Man shared ISIS propaganda video 'in response to UK hospital terror attack'

A man has gone on trial in the UK accused of sharing an ISIS propaganda video on social media shortly after the terrorist bombing last year at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.

Ahmiri Ahmedi Azizi, of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, is alleged to have shared the footage the day after Emad Al Swealmeen was killed when his device exploded in a taxi outside the hospital last November.

The video, which encouraged terrorist attacks against the West, was published on Mr Azizi's Instagram account, Manchester Crown Court heard.

Mr Azizi also allegedly viewed a video on how to make a silencer for an automatic rifle.

The 24-year-old, who came from Iran to Sheffield illegally, is accused of seven counts of disseminating terrorist material either via Instagram or the encrypted Telegram app between June and November last year.

A second defendant, Mohammed Hussini, 19, also from Iran, is charged with four counts of the same offence after he posted videos via Telegram between August and November last year.

Prosecutor Denise Breen-Lawton said it was the Crown’s case that both were supporters of ISIS and had intended to encourage terrorism, or were being reckless as to whether they might.

She said the two accused men were communicating with one another through the chat function on Telegram from last April.

Mr Azizi progressed to setting up an Instagram account and within a month he had posted a video glorifying martyrdom, said the prosecutor.

Alongside the video were posted emojis of a raised index finger and black flags which were clear ISIS symbols, she said.

“On the 14th of November 2021 you might recall that there was a terrorist bombing at Liverpool Women’s Hospital,” Ms Breen-Lawton told the jury.

“It was a shocking and horrific event in British history, as with any such bombing. It was widely reported on news channels and is a matter of public record.

“What did Mr Azizi do in response to that? He posted a terrorist propaganda video made by ISIS, encouraging attacks against the West and the ‘Kuffar’ instructing methods of attack with knives and rifles.

“At the very time when the people of this country were recoiling in horror from a bomb attack on a hospital, Azizi was sharing a public video encouraging others to commit violent attacks on the West.”

The prosecutor said Mr Azizi claims his phone was hacked by or on behalf of the Iranian government, while Mr Hussini claims he was trying to assist fellow Kurds who were applying for asylum in the UK by highlighting how they were treated by ISIS.

Mr Azizi's barrister John Jones said his client was a shepherd in Iran before he was trafficked to the UK.

“He arrived in Sheffield in the back of a lorry and went to work in a car wash and then a takeaway,” he said.

He told the jury Mr Azizi has aspirations that Kurdistan will become an independent nation and was a vocal opponent of the Iranian government and ISIS.

“The material on the defendant’s phone is in complete opposition of everything that he believes in,” he said.

John Harrison, representing Mr Hussini, from south-east London, said his client came to the UK in 2018 from Turkey.

He was previously detained and tortured by authorities in Iran and his father was executed because he was a member of the Peshmerga military force, he said.

Mr Hussini sought asylum and was granted leave to stay in the UK until 2026, he added.

Both of the accused deny the charges. Mr Azizi also denies viewing or accessing terrorist information and failing to disclose the pin number of his phone.