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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