Islamic preacher Hamza to face rate hate charges
Controversial Islamic preacher Abu Hamza is due to face trial this week accused of race hate crimes including soliciting murder.
Hamza, 47, of west London, the former imam of Finsbury Park mosque in north London, has no hands and only one eye.
His case at the Old Bailey is listed for today but is not expected to open before Wednesday.
He faces nine charges under the Offences Against the Person Act of 1861 alleging he solicited others at public meetings to murder Jews and other non-Muslims.
Hamza also faces four charges under the Public Order Act 1986 of “using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with the intention of stirring up racial hatred”.
A further charge alleges Hamza was in possession of video and audio recordings, which he intended to distribute to stir up racial hatred.
The final charge under section 58 of the Terrorism Act accuses him of possession of a document, the Encyclopaedia of the Afghani Jihad, which contained information “of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”.
The offences are alleged to have been committed before May, 2004.
