The British-Pakistani preacher Anjem Choudary has been sentenced to life imprisonment for leading a terrorist organization. The 57-year-old Choudary was convicted last week for directing al-Muhajiroun (ALM), a group that was banned as a terrorist organization more than a decade ago.

Judge Mark Wall stated during a ruling at Woolwich Crown Court in London that organizations like ALM “normalize violence in support of an ideological cause” through online meetings. He added, “Their existence gives individuals who are members of them the courage to commit acts that they might not otherwise carry out. They create divides between people who could otherwise and would likely live together in peaceful coexistence.”

The judge announced a life sentence for Choudary, with a minimum term of 28 years before he can apply for parole. Prosecutor Tom Little noted that Choudary had become “the self-styled Emir” of ALM after its leader, Omar Bakri Mohammed, was imprisoned in Lebanon in 2014.

Choudary’s lawyer, Paul Hynes, argued that the group was “little more than a shell of an organization” and that nearly all attacks linked to it had already occurred. Law enforcement agencies from the UK, USA, and Canada conducted a joint investigation and gathered evidence that Choudary was running and directing ALM through online lectures with supporters based in New York.

According to prosecutors, the group has operated under many names, including the New York-based Islamic Thinkers Society, to which Choudary has spoken. Rebecca Weiner, Deputy Commissioner of the New York Police Department, described the case as historic.

Choudary was convicted alongside one of his followers, Khaled Hussein, who prosecutors said was a dedicated supporter of the group. Hussein, 29, from Edmonton, Canada, was convicted of membership in a banned organization and sentenced to five years in prison.

Both men were arrested a year ago after Hussein arrived at Heathrow Airport. Choudary had previously been imprisoned in 2016 for encouraging support for ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) before being released in 2018 after serving half of his five-and-a-half-year sentence. The group ALM, which emerged in the late 1990s, has been linked to several attacks both domestically and internationally.