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“Lyrical terrorist” falls foul of British law

— Photo: AP

Samina Malik, who called herself “lyrical terrorist.”

LONDON: A young Muslim woman who thought it was “cool” to call herself a “lyrical terrorist” and write poetry in praise of Osama bin Laden has been convicted under Britain’s terror laws and given a suspended jail sentence.

Samina Malik (23) from Southall, west London, who worked at a branch of WH Smith at Heathrow airport, was shocked when she was arrested last October and later charged with terrorist offences for possessing Al-Qaeda literature, subscribing to Islamist websites and writing poetry on the internet under the screen name “Lyrical Terrorist.”

Ms. Malik, born and brought up in Britain, is the first British woman ever convicted of Islamist terrorism.

During her trial, Ms. Malik insisted that she was not a terrorist and that she called herself the “lyrical terrorist” to impress men. “It was only because it was a cool name, it doesn’t mean I am a terrorist,” she said dismissing the poems as “meaningless.”

Prosecution accused her of being “deeply involved with terrorist-related groups” and the court was told that she wrote poems with grisly and provocative titles like “How to behead.” The court heard that she had written on the back of a till receipt that “desire within me increases everyday to go for martyrdom.”

Ms. Malik, who faced a jail sentence after being convicted at Old Bailey last month, however escaped with a nine-month suspended sentence on Thursday. Instead of going to jail, she will have to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Ms. Malik struggled to hold back tears as the judge ruled that her crime was on the “margins” of the offence of which she was convicted. He observed that she was of “good character” and from a “supportive and law-abiding family who are appalled by the trouble that you are in.”

Her lawyer said the trial had been a “terrible ordeal” for her, and she was now relieved that it was all over. Ms. Malik’s prosecution was criticised by the Muslim Council of Britain whose secretary-general Muhammed Abdul Bari told The Times that it amounted to criminalising young Muslims for harbouring “silly thoughts”.

“Samina’s so-called poetry was certainly very offensive but I don’t believe that this case should really have been a criminal matter,” he said.

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