos via Facebook.
Bira was charged on 7 December with three counts of dissemination of terrorist material. At his trial he was found not guilty of the third count, using WhatsApp to disseminate terrorist material.
Detective Chief Superintendent Clarke Jarrett, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “The distribution of terrorist material on social media is a serious offence. Such material supports terrorism and is often intended to influence and radicalise others. I would urge the public to report any extremist or terrorist material online.”
Terrorist or extremist material online can be reported at: www.gov.uk/report-terrorism
