Terror offences teacher Jamshed Javeed condemns brutality of Isis
The chemistry teacher had been planning to go to Syria to fight Assad
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Your support makes all the difference.A chemistry teacher who is facing jail after admitting he planned to travel to Syria and carry out acts of terror condemned the “indiscriminate brutality of Islamic State [Isis]” – in the latest sign that even radicalised young Britons are turning against Isis.
Jamshed Javeed, 30, was arrested in December after his distraught family confiscated his passport and told the police they feared he was preparing to fly out to join Syrian rebels via Turkey.
The father-of-two pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court in London to two counts of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts. Police accused Javeed of becoming rapidly radicalised from living an ordinary Western lifestyle with a stable family background to someone who was determined to travel to Syria and fight for Isis.
However in his plea, Javeed, from Levenshulme in Manchester, claimed he was travelling to join Syrian rebels fighting the “vicious” regime of President Bashar al-Assad, whose rule is also opposed by Britain and America. He claimed he is not an extremist, thought he had cleared his travel with MI5, and said he had “never supported and does not support the aims of Isis as now understood”.
“There is no coherent rebel force seeking to defeat Assad,” his basis of plea said. “He is appalled at the indiscriminate brutality of Isis. He does not believe in imposing his religious beliefs on others, nor does he believe that murdering innocent people can ever be justified.”
Javeed’s statement distancing himself from Isis atrocities comes amid growing evidence that many radicalised young Britons who travelled to the region to fight are now longing to return home.
Muhammad Hassan, 20, from Portsmouth, who was killed in Syria last week, had apparently told his family he was desperate to leave Isis.
The case against Javeed, who taught chemistry at Sharples High School in Bolton, included allegations that he supported four associates who travelled to Syria between September and November last year, before deciding to make the journey himself.
He was said to have bought equipment for himself and Isis fighters to use once he arrived in the country.
Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Mole, head of the North-west Counter-terrorism Unit, said: “The evidence indicates he has got together with a group who have been very determined to go out to Syria and fight, despite the efforts of his family who were against him going out there.”
The basis of plea submitted by Javeed’s lawyers insisted he is not an extremist. It said: “He does not support suicide bombings, the execution of hostages, or forcing non-Muslims to convert to Islam.”
Javeed also claimed he was spoken to twice by MI5 officers last December but not told that fighting with the opposition against the Assad regime would be a terrorism offence. He will be sentenced on 12 December.