British radical preacher Anjem Choudary was granted bail Friday as he pleaded not guilty to charges of inviting support for the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group through social media, AFP reports.
The 48-year-old Choudary spent the last two weeks in jail after breaching his bail conditions, having met an individual he was ordered to avoid.
A judge at the Old Bailey central criminal court in London allowed him to be rebailed on the same conditions, once a $22,800 surety is provided.
Choudary was arrested in August but was granted bail on September 4 pending a trial to be held in January. The court revoked his bail in late November after he was seen meeting a person he was "precluded from contacting."
Choudary and his co-accused, Mohammed Rahman, entered not guilty pleas to charges of inviting support for Islamic State, which is banned under UK anti-terror laws, between June 29, 2014, and March 6, 2015.
Judge Timothy Holroyde adjourned the case until January 11 for a further hearing ahead of the trial, which will start the following day.
Choudary is the former head in Britain of Islam4UK or al-Muhajiroun, a group that called for Islamic law in Britain and which was banned under counter-terrorism legislation in 2010.
He has often praised Muslim terrorists, referring to the September 11 terrorists as “magnificent martyrs.” Choudary has in the past praised the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai, India and has also called for stoning homosexuals, assassinating the Pope, and prosecuting Queen Elizabeth for genocide.
In 2013, he was filmed while threatening at a protest outside the French Embassy in London that Islam will dominate France and England.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)