Jury considers el-Faisal case verdicts

Jury considers el-Faisal case verdicts

Mr el-Faisal told the court his words were taken from the Koran

An Old Bailey jury in the case of a Muslim cleric accused of preaching messages of hatred has retired to consider its verdicts.

Abdullah el-Faisal, 39, of Albert Square, Stratford, east London, denies five charges of soliciting murder and four relating to stirring up racial hatred.

The charges relate to talks he gave which were recorded and put on sale.

The prosecution alleges he incited young, impressionable Muslims to kill non-believers, Americans, Hindus and Jews.

But Mr el-Faisal told the court his words were taken from the Koran, the Muslim holy book, and had been misrepresented.

The Common Serjeant Judge Peter Beaumont told the jury it had to be "calm, critical and unemotional" in appraising the evidence.

"You are not concerned with the question of whether this prosecution is fair," warned the judge.