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Twitter terrorist jailed for posting 45,000 pro-jihadist messages

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By John Glenday, Reporter

June 12, 2015 | 2 min read

A so-called Twitter terrorist who used social media to glorify terrorism and encourage others to commit atrocities has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail.

22 year-old Alaa Abdullah Esayed posted more than 45,000 Arabic messages in just 11 months on the social networking site to her 8,000 followers and gained infamy with a lurid Instagram account hosting images of dead bodies and beheadings.

In this time Esayed came to the attention of Al Qaeda supporters who listed her profile on internet forums although her lawyer claimed that the account was purely ‘propaganda’ and offered no practical advice for anyone genuinely considering jihad.

Handing down the custodial sentence Judge Charles Wide said: “This material and its dissemination is an important factor in the encouragement of young men and women to travel abroad and engage in acts of terrorism.

“It is a matter of great and justified public concern. You were disseminating such material on a massive scale over a period of just short of a year.

“An indication of how busy you were in this activity is that on a site associated with al-Qaeda your Twitter account was noted to be one of 66 important jihadist accounts.”

Esayed changed her story several times during the trial, at first claiming she could not read or write Arabic.

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