CONVICTED terrorists are setting up Sharia courts in jails and flogging inmates who flout their strict Muslim code, a report says.
Anti-terror czar Sir Jonathan Hall said lags at jails including Belmarsh and Whitemoor are using their “celebrity” status to try to take over prison wings.
He said the “charismatic . . . self-styled emirs” exert a “controlling and radicalising influence on the wider Muslim prison population”.
Their “enforcers” order lags to do “menial tasks” like cleaning cells.
Prisoners are excluded from showers and kitchens unless they stick to a halal diet.
Vulnerable prisoners are groomed with gifts in the hope of spreading terror and hate when they are finally released.
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Attempts are made to “engineer segregation” between Muslim and non-Muslim lags — and ban staff from attending Friday prayers.
He said extremists seek to impose a hardline Muslim code which includes “the use of Sharia courts and punishment, including flogging”.
Bogus racism, mistreatment and Islamophobia claims are made against jail staff to “delegitimise” their authority.
Intimidated employees often defer to the so-called emirs to maintain “good order”.
Sir Jonathan was asked to look into jail extremism after a series of attacks by convicted terrorists.
Among them was jihadi Usman Khan, 28, who stabbed two people to death at London Bridge in 2019.
He was released after serving half his 16-year sentence despite plotting to kill staff and, it was believed, attempting to radicalise other lags.
Sir Jonathan said: “For the last decade and a half, groups of prisoners . . . have adopted an anti-State Islamist stance that condones or encourages violence towards non-Muslim prisoners, prison officers and the general public.”
He recommended beefing up teams to spot signs of terrorism and creating a law to make committing a terror offence inside jail a specific crime.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab promised to crack down on terrorists “poisoning the well” in prisons.
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He vowed to rip up the Human Rights Act so public safety trumps the “nonsense of a right to socialise among extremist offenders”.
He said this would allow prison chiefs to segregate jihadis in separation centres — jails within jails — to neuter their influence.
By Dominic Raab, Justice Secretary
THE terrorism threat level was raised last year after the killing of Sir David Amess and the attempted bombing of a women’s hospital in Liverpool.
I’m responsible for making sure prisons play their crucial role in stopping those who want to kill and injure in the name of warped ideologies.
In our high security prisons, we use separation centres to contain the most dangerous offenders and stop them spreading their twisted views.
Armed with elastic interpretations of the Human Rights Act, terrorist offenders bring cases against these centres claiming a “right to socialise” in prison.
We’ll replace the Human Rights Act with a Bill of Rights to curb the abuse of the law.
It will help to protect measures recommended by the Independent Reviewer of Terror Legislation, Jonathan Hall QC.
Firstly, we’ll make the referral process for separation centres more robust.
Secondly, we’ll give prison governors more leeway to respond to terrorist risks.
Thirdly, we’ll strengthen training for staff.
And fourthly, we’ll invest £1.2million to target terrorists in prison who should be placed in centres.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Recent attacks strengthen our resolve to do everything in our power to protect the public.
