Latest news with #AliHarbiAli
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Three Iranians charged in UK over alleged plot targeting journalists
The Old Bailey is seen, ahead of the arrival of Ali Harbi Ali, 25, suspect in the murder of British MP David Amess, who is due to appear in court, in London, Britain, October 22, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS Listen to article Three Iranian men appeared in court in London on Friday accused of assisting Iran's foreign intelligence service and plotting violence against journalists working for a British-based broadcaster critical of Tehran. The three men - Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, - have been charged with offences under Britain's National Security Act, brought in to give the authorities new powers to target threats from foreign states. They are accused of "engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service" between August 2024 and February this year, and police have said that it related to Iran. Sepahvand is also charged with carrying out surveillance in preparation to commit serious violence against a person, while Manesh and Noori were charged with surveillance with the intention that serious violent acts would be committed by others. The men appeared by videolink on Friday for a brief hearing at London's Old Bailey court during which their lawyers said all intended to plead not guilty to the charges. Prosecutors told a hearing last month that the allegations involved the targeting of journalists based in Britain connected with Iran International, a broadcaster critical of the Iranian government. They were remanded in custody until a formal plea hearing on September 26 and they are due to go on trial in October next year. The suspects were arrested last month on the same day counter-terrorism police detained five other men, including four Iranians, as part of a separate operation. Those men were later released without charge.
The Independent
7 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Prevent referrals for young people has doubled since last summer, says Cooper
The number of younger people being referred to the Prevent counter-extremism programme has doubled since last summer, the Home Secretary has revealed. Yvette Cooper told the Commons Home Affairs Committee that she was 'really worried' about 'increasing extremism among young people', with rising numbers being reported to Prevent or arrested for terrorism offences. But she also warned that not enough cases of Islamic extremism were being referred to the programme, saying she was 'concerned about the threshold ending up being too high'. The Government has embarked on an overhaul of the Prevent programme, which aims to divert people away from extremism, amid rising concern about youth radicalisation and following the murder of three young girls in Southport by teenager Axel Rudakubana. Rudakubana had been referred to Prevent, but his case was closed due to his lack of ideology. As well as appointing an independent Prevent commissioner to examine the programme, the Southport case and that of Ali Harbi Ali, who murdered Tory MP Sir David Amess in 2021, ministers launched a review of Prevent thresholds towards the end of last year. Asked about the findings of that review on Tuesday, Ms Cooper said: 'This is one of the issues that I am really worried about, and we are seeing increasing extremism among young people.' Adding that the counter-terror caseload involving young people had trebled in the last three years, she said: 'What we've also seen, I think, is a doubling of the number of young people being referred to Prevent since last summer as well. 'So this does raise some very significant challenges for us.' In response, the Government has proposed new 'youth diversion orders' as part of the Crime and Policing Bill currently making its way through Parliament. The orders are intended to apply to young people who require intervention beyond the voluntary Prevent scheme, and can impose conditions including restrictions on online activity. The latest figures show a slight rise in the number of people being referred to Prevent when compared to the previous year, with 6,922 referrals in the year up to March 31 2024. Around half of those referrals were for people aged under 18, while referrals for 'extreme right-wing concerns' outnumbered those for 'Islamist concerns' for the fourth year running. But Ms Cooper told MPs on Tuesday: 'I continue to be concerned about the threshold ending up being too high and not enough Islamist extremist cases being referred to Prevent, and the need to do more to make sure more of those cases were being referred to Prevent.'
Sky News
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Refusal to hold inquiry into Sir David Amess murder 'an absolute insult, says his daughter
The daughter of Sir David Amess has said the government's decision to reject a national inquiry into his murder is an "absolute insult" and "betrayal to our father's memory". Katie Amess said the death of her father, who was murdered by Ali Harbi Ali in 2021, had left an "unimaginable void" in her life. She said the authorities had let her father down "so badly" and that his death had been "brushed under the carpet". In a news conference, she urged Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to reverse her decision, saying: "Do not let my father's murder be forgotten. "Do not let his death be just another statistic." Sir David was stabbed to death by Islamic State (ISIS) supporter Ali Harbi Ali during a constituency surgery at a church hall in Leigh-on-Sea in October 2021. The killer, who was given a whole-life sentence, had become radicalised by ISIS propaganda and had been referred to the anti-terror programme Prevent before the attack. A review into his murder found that Harbi Ali was released from the Prevent anti-terror programme "too quickly". In a tearful statement, Ms Amess accused Ms Cooper of having "strung" the family along for "months" by suggesting she "was working on ways to help us". She told reporters: "How can the government justify holding inquiries for other tragic events like Southport and Nottingham and yet refuse to investigate the very system that failed my father? "Is his life worth less than others? "Does our family not deserve the truth like other families and to know that what happened will never happen again?" She continued: "Yvette Cooper has strung us along for months suggesting that she was working on ways to help us. "However, all she has done is remove the possibility of us being included in the Southport inquiry; instead offering another useless paper review, conducted by a person of their choice. "I want Sir Keir and Yvette Cooper to know exactly what the consequences are when the very government agencies that are set up to protect people like my dad, and members of the public, fail. "Doing paper review after paper review into what happened, like what they have done since the day my dad was murdered, is simply not enough."
Sky News
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
Basic failings and missed chances to stop killer of Sir David Amess becoming a terrorist
Two notorious killers, two missed opportunities to stop them on their paths to murder. Ali Harbi Ali's teachers recognised the potential danger he posed 10 years before he stabbed to death Sir David Amess. So, too, did the initial assessors on the government's anti-radicalisation Prevent programme because they escalated him to the second stage. Unlike the Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, who was referred to Prevent three times but never got beyond first base, Ali did get enhanced monitoring, aimed at stopping him becoming a terrorist. But for reasons the review does not explain in any detail, Ali was still dismissed from the programme too early. There are several damning assessments of what went wrong, including the revelation that there was little documentation of the various interactions with Ali. Even when an engagement was noted down, it demonstrated a real lack of exploration of his problems: "AA is a Ribblesdown school pupil whose school performance has rapidly declined. This has given rise to fears of radicalisation. However, the main problem seems to be home life [due to family issues]." And this: "The failure to keep in contact with the regional referrer meant that the opportunities to assess whether or not any progress had been made was missed." Such basic stuff. No wonder Sir David's relatives, like the families of the Southport victims, are so desperate for a fuller investigation of the Prevent mistakes. At least in both cases the reviews, as far as they go, have been published. But not to publish would have fuelled more accusations of a government cover-up of its programme's failings. The review chronicles events from Ali's inadequate Prevent engagements from 10 years ago and there have been many criticisms and changes to the programme since then. But the review still points out some things that many will find hard to believe: "There is no single referral process across the country. Whilst a National Prevention Referral Form exists, the take-up is not consistent.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Counter-terror review linked to MP's murder ‘clearly inadequate'
A review of the handling of the killer of MP Sir David Amess under a government counter-terrorism programme is 'clearly inadequate' and a public inquiry should be launched into the scheme, a former MP has said. Anna Firth, who represented Southend West, said a review of how terrorist murderer Ali Harbi Ali was dealt with under Prevent and Channel failed to compare what police officers and local authority staff found about the teenager, and the extremist beliefs revealed at his criminal trial. The document published on Wednesday made reference to Ali wanting to move to a Muslim country, and believing that interest rates on student loans, co-education with women and music were against the principles of his religion. But it was revealed at his murder trial at the Old Bailey that he had been radicalised over the internet between 2014 and 2016 and was an Isis sympathiser in the same year that he was referred to counter-terrorism scheme Prevent. By 2016, when his risk of radicalisation was deemed to be low and his case was closed, he had already bought a large knife with which to carry out a terrorist atrocity, and eventually went on to use to murder Sir David. Repeating calls for a public inquiry into how Ali was dealt with, Ms Firth said: 'The Prevent Learning Review while welcome, failed to compare what Prevent did against what the criminal trial revealed about the extent of Ali Harbi Ali's radicalisation – i.e. by 2014 he wanted to join Isis and by 2017 he wanted to carry out an attack in the UK. This is clearly inadequate. 'It did, however, detail six different areas in which Prevent failed, including the damming admission that the perpetrator was discharged from Prevent too early.' She added: 'Despite the millions of pounds being spent on Prevent, it does not do what it says on the tin. 'These systemic issues need to be considered as part of a national inquiry to stop these mindless, devastating killings happening again.' Ali had been referred to Prevent seven years before he killed the veteran MP on October 15 2021, but his case was closed in 2016. The so-called Islamic State fanatic stabbed Sir David at his constituency surgery in Essex and was sentenced to a whole-life order in 2022. The Government promised to publish the Prevent Learning Review after the report into Southport killer Axel Rudakubana's handling by the programme was published last week. Security minister Dan Jarvis told MPs on Wednesday of Ali's case: 'The reviewer found that from the material reviewed, the assessment in terms of the perpetrator's vulnerabilities was problematic, and this ultimately led to questionable decision making and sub-optimal handling of the case during the time he was engaged with Prevent and Channel. 'The reviewer ultimately found that while Prevent policy and guidance at the time was mostly followed, the case was exited from Prevent too quickly.' Ali was first referred to Prevent by his school, Riddlesdown college, in October 2014, amid concerns over a change in his behaviour. The learning review found that he 'was an engaging student who had performed well at school and appeared to have a bright future', but then 'his demeanour, appearance and behaviour changed during his final two years at school'. A month after the Prevent referral, in November 2014, he was moved on to the next stage of the anti-radicalisation scheme, Channel, working with experts in Islamist extremism. By April 2015 he had exited Channel, when his risk of terrorism was assessed to be low. One year later, he was again assessed as part of a police review and again his risk was found to be low, and his case was closed. There were no further referrals to Prevent in the five years before Sir David's murder in October 2021. The report did not mention an interest in Isis, but instead said Ali was clearly considered vulnerable to radicalisation, with consideration given to him expressing listening to music and interest charged on student loans as against his religion. Asked about his drop in studies, it also referred to his interest to travel to a more Islamic state so he could no longer live among unbelievers. But the independent reviewer said while references were made to this during Ali's interaction with Prevent and Channel there was no evidence of them being analysed and discussed as to how to appropriately address them. Mr Jarvis told the Commons that the learning review found six issues, including 'problematic' record keeping; the rationale for certain decisions not being explained; responsibilities between police and the local authority being blurred; an outdated tool for identifying vulnerability to radicalisation being used; a failure to involve the school who made the referral; and only one intervention session being provided instead of two. He also said a number of issues in Ali's case would 'most likely not be repeated today' as the reviewer found 'significant changes' had been made since his referral, such as the introduction of statutory duties for Prevent and Channel under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015. But Mr Jarvis added there are still a number of areas that could require further work to prevent future failures and that four recommendations made from the report have been 'fully implemented' by the Home Office and counter-terrorism policing. These included a single national referral form to encourage a consistency in referrals and training for police for the intelligence check stage. The review publication comes amid a call for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to extend the Southport murders inquiry to include Sir David and possibly other victims who were failed by the Prevent programme.
