A pensioner who encouraged terrorism against India from his Edinburgh flat during a string of Twitter rants has been put on an electronic tag.
Firoz Madhani, 67, took to social media to incite acts of terror and violence against governments.
Madhani appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday and was given an eight-month restriction of liberty order and placed under supervision for a year.
He previously pled guilty to a charge under the Terrorism Act 2006.
The four tweets were published on September 21, 2019, and related to the conflict in Kashmir.
In one, Madhani appeared to be asking Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan to attack India, adding “we are ready to kill & die”. In a later tweet he wrote: “We will cross border and bleed them.”
All of the tweets refer to “Jihad”.
Madhani was stopped at Edinburgh Airport on November 27, 2019, after police were alerted to his tweets and his phone was seized.
The court previously heard how Madhani admitted making a number of posts to Twitter from his home and elsewhere.
He admitted “glorifying acts of terrorism acts committed by others, encouraging acts of violence, and inciting violence by and against governments”.
The charge continued Madhani’s posts had the intention to be a “direct or indirect encouragement or other inducement to the commissions, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism” or that his actions were “reckless” as to whether that was the effect.
The offence was aggravated by religious prejudice.
Madhani had his not guilty plea to a second allegation accepted by the Crown. That charge had accused Madhani of expressing an opinion or belief supportive of a prescribed organisation, namely Hezbollah, on social media from his flat on September 2 2019.
Lebanon-based Hezbollah is a banned terrorist organisations under UK law,
Sheriff Daniel Kelly had deferred sentence on Madhani, from Edinburgh's Dalry area, for reports.
Following his sentencing, Jennifer Harrower, procurator fiscal for specialist casework, said: “It is unacceptable to post messages that could encourage others to commit acts of terrorism, no matter your politics or beliefs.
“COPFS has a duty to keep the people of Scotland safe from harm and are committed to working with other agencies to ensure those committing offences under the terrorism legislation are brought to justice.”
