Radical Islamist businessman jailed 12 years for child sex offences

RADICAL ISLAMIST BUSINESSMAN JAILED 12 YEARS FOR CHILD SEX OFFENCES

A radical Islamist who posed for photographs with MP George Galloway has been sentenced to 12 years in prison after being convicted of serious child sex offences.

Businessman Al Said Qasim Hashem, aged 59, from Stanmore in Middlesex, was found guilty of molesting two girls over a period of 13 years.

One of the victims was only five years old when the abuse began.

Last week, he was jailed at Harrow Crown Court for four counts of indecent assault, four counts of assaulting a child under 13, three sexual assaults, and one count of assault by beating.

Further details reveal that Hashem had been linked to the '14 Feb Coalition', a dissident network stemming from Bahrain, which began protests against the government in 2011.

Despite posing as a human rights activist and being granted asylum in the UK alongside Abdul Raoof Al Shayeb, both individuals had been involved in serious offences.

Hashem's actions and the potential risk of his criminal activities have prompted questions about how he and others linked to such networks were able to operate freely while posing as defenders of human rights.