Small Boat Migrant Jailed for Sharing Terrorist Content

A 28-year-old Turkish national who entered the UK illegally on a small boat has been sentenced to 45 months in prison after sharing terrorist content online. ⚖️

Hakan Barac, of Commercial Road, Newport, was arrested by counter-terrorism police last year while his asylum application was being processed. Bristol Crown Court heard that Barac had been posting videos on social media sites including Instagram and Telegram that glorified Isis and terrorists Osama bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Prosecutors told the court: “It was apparent that a substantial number of followers to his accounts were interested in extreme Islamic subject matters. The defendant shared such material recklessly.”

Judge Martin Picton, who handed down the sentence, stated: “The dissemination of material of this kind has the clear potential to be supportive of such activity. It is apparent from your own use of social media that you have a mindset that is aligned with that ideology.”

The judge added: “You are here seeking asylum but at the same time choose to disseminate material that strikes at the very heart of our democratic society. For you to behave in that way when seeking refuge in this country is very difficult to understand and must seem utterly unacceptable to all right thinking people.”

Detective Chief Inspector Leanne Williams from Counter Terrorism Policing Wales said: “Without any doubt, Hakan Barac is a dangerous individual and this sentence concludes what has been a lengthy and complex investigation conducted by detectives in CTP Wales.”

Due to the length of the sentence, Barac will be automatically referred to authorities to consider deportation.