Belmarsh prison: 'The jihadi 'madrasa' right in heart of London UK'

Belmarsh prison: 'The jihadi training camp right in heart of London UK'. (Standard).

Jamal, 27, a Muslim university graduate, served part of his sentence for bank fraud in Belmarsh maximum-security prison. He was released two weeks ago and turned whistleblower. This is his shocking testimony.

Soon after I arrived in Belmarsh in 2014, news came through that Mosul in Iraq had fallen to Islamic State and the prison erupted. There were chants of “Allahu Akbar”, wild banging on the doors and joyous shouting of “we are going to take over” throughout the wing. It was like a big party that went on unchecked for several hours.

I was devastated because I watched how prison officers seemingly took no action, leaving new inmates like myself with the impression that the real people in charge were not the warders, but a terrifying group of radical Islamists known as “the Brothers” or “the Akhi”, which is Arabic for brother.

We had around 200 people on our wing, about half of them Muslim, but there was a hard core of 20 “brothers” in for terrorism or terror-related of-fences who were very popular and had enormous influence. They were treated like celebrities by the other inmates and included the guy who in 2007 tried to blow up Glasgow airport.

There are about six imams in Belmarsh and apart from one, who was supportive, the other imams either ignored me or appeared to be sympathetic to the extremists. It was shocking. After that I kept my head down and only left my cell if I had to. All around I witnessed people being radicalised. Instantly you could see the change.

They would start to wear their trousers rolled below the knee, something Prophet Muhammad did, they would grow facial hair, they would call each other “Akhi” and they became hyper-aggressive towards anybody not into radical Islam. Read the full story here.

Related:

"We know that prisons are a massive incubator for radicalization." Who would have guessed?

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Belmarsh prison: 'The jihadi training camp right in heart of #London #UK
Insightful readinghttps://t.co/vvvw3xGq8x pic.twitter.com/xMR572sn2U

— jasmine opperman (@jasminechic1) May 18, 2016

Fears British prisoners could be radicalized and turned into jihadist while behind bars.

Fears British prisoners could be radicalized and turned into jihadist while behind bars. (Express).

ISLAMIC STATE (ISIS) gunmen behind the Paris atrocities last month as well as two al-Qaeda killers responsible for the Charlie Hebdo murders at the start of the year became radicalized while in jail in France.

Earlier this month, the Government launched an investigation into whether jailed extremist preachers could be radicalising thousands of prisoners.

It is believed some may have tried to radicalize vulnerable young prisoners, while others will have helped enforce a ‘culture of separation’ inside jails, helping create extremist zones.

Earlier this year, the Metropolitan Police’s head of counter terrorism Richard Walton said there were not yet any meaningful measures to deal with the matter.

He said: "We are convicting more people, so the challenge in prisons is bigger.

"Where operations start from within prison or with somebody who has just been released from jail, you know there wasn’t much success in de-radicalising them when they were in.

"There has to be more we can do. The issue of radicalization in prisons is a concern. Everybody needs to think what more can be done."

However, the Government is taking action against the threat.

Prison governors are now expected to carry out risk assessments when working out which prisoners share cells, as well as carrying out reception and induction interviews.

Government guidance says: "Contact with prisons’ chaplaincy should take place, particularly for those whose initial assessments cause concern.

“The chaplain’s initial assessment should seek to establish longevity and knowledge of faith and look for any indication that the prisoner endorses extremist ideology or supports terrorism.”

A spokesman for the prison service said: “The Secretary of State has asked the department to review its approach to dealing with Islamist extremism in prisons and probation.

This is being supported by external expertise and sits alongside the cross government work currently underway on developing de-radicalization programmes.” Hmmmm......Just replace 'British prisoners' by 'Prisoners Worldwide'. On top of it in Europe Muslims form the fastest growing group of prisoners.  Read the full story here.

Related:

Why Extremist Chaplains Have Access to U.S. Prisons

America’s Academies for Jihad   A radical imam threatened me with death—and was later hired to preach in U.S. prisons. I was surprised, but I shouldn’t have been.

STOP IT BEFORE IT STARTS: PRISON RADICALIZATION IN CANADA 

Muslim gangs are running many prisons, according to a BBC report. In high security prisons, Muslim percentages are well above average. In 2008, Muslim prisoners accounted for 34 percent of prisoners in HMP Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire, and about 24 percent of inmates in HMP Long Lartin, in Worcestershire.

Ironically, Muslim criminals enforce a strict Islamic code in many of our prisons: people can be beaten up for eating pork or listening to western music. Inmates are being recruited into Islam and Muslim lags are being radicalised.

Britain is not alone: In Belgium the figure is 16% (12.8% Moroccans, 3.1% Turks) (EUMAP), 35% (NEWS) in Denmark 20% (NEWS).  French prisons have between 50% and 70% Muslims (NEWS, NEWS, NEWS) whilst in Norway the figure is over 30% (NEWS) and in Spain 70% (NEWS).  Not even Switzerland escapes, with 57.8% Muslims in Champ-Dollon prison alone (Champ-Dollon PDF).  See HERE for the source of that information and more figures.

“The connection between criminality and Islamism is very tight in Europe,” said Michael Radu, a terrorism analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.  See Islamic radicalization feared in Europe’s jails. Read the full story here.