Woman convicted of supporting Hamas

Sara El-Houssein, 23, was found guilty of showing support for a banned terrorist group on Friday

A woman has been convicted of showing support for a banned terror group after social media posts last October were reported to police.

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

She is due to be sentenced on August 20.

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

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

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

“In this case, the online posts were referred to our Counter Terrorism Internet Reference Unit. Specialist officers determined that the posts could breach terrorism legislation and from the resulting investigation we identified the person behind them and brought them to justice.

“Any content sent to us in this way will always be carefully assessed and where potential infringement is identified we will investigate and take action.”

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