Thursday, July 2, 2015

British woman charged with inciting terrorism and ISIS membership

(The Guardian) A woman from Staffordshire has been charged with inciting terrorism and being a member of Islamic State.

The 26-year-old from Burton-on-Trent is accused of sending a series of tweets encouraging others to “commit, prepare or instigate” acts of terror.

West Midlands police said the woman, who cannot be named, was also charged with belonging to a banned organisation, namely Isis, between October 2014 and January this year.

The woman is due to appear at Westminster magistrates court later on Thursday.

She was arrested by officers from the West Midlands counter-terrorism unit at Heathrow airport in February after arriving on a flight from Turkey.

One of two charges against the woman alleges that she breached the 2006 Terrorism Act by publishing tweets intending members of the public to be “directly encouraged or otherwise induced” to commit, prepare or instigate acts of terrorism between 30 September and 20 October last year.

It is also alleged that she was a member of Isis between 23 October 2014 and 9 January 2015, while within the jurisdiction of the central criminal court.