Small-boat migrant posted pro-terrorist videos while seeking asylum in UK
A judge has criticised a small-boat migrant who posted pro-Islamic State videos online while applying for asylum.
Hakan Barac, 28, a Turkish national reached the UK two years ago and was in the process of applying for asylum when he was arrested by counter-terrorism police last year.
Bristol Crown Court heard Barac had been posting videos on social media sites including Instagram and Telegram glorifying IS and terrorists Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The videos showed jihadists preparing for martyrdom, and also featured Mohammed Khalifa, the Saudi-born Canadian recruiter.
Barac, of Newport, South Wales, previously pleaded guilty to five counts relating to the online distribution of terrorist publications, and one of expressing support for a proscribed organisation.
Jailing Barac for 45 months, Judge Martin Picton said Barac had shared material glorifying 'violent terrorism'.
'The dissemination of material of this kind has the clear potential to be supportive of such activity,' he said.
'It is apparent from your own use of social media that you have a mindset that is aligned with that ideology.
'The pattern of terrorist activity in modern times demonstrates the potential for individuals to be encouraged by material they see posted on social media so as to carry out acts of violence.
'Anybody posting material in the nature that features in this case runs the risk of encouraging another to commit an act of terrorism.
'This is not a victimless crime and the maximum penalty, as well as the relevant sentencing guidelines reflect that position.
'I accept you have had a difficult life and that you have navigated a challenging route to get to this country.
'You are here seeking asylum but at the same time choose to disseminate material that strikes at the very heart of our democratic society.
'For you to behave in that way when seeking refuge in this country is very difficult to understand and must seem utterly unacceptable to all right-thinking people.'
Ben Lloyd, prosecuting, said: 'It was apparent that a substantial number of followers to his accounts were interested in extreme Islamic subject matters.
'The defendant shared such material recklessly. In other words, he was reckless as to whether an effect of his posting the material would be the direct or indirect encouragement to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
'The prosecution's position is that the defendant's activity, while not intentional, nevertheless involved a repeated and wilful disregard with a clear, serious and obvious risk of encouraging terrorist activity.'
Mr Lloyd said that investigators found other material that he had posted online shortly before his arrest glorifying IS and martyrdom.
'The prosecution position is that the possession and sharing of this material demonstrates that defendant itself is of an Islamic extremist mindset,' he said.
'It is extreme in nature and depicts graphic violence and his possession of it demonstrates an escalation in the nature of the material he was viewing and sharing the days before his arrest.'
Mr Lloyd said Barac had entered the UK illegally on a small boat on April 22 2023.
'He does not have leave to remain, but he is permitted to stay while an application for asylum is considered and he has no previous convictions recorded against him in this jurisdiction,' he said.
Tim Forte KC, mitigating, said Barac had pleaded guilty on the basis 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.'
Judge Picton said due to the sentence, Barac would be automatically be referred to the authorities to consider deportation.
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I spoke with USA TODAY, White House correspondent, Joey Garrison, for more. Hey there, Joey. Joey Garrison: Hey, Taylor. Thanks for having me on. Taylor Wilson: Thanks for hopping on, Joey. So President Trump says Doge will keep going without Elon Musk. What have we heard from Trump on this point in recent days? Joey Garrison: Since the big blow up with Elon Musk, President Trump has made clear that he intends for Doge to continue its cost-cutting, government-cutting work even without Musk there. Of course, Musk had actually already left the week before. The White House had made clear that it's going to continue to have Doge staff members on board to try to carry out its mission of reducing so-called waste, fraud, and abuse from the government. However, it's hard to say whether it's going to be able to pack the same punch and really aggressively cut the government wholesale like it's been doing for four months without Musk. In addition to Musk leaving, there was various other top Doge officials who signed off. And so there's really a leadership vacuum right now. If you think about all the efforts, particularly in terms of cutting the workforce of the federal government, how much of that was driven publicly by Musk, both with his social media attention that he gave the Doge work as well as the spotlight he took at the White House standing aside Donald Trump during events. That part is going to be missing, and I think a lot of folks have questions whether this is going to quietly go away now the Musk is out of the picture. Taylor Wilson: Well, Joey, considering this potential leadership vacuum, how does Russell Vought enter the picture? Joey Garrison: Yeah, so Russ Vought, who was the OMB director, that stands for Office of Budget and Management, he had that same position in the first Trump term. He's taken the spotlight more as the person who was talking about the swift cuts that Musk was embracing. We see this right now with the rescissions bill that he's trying to get passed through Congress that would codify some of the Doge cuts, particularly when it comes to eliminating government spending on NPR and PBS. So Vought is taking the stance that, hey, we're trying to implement some of these cuts that Elon Musk talked about. And so he's really and center right now. And what you got to remember about Vought is he doesn't sound too much different than Musk. I mean, when you see what he wrote with Project 2025, he talks about breaking the federal bureaucracy so that the Executive Branch, the President, has the full power across the federal government and not these independent agencies. Of course, where Musk though really embraced this very public role, Vought works more behind the scenes, somebody who has a lot more relationships with Congress than Elon Musk. So there's a lot of differences there. I will say that when you ask the White House, "Hey, who's replacing Elon Musk?" They don't point to anyone in particular. They say it's the cabinet secretaries themselves, the leaders of these departments of agencies that are taking on that Doge role. Taylor Wilson: Well, you mentioned Congress a moment ago. Some Republican lawmakers have said they want to codify Doge cuts. What's the latest here? What can you tell us? Joey Garrison: Well, there should be a vote we're expecting on Thursday in regards to that rescissions bill that I mentioned earlier, where they will look to codify that. And Russ Vought has also said, "Look, let's get this one passed with these initial cuts, and then we'll try to get some of these moving forward." But it remains to be seen how many of those cuts are actually enacted eventually. Taylor Wilson: And Joey, we should say, some agencies have been working to even bring back fired workers after this massive slashing that we saw under Musk. Is that still the case? What's happening there? Joey Garrison: That's been a trend that we saw right at the get-go when the haphazardly really issued blanket resignations to all sorts of probationary workers who had been working in less than a year or two within these agencies. After doing so, they either A, found out that they had done too many in certain places or didn't realize some of the folks they were firing, and that continues to be something that we're seeing now. And I think without Musk's presence, top Doge, you're going to see, I think a lot more of these cabinet secretaries feel like they're maybe more empowered to staff the departments to the degree they want to. Yes, Doge is still around, but I think you have a lot less of that pressure, so it'll be curious to see whether the federal government ends up getting a little bit. Taylor Wilson: All right, Joey Garrison is a White House correspondent with USA TODAY. Thanks as always, Joey. Joey Garrison: Yeah, thanks, Taylor. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel earlier today, a day after the Israeli Navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza. Israeli forces boarded the charity vessel as it neared Gaza early yesterday, trying to break through Israel's longstanding naval blockade. The activists have been carrying a small cargo of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula, and said they wanted to raise international awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Israel's foreign ministry said that the tiny amount of aid on the boat that was, as they put it, "not consumed by the celebrities," will be transferred to Gaza through, quote, "real humanitarian channels." Israel has imposed a naval blockade on Gaza since Hamas took control of the enclave in 2007. Israel says it aims to stop weapons from reaching Hamas. In March, Israel imposed a total blockade of all supplies reaching Gaza, which the UN says has pushed the population to the brink of famine. In recent weeks, Israel has allowed limited food supplies to be distributed by a new Israeli-backed group. ♦ Sly Stone, a one-time San Francisco DJ turned pop and funk music innovator, has died. Stone went on to see chart-topping success in the '60s and '70s, though he was later plagued by homelessness and health issues. He also went through financial problems amid management disputes, at one point, winning a five-million-dollar judgment for unpaid royalties that was later overturned. Reports at one stage of his life indicated he was living in a van in Los Angeles. And yet, he and his trendsetting, multiracial, multi-gendered Bay Area band, the Family Stone never stopped being a touchstone for generations of musicians. You can read more about Sly's life and legacy with a link in today's show notes. Sly Stone was 82. ♦ Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And as always, you can find us at podcasts@ if you want to shoot us an email, I'm Taylor Wilson, I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.
