A British mosque leader who called on his congregation to commit 'Jihad by sword' while making a stabbing motion with his hand has today been found guilty of encouraging terrorism.
Abubaker Deghayes, 53, preached that 'Jihad was compulsory' to his 50-strong congregation, including children, during an uninvited sermon at the Brighton Mosque in Muslim Community Centre in Sussex.
Libyan-born Deghayes,of Saltdean, Brighton, denied encouraging terrorism but was today convicted following a trial the Old Bailey in London.
The conviction means it can now be reported that Deghayes is the father of two British jihadists killed in Syria while fighting for an affiliate of terror group al-Qaeda.
One of his sons, Abdullah Deghayes, 18, was killed by a sniper in Syria while fighting for Jabhat al-Nusra in the Idlib Province. Nine months later Abdullah's younger brother, Jaffar, 17, was also killed in Syria.
A third brother, Amer, then 20, was shot in the stomach in the same battle as Abdullah but survived.
Deghayes has also seen one of his sons, Abdul Deghayes, die on the streets of Brighton during a drug deal in February 2019.
A 'drug enforcer', Abdul, 20, was murdered by Daniel MacLeod who stabbed him in the leg, arm and buttocks before driving away and leaving him to die.
A fifth brother, Mohammed Deghayes, was jailed for four years at Lewes Crown Court in April 2018 after police found him in the back of a car with 19 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine hidden in his body.
It can also be reported today that Deghayes is the brother to Guantanamo detainee Omar Deghayes, who was held in the notorious US detention camp as a 'suspected enemy combatant' in the Afghanistan conflict.
Omar, who claims he was sold to US forces by Pakistani bounty hunters and was tortured while at Guantanamo, was never charged with any offence and was released back to the UK in 2007.
Abubaker Deghayes made a stabbing motion with his hands as he told his congregation that 'Jihad was compulsory', a court heard
One of his sons, Abdullah Deghayes (pictured left), 18, was killed by a sniper in Syria while fighting for Jabhat al-Nusra. Nine months later Abdullah's younger brother, Jaffar (pictured right), 17, was also killed in Syria
A third brother, Amer, then 20, was shot in the stomach in the same battle as Abdullah but survived
It can also be reported today that Deghayes is the brother to Guantanamo detainee Omar Deghayes, who was held in the notorious US detention camp as a 'suspected enemy combatant' in the Afghanistan conflict
Libyan-born Deghayes,of Saltdean, Brighton (pictured: The family lived in this home in 2014), denied encouraging terrorism but was today convicted following a trial the Old Bailey in London
Deghayes had previously told the Old Bailey he had been involved and active in the Brighton Mosque doing talks, book readings, and Friday sermons since 1987, when he would have been 18.
He became a trustee of the mosque in Dyke Road, Brighton, also known as al-Quds Mosque, but resigned in December 2017.
Police first became involved in 1997 when it was claimed that Abubaker, then aged 29, had been preaching in a manner that might 'incite racial unrest' and 'reflected strong al-Qaeda sympathies'.
In the latest sermon, evening prayers had just finished on Sunday November 1 last year, when Deghayes, 53, stood at the front of the mosque, with a book in his hand.
In footage played to the jury, he could be seen in socks, wearing a black top with the words 'Free Palestine, resistance is existence.'
The congregation included teenagers and young men in their 20s, but several older worshippers began fidgeting as the sermon went on, and some walked out.
Ben Lloyd, prosecuting, told the court: 'The speech demonstrates the defendant to be an Islamic extremist.
'The prosecution case is clear and straightforward - by standing up at the front of a busy mosque, and by quite deliberately saying 'jihad by fighting by sword', the defendant was encouraging terrorism, encouraging violence in the name of Islam.
'If the defendant's own words were not clear enough, he also made a stabbing gesture with his hands.'
Mr Lloyd told the jury: 'Let me make one thing clear: what the case is not about is the freedom to practice religion or the freedom to worship.
'Of course, none of that is unlawful in this country. This is not about those who believe in Islam, rather, this case is about those who encourage violence in the name of religion, which, for very good reason you may feel, is a criminal offence.'
Deghayes, from Saltdean, Brighton, told the jury he believed that jihad by the sword was a 'fundamental obligation' and was demonstrating a stabbing action to emphasise his point.
'No one can wipe out the fact in the Koran that fighting with the sword to protect yourself, lift oppression, open the way for the message to be passed, if blocked, speak the truth in front of a tyrant, nobody can wipe out that,' he said.
Tom Wainwright, defending, asked: 'What is the action you are doing?'
'That is the dance of the blade, to make sure I bring it home, so no one is misunderstanding, it is jihad of the sword, it is compulsory on us as a Muslim,' Deghayes said.
But he said jihad and terrorism were not the same things.
'The general view in the media, in the environment is that jihad is terrorism. Some lunatic crazy guy stabs people in the street, it has nothing to do with Islam, or goes and bombs civilians, straight away he's a jihadi.'
Deghayes delivered the speech to his congregation at Brighton Mosque (pictured), jurors were told
Deghayes (pictured in 2014) was jailed in 2018 for attempting to pervert the course of justice after he was arrested for dislocating his wife's shoulder during what he said was an attempted exorcism
Deghayes son, Abdullah, was killed aged 18 by a sniper while fighting for an al-Qaeda-linked group in Idlib Province, Syria.
His death was followed, nine months later, by his younger brother, Jaffar, who was still only 17.
A third brother, Amer, then 20, the eldest and first to leave for Syria, was shot in the stomach in the same battle as Abdullah but survived and remained in the country where he married and had a child.
Back in Brighton, Abdul Deghayes, Abdullah's twin brother, accumulated 14 drug convictions for 25 offences.
He was stabbed to death aged 22 in a driveway in Brighton in February 2019 as a punishment because he had previously stolen drugs from the dealer.
A fifth brother was also involved in drug dealing. Mohammed Deghayes, then aged 20, was jailed for four years at Lewes Crown Court in April 2018 after police found him in the back of a car with 19 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine hidden
