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Kennington woman jailed for posting Twitter terror messages 'Twitter terrorist' Alaa Esayed jailed for tweets
(about 3 hours later)
A woman has been jailed for three-and-a-half years for posting messages promoting terrorism on social media.A woman has been jailed for three-and-a-half years for posting messages promoting terrorism on social media.
Alaa Esayed, 22, an Iraqi national from Kennington, south London, admitted encouraging terrorism and dissemination of a terrorist publication.Alaa Esayed, 22, an Iraqi national from Kennington, south London, admitted encouraging terrorism and dissemination of a terrorist publication.
She posted more than 45,000 tweets in Arabic to her 8,240 followers, with many encouraging violent jihad.She posted more than 45,000 tweets in Arabic to her 8,240 followers, with many encouraging violent jihad.
Posts were published on Twitter and Instagram between 1 June 2013 and 14 May 2014, the Old Bailey was told.Posts were published on Twitter and Instagram between 1 June 2013 and 14 May 2014, the Old Bailey was told.
Her Twitter account, which bore an image of a woman in a burka with one finger raised and holding a Kalashnikov gun, even came to the attention of al Qaida, which listed it as among the 66 most important jihadist accounts.Her Twitter account, which bore an image of a woman in a burka with one finger raised and holding a Kalashnikov gun, even came to the attention of al Qaida, which listed it as among the 66 most important jihadist accounts.
After she was arrested, Esayed claimed to police she was merely interested in learning about Muslim struggles in Iraq, Syria and Palestine.
But in April, she pleaded guilty to charges of encouraging terrorism and disseminating a terrorist publication.
'Twitter terrorist'
In mitigation, her lawyer Tanvir Qureshi said: "Yes, she is a Twitter terrorist but she is a Twitter terrorist who lacked creativity.
"She did not have a blog. She was blindly cutting and pasting."
Jailing her, Judge Charles Wide said: "This material and its dissemination is an important factor in the encouragement of young men and women to travel abroad and engage in acts of terrorism.Jailing her, Judge Charles Wide said: "This material and its dissemination is an important factor in the encouragement of young men and women to travel abroad and engage in acts of terrorism.
"It is a matter of great and justified public concern," he added. "You were disseminating such material on a massive scale over a period of just short of a year.""It is a matter of great and justified public concern," he added. "You were disseminating such material on a massive scale over a period of just short of a year."
Judge Wide said it was a feature of the case that Esayed continually changed her story after she was arrested and even up until the time she pleaded guilty.
He told her she knew "perfectly well" all along what she had been doing.
Because of her "blatant untruthfulness", the judge said he had difficulty in accepting anything she said through her lawyer.
Following sentencing, Metropolitan Police Cdr Richard Walton, who leads the force's counter-terrorism command, said: "We will prosecute anyone using the internet and social media in this way."