logo
Islamic extremist jailed for posting ISIS videos after arriving in UK by small boat

Islamic extremist jailed for posting ISIS videos after arriving in UK by small boat

The National08-04-2025

An asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by small boat has been jailed for posting videos in support of ISIS.
Hakan Barac, 28, came to the UK illegally but was in the process of applying for asylum when he was arrested by counter-terrorism police last year.
The Turkish national had been posting videos on social media sites, including Instagram and Telegram, glorifying ISIS and terrorists Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Bristol Crown Court heard. The videos showed extremists preparing for martyrdom and also featured Saudi-born Canadian recruiter Mohammed Khalifa.
Barac, who was living in Newport, south Wales, was jailed for 45 months after previously pleading guilty to five counts relating to the online distribution of terrorist publications and one of expressing support for a proscribed organisation.
Passing sentence, judge Martin Picton said Barac had shared material glorifying "violent terrorism" and said he would be automatically referred for possible deportation. 'Anybody posting material of this nature runs the risk of encouraging another to commit an act of terrorism,' he said.
"This is not a victimless crime and the maximum penalty, as well as the relevant sentencing guidelines, reflect that position. You are here seeking asylum but at the same time choose to disseminate material that strikes at the very heart of our democratic society.'
Prosecutor Ben Lloyd said the material found on Barac is 'extreme in nature and depicts graphic violence" which demonstrates that 'he is of an Islamic extremist mindset'.
"It was apparent that a substantial number of followers to his accounts were interested in extreme Islamic subject matters,' he said.
Detective Chief Inspector Leanne Williams, from Counter Terrorism Policing Wales, described Barac as 'a dangerous individual' who 'clearly expressed his support for the Islamic State'.
'It was our absolute priority to ensure the public were protected from him and the abhorrent rhetoric he espoused,' she said.
Tim Forte KC, defending, said Barac had pleaded guilty on the basis that there was "no intention to assist or encourage" and the posts had only been seen by a small number of people.
'He thought he had a hundred followers. That's not a huge group in a country of 60 million; in a world of eight billion," he said. 'Given it's global, it's a relatively small number. There is no evidence that others have acted or been assisted."
The UK has seen a steady stream of migrants arriving by small boat since 2018. So far this year UK authorities have recorded 6,796 making the crossing, compared to 5,517 over the same period in 2024.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Seizure of Madleen is the latest in more than a decade of Israeli attacks on aid flotillas
Seizure of Madleen is the latest in more than a decade of Israeli attacks on aid flotillas

Middle East Eye

timean hour ago

  • Middle East Eye

Seizure of Madleen is the latest in more than a decade of Israeli attacks on aid flotillas

Israeli forces seized control of the Madleen aid vessel aiming to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip on Monday morning - the latest of many such Israeli interceptions over the past decade and a half. The British-flagged Madleen, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was seeking to deliver a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula, and raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis there. However, the boat was intercepted in the early hours of Monday before it could reach Gaza, the FFC said on its Telegram account. Israeli authorities detained its crew of 12, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and French politician Rima Hassan. Before their arrest, crew aboard the FFC had said that quadcopters surrounded the vessel and sprayed it with a "white liquid". New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters It's the latest instance of years of Israeli attacks on FFC-organised aid vessels attempting to break Israel's 18-year air, naval and land blockade on the Palestinian territory. The FFC says that it is governed by the principles of non-violent resistance. The coalition includes member organisations from several countries, including Canada, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the US, Ireland, Brazil, Australia and France. Middle East Eye takes a look at the history of Israeli attacks on FFC flotillas. Decade and half of Israeli attacks The coalition first came together in 2010, after Israeli forces boarded a Freedom Flotilla mission in May that year and killed 1o activists. The Mavi Marmara mission had been organised by the Free Gaza Movement and Turkey's IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation. The ship set sail on 22 May from Sarayburnu port, Istanbul, in an attempt to breach the Israeli blockade on Gaza. A week later, in the Mediterranean Sea south of Cyprus, it joined the rest of the aid flotilla, comprising three passenger and three cargo ships carrying essential humanitarian aid and 700 activists. But on 31 May 2010, despite being in international waters, Israeli troops violently boarded the Mavi Marmara vessel using helicopters and speedboats. Nine people were killed instantly, while another later died as a result of his wounds. The incident became a major international story, with Israel's actions receiving strong condemnations. Following the 2010 mission, the FFC was created to bring together and coordinate various campaigns from around the world seeking to break Israel's siege. A subsequent mission in 2011, named "Freedom Flotilla II - Stay Human", was due to set sail towards Gaza on 5 July. However, the vast majority of vessels in the flotilla were unable to depart. Organisers said that Israel had sabotaged two of the ships set to depart from Turkey and Greece. One of the vessels, organised by an Irish group, was not allowed to leave the port after Greek authorities cited safety concerns. The only aid ship that managed to get near Gaza, the French vessel Dignite al-Karama, was intercepted by Israeli authorities. Greta Thunberg aboard Gaza flotilla: Doing nothing 'is not an option' Read More » Freedom Flotilla III, which left Sweden on 10 May 2015, was again intercepted by Israeli authorities in international waters a month and a half after setting sail. One of the boats, named Marianne, was forced by Israeli troops to turn towards the city of Ashdod, in southern Israel. Other vessels also turned back. Among those on Marianne were lawmaker Basel Ghattas, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, and Moncef Marzouki, the former president of Tunisia. The following year, the FFC organised the Women's Boat to Gaza, a single ship with an entirely female crew. It set sail from Barcelona on 14 September 2016, but two weeks later, on 5 October, was seized by Israeli forces. The entirety of the all-female crew - which included journalists, actors, politicians and even a Nobel Peace Prize winner - were arrested by Israeli troops, who took them to Ashdod. All of them were subsequently deported. Another mission, which set sail in May 2017 in solidarity with Gaza fishermen, was attacked by a suspected Israeli drone in international waters near Malta. In July the following year, Israeli forces stopped al-Awda, a Norwegian flagged fishing boat that was part of the coalition. All 22 people on board were arrested and taken to Ashdod. In 2023 and 2024, the ship Handala, which focused on the children of Gaza, set sail to several destinations in Europe to educate people about Israel's siege and war on Gaza. Last month, another vessel organised by the FFC, the Conscience, failed to continue its journey after being struck by an Israeli drone near Maltese waters.

Azerbaijan maintains oil sales to Israel despite Turkish backlash, says report
Azerbaijan maintains oil sales to Israel despite Turkish backlash, says report

Middle East Eye

time3 hours ago

  • Middle East Eye

Azerbaijan maintains oil sales to Israel despite Turkish backlash, says report

Azerbaijan has vowed to Israel that it will continue supplying the country with oil, despite officially halting oil sales last year, according to a report in Haaretz. Baku recently removed oil sales to Israel from its customs records, after steady year-on-year increases in exports to the country which had reached over a million tons in 2024. According to the records, exports to Israel stopped in October amid the war on Gaza. However, Israeli sources told Haaretz that the sales have continued, and that the change in customs records may be due to the transactions being made to traders registered in third countries. "We received a promise from the Azerbaijanis that the strategic relations will continue, including in the energy sector, and we have nothing to worry about," one source said. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Two Israeli sources said that the halt on sales in October was driven by pressure from Turkey, Baku's most important political and military ally. Azerbaijan's state oil company to invest $7bn in Turkey Read More » The Turkish pressure, Haaretz reported, is partly due to the fact that Azerbaijani oil exported to Israel is carried by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, running through Turkey. Ankara cut trade ties with Israel in May last year over the war on Gaza and Israeli refusal to allow Turkey to airdrop humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave. Several Turkish opposition parties and voices have protested against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, accusing it of continuing to supply Israel with Azerbaijani oil. Protests have also taken place outside the Istanbul office of Socar, Azerbaijan's state oil company. The Israeli source told Haaretz: "Even if Azerbaijan stops exporting oil to Israel, we will not collapse. We will bring it from somewhere else. "But they want to balance the situation in which they are dependent only on us, from a security perspective.' Tankers turning off tracking signal Israel provided military and diplomatic assistance to Azerbaijan in its offensive against Armenia in September 2023, which resulted in an Azerbaijani takeover of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Ilham Shaban, the chairman of the Azerbaijani Caspian Barrel Oil Research Centre, told Haaretz that by selling oil through individuals, it can avoid publicising that the exports eventually end up in Israel. He said that Baku could then claim that the sales do 'not fuel the planes that annihilate Palestinian children'. Analysis in November found evidence of 'systemised trade' in crude oil between Turkey and Israel, despite Ankara's trade embargo over the war. The Stop Fuelling Genocide campaign released evidence that suggested that the Seavigour tanker shipped crude oil from Turkey's Ceyhan port to a pipeline near Ashkelon in Israel. Cop29 turns heat up on Turkey and Azerbaijan over oil exports to Israel Read More » The port is the last stop on the BP-owned Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The oil is then shipped from the Heydar Aliyev Terminal at Ceyhan to Israel, accounting for almost 30 percent of its crude oil imports. The researchers tracked 10 journeys made in 2024 by the Kimolos tanker between Ceyhan and Ashkelon, with eight of them occurring after Turkey announced its embargo in May. Despite the ship turning off its tracking signal for several days in the Eastern Mediterranean to mask its route, the researchers managed to identify it as docking in Israel 10 times using satellite imagery. Port logs for the Kimolos reveal that on a typical trip to Israel, the tanker is registered as being bound for Egypt, leaving with a full load of oil. But the tanker does not dock in Egypt, instead 'disappearing' for a few days in the Eastern Mediterranean. This strategy follows a similar pattern to that of the Seavigour, which also turned off its location transponder and reappeared in Sicily days later. The Turkish energy ministry has repeatedly denied that any oil tankers bound for Israel have left Ceyhan since May, stating that 'companies transporting oil through the BTC pipeline for export to global markets from Haydar Aliyev Terminal have respected Turkiye's recent decision not to engage in trade with Israel'. Middle East Eye previously reported that the advocacy group Oil Change International, which authored a report tracking oil shipments to Israel up until July 2024, said its data sources showed multiple shipments from Ceyhan since May. A Turkish official previously told MEE that BP sells oil to intermediary companies, which Ankara cannot control, and tankers pick up the oil "without declaring their final destination".

Turkey calls Israel 'terrorist state' over seizure of Gaza aid ship Madleen
Turkey calls Israel 'terrorist state' over seizure of Gaza aid ship Madleen

Middle East Eye

time4 hours ago

  • Middle East Eye

Turkey calls Israel 'terrorist state' over seizure of Gaza aid ship Madleen

The Turkish government on Monday accused Israel of being a "terrorist state" after its forces intercepted the Madleen, a vessel carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, in international waters. The ship, which had two Turkish citizens among 12 activists on board, was prevented from reaching the besieged Palestinian enclave in the early hours of Monday. Turkish officials described the incident as a 'clear violation of international law,' accusing the Israeli government of jeopardising both maritime security and freedom of navigation. 'This heinous attack by the Netanyahu government, which also threatens freedom of navigation and maritime security, has once again proven that Israel is a terrorist state,' the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement. Turkish foreign ministry sources told MEE that Turkey's Tel Aviv embassy has taken the necessary steps to ensure that Turkish citizens are released as soon as possible. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The two Turkish citizens who had been on board the Madleen are Yasemin Acar, who is a dual German-Turkish national, and Suayb Ordu. Israeli forces seized control of the charity vessel, which was aiming to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip, and detained its crew, including activist Greta Thunberg, Israeli officials said. The British-flagged yacht Madleen, operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was aiming to deliver a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid - including rice and baby formula - to Gaza later on Monday, and to raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis there. However, the boat was intercepted in the early hours of Monday before it could reach Gaza, the FFC said on its Telegram account. Israel had vowed to prevent the vessel from reaching Gaza, stating that its military would use 'any means necessary' to stop it from breaching the naval blockade. Among the activists on the intercepted voyage were Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, Rima Hassan- a French member of the European Parliament - and Turkish citizen and activist Suayb Ordu. The FFC reported that quadcopters surrounded the aid ship and sprayed it with a "white liquid". Previous attacks This is not the first time Turkey has faced an Israeli interception of an aid ship carrying Turkish citizens bound for Gaza. In 2010, Israel raided a Gaza-bound flotilla transporting activists and humanitarian aid, killing 10 Turkish citizens and arresting dozens of Turkish activists. The incident triggered a major crisis in Turkish-Israeli relations that lasted for years. Israel later apologised and agreed to pay compensation in a US-brokered deal in 2013. Greta Thunberg aboard Gaza flotilla: Doing nothing 'is not an option' Read More » Ankara's statement also accused Israel of 'using hunger as a weapon' and reiterated its longstanding support for the Palestinian cause. 'Israel's aggressive and lawless attitude will not be able to silence those who defend human values,' it said, adding that the international community's 'justified reaction' to Israel's 'genocidal' policies in Gaza would continue. The incident comes amid mounting international criticism of Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza, which has sparked widespread protests and calls for accountability over alleged war crimes and the prevention of vital humanitarian aid deliveries. Various aid organisations and UN agencies accuse Israel of committing genocide in Gaza following the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. Turkish-Israeli relations have deeply deteriorated since then, with Ankara imposing a total trade embargo and joining a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. According to Palestinian health and government officials, since October 2023, at least 54,880 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces, of whom 28,000 are women and girls. Among those killed, at least 1,400 are health sector workers, over 300 UN aid workers, and more than 220 journalists.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store