A Syrian asylum seeker who posted extremist videos online in support of Islamic State has been jailed for two years.
Saer Hussein Shaker came to the UK in 2014 after his father and brother-in-law were killed in his home country by a militant group opposed by Isis. Two years after he was granted discretionary leave to remain, he began posting Isis propaganda on Facebook, Manchester crown court heard.
Shaker was arrested at his home in Stockport in February after counter-terrorism officers had monitored his social media activity.
He posted one video clip that showed the execution of blindfolded and handcuffed Iraqi officers by a militant dressed in black, which was viewed 92 times and liked by three people. On his public Facebook account he also posted a still image from another video in support of Isis that promoted the use of suicide bombers.
Karen Robinson, prosecuting, said: “The material which forms the bases of the indicted counts are not isolated examples of extremist materials within the defendant’s social media activity.
“Rather the available evidence from the defendant’s online and other activity, considered as a whole, demonstrates that the defendant is someone with an extremist mindset, clearly supportive of Islamic State.”
When arrested, Shaker said his father and brother-in-law were kidnapped and murdered at the beginning of the Syrian revolution by a group known as Ahrar al-Sham. He said he came to the UK not by design, but was working as an oiler on a ship that had to dock in Britain when it got into difficulties.
Shaker, 35, said he decided to stay in the UK because his life was in danger back home and his wife and three children joined him before he applied for asylum and was granted leave to stay until May 2019.
The court heard he was a qualified electronics engineer but had not found a job because he could not speak English.
Robinson said: “He said he found it difficult to live on benefit payments, particularly when he was required to put some money to one side to send back to his family in Syria. He was bored in the UK, and believed that his boredom was one reason why he had ended up being arrested by police.”
On Friday, Shaker pleaded guilty to one count of disseminating a terrorist publication and one of encouraging an act of terrorism.
Sentencing him to concurrent terms of two years each, the recorder of Manchester, Judge David Stockdale QC, told him: “It is clear to me that you had and evidently still have a mindset which is supportive of Islamic State. But I accept that your support of Islamic State stems from the killing of your father and brother-in-law by a rival militant group.
“You are not for example of a mindset, as I find, to encourage directly an act of terrorism within the UK. Furthermore your offending was not sophisticated. You did not conceal your own identity. You did not target a specific audience.”
Following sentencing, DCS Dominic Scally, the head of the north-west counter-terrorism unit, said: “Shaker knew exactly what he was doing when he made the decision to share these appalling videos and he is now staring the consequences of his actions directly in the face.
“As he prepares to begin his prison sentence, I hope this will send a clear message. If you are involved in creating, encouraging or sharing extremist materials online, we will search for you and we are prepared to prosecute you to the full extent of the law.”