An Old Bailey jury hearing allegations that a Birmingham man was trying to smuggle himself out of the UK to join Islamic State fighters in Syria is hearing secret evidence from a counter-terrorism officer.
More than a week into the trial of Anas Abdalla, the court was told by the judge, Richard Marks QC, that the evidence being heard behind closed doors “will touch on matters of extreme sensitivity and of a confidential nature”.
The jury had been listening to DC Brett Bambury of the West Midlands police counter-terrorism unit, who was explaining how Abdalla was discovered in the back of a lorry in Dover last year when the case went “in camera”, excluding the media and public.
The court has already heard that an attempt was allegedly made in January 2013 by MI5 to recruit Abdalla. He believed that if he did not respond positively, his life would be very difficult, the prosecutor, Duncan Atkinson QC, has told the jury.
The secret evidence session relates to the defendant’s defence. Abdalla, from Acocks Green, Birmingham, claims he was fleeing Britain because he was being “harassed and subject to oppressive treatment” by MI5.
The 26-year-old was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, and first came to the UK as an asylum seeker. He denies the charge of preparing acts of terrorism under section 5(1) of the 2006 Terrorism Act.
When Abdalla was discovered in the back of a lorry, he was hiding with three other men. One of the other men detained, Gabriel Rasmus, 29, from Lozells, Birmingham, has already pleaded guilty, the court heard, to preparing acts of terrorism.
The court has heard that an undercover officer infiltrated a group of Isis supporters attempting to smuggle themselves out of the UK to Syria.
Earlier on Wednesday, the jury was told that Abdalla had repeatedly been held by police officers at Birmingham airport and Dover ferry terminal under schedule 7 port stops over the course of several years. On some occasions, he had missed his flight because he was being detained and interviewed.
The jury has previously been told by the prosecution that Abdalla and Rasmus were planning to travel to Syria via Bulgaria and Turkey “to join forces with so-called Islamic State and to offer their services, with their lives if necessary, to engage in acts of terrorism”.
Rasmus had been under police investigation for some time, particularly through meetings conducted by an undercover officer known by the pseudonym “Muhamed” who was gathering information about alleged terrorist activity.
Muhamed also met Abdalla, who told him that “Europe held nothing for him” and that he loathed his work in IT because he had to associate with non-Muslims, the jury heard. “He said he had been called on to go to Syria to fight and wanted to do so,” Atkinson said. Abdalla, it is alleged, expressed support for Isis.
One of the other men detained in the back of the lorry was Mahamuud Diini. He, the court was told, had been trying to leave the country covertly. Diini, however, has been prosecuted previously for seeking to travel to Syria but was acquitted.
The prosecution has challenged Abdalla’s claim that he was fleeing from security force harassment and argued that difficulties in his life were due to other causes. Abdalla, the court was told, had failed many of the modules of his computer technology course at Wolverhampton University and been required to leave due to his poor academic record.
The case continues.
