What was claimed
Hate preacher Anjem Choudary received benefits and faced no action for his crimes.
Our verdict
Choudary received benefits and was imprisoned under the terrorism act.
These claims about radical Muslim preachers and Tommy Robinson are mostly incorrect
25 July 2019
What was claimed
Hate preacher Abu Qatada called for the death of soldiers and faced no action for his crimes.
Our verdict
We could find no specific evidence Qatada called for the death of soldiers, though he has advocated terrorism. Qatada was extradited to Jordan for terrorism charges in 2013 after spells in and out of UK prisons. He was cleared of terrorism offences in Jordan.
What was claimed
Hate preacher Abu Hamza was a drug dealer who called for death to the queen and faced no action for his crimes.
Our verdict
We could not find evidence of Hamza selling drugs or calling for the death of the queen specifically. He was sentenced to life in prison by the US authorities and has served time in the UK for soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred.
What was claimed
Tommy Robinson filmed Asian men involved in a grooming case and went to jail
Our verdict
Correct. Tommy Robinson reported on a trial in which defendants were accused of grooming young women. The trial had a ban on reporting until all linked cases were tried. He was imprisoned for breaking the ban.
A graphic shared hundreds of times across Facebook and Twitter incorrectly implies that Anjem Choudary, Abu Qatada and Abu Hamza did not receive any judicial action for their crimes.
The post compares and contrasts the outcomes for the three “hate preachers” with that of Tommy Robinson, who the post correctly notes was sentenced to prison. Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sentenced to nine months for filming defendants in a child grooming case, breaking reporting restrictions and so committing contempt of court.
It is not correct that Choudary faced no action. Choudary was imprisoned under the terrorism act in 2016, and upon leaving prison reportedly faced a number of restrictions on his activities.
It is not correct that Hamza faced no action. Hamza is currently serving life in prison in the US on multiple terror charges, and has served time in Britain for soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred.
With Abu Qatada things are more complex. Abu Qatada claimed asylum in the UK in 1993. In 1999 he was convicted, in absence, of terrorism charges in Jordan. He was arrested multiple times in the UK as authorities tried to organise his extradition and in 2013 he was finally extradited. He was then cleared of terror offences in Jordan in 2014.
The graphic also contains some biographical information about the three hate preachers.
It is correct to say that Choudary received benefits. Choudary received income benefits for two decades prior to him being imprisoned in 2016.
The post also claims that Qatada called for the death of soldiers, and Hamza sold drugs and called for the death of the Queen. We can’t find evidence for these claims specifically.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as mixture as some of the claims made in this graphic are false or unsourced.