Man facing terror charges described New Zealand Mosque shootings as 'win-win', court told

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 28, faces a series of terror charges - South West News Service
Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 28, faces a series of terror charges - South West News Service

A man cleared of a Buckingham Palace sword attack has described the killing of 51 people in the New Zealand terrorist attack as a “win-win”, a court has heard.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury, 28, used his mobile phone to play two videos to a pair of new friends at a mosque in March 2019, unaware they were undercover officers investigating him for alleged terrorist activities, the court was told.

Chowdhury reportedly showed them live-streamed footage recorded by the gunman during the Christchurch mosque shootings, with an audio recording of this interaction heard by the jury at London’s Woolwich Crown Court.

As pops of gunfire could be heard playing on the clip, Chowdhury allegedly told the men "it is a win-win for us regardless of what happens, this is a win".

The court, where Chowdury faces a series of terror charges, heard him allegedly say "it only makes us more angry" and that "we should be angry".

The terror attacks in Christchurch happened just days before the meeting at the Mosque where, as Chowdhury took the undercover officers through some verses of the Koran, it was suggested that jihad is a shortcut to paradise, the court heard.

The prosecution allege that Chowdhury stated the shooting was not necessarily a bad thing because it raised awareness of the evil of the "kuffar", potentially encouraging retaliatory action.

Chowdhury, who was known to the officers as Musa, also said that the people who had been killed had become martyrs because they were killed in the mosque, the court heard. Chowdhury is also accused of playing a recording of the words of preacher Anwar Al-Awlaki, a former al-Qaeda spokesman, to the officers.

Chowdhury, of Kirkwood Road, Luton, is charged with engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, collecting information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications. He denies the charges.

His sister, Sneha Chowdhury, 25, of the same address, denies two charges of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.

The court previously heard that Chowdhury had been found not guilty at the Old Bailey of a terror charge after attacking police officers with a sword outside Buckingham Palace in August 2017. He told the court he wanted to be killed by police and had no intention to hurt anyone but himself.

In that incident, two unarmed officers suffered cuts to their hands when they fought to disarm him near the Queen's London residence as Chowdhury shouted repeatedly "Allahu Akbar" (God is the greatest).