Sara El-Houssein, 23 was found guilt of showing support to a proscribed terrorist group on Friday

(Credit – Met Police)

A woman has been convicted of showing support to a proscribed terrorist group after social media posts in October last year were reported to the police.

Sara El-Houssein, 23, of north west London was convicted at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday (12th July) of publishing an image of an article in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse a reasonable suspicion that she is a supporter of a proscribed organisation – namely Hamas – contrary to section 13(1A) of the Terrorism Act 2000.

She is due to be sentenced on August 20th.

The conviction follows social media posts allegedly showing support for Hamas being referred to the Met’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) on October 17th 2023.

El-Houssein was identified as the user behind the account and arrested on November 2nd before being released on bail. She was subsequently charged with the above offence in March.

Detective Chief Superintendent Gareth Rees, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said: “Showing support for a terrorist organisation is a criminal offence, and is something we take seriously – whether it be online or in the real-world.

“In this case, the online posts were referred to our Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit. Specialist officers established the posts were potentially in breach of terrorism legislation and from the resulting investigation, we identified the person behind them and brought her to justice.

“Any content referred to us in this way will always be carefully assessed and where potential offences are identified, we will investigate and take action.”

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