Muslim jail chaplains ‘distributing Islamist literature’, leaked report reveals

From ITV News and the Daily Star 

Extremist literature has been routinely distributed in prisons by Muslim chaplains, a leaked report has revealed.

The review, commissioned by Justice Secretary Michael Gove, found Islamist pamphlets and CDs in more than 10 jails in November, according to The Times (£).

The material included homophobic and misogynistic sentiments and encouraged the murder of apostates – Muslims who leave or reject the religion. The material was kept on bookshelves in prison chaplaincy rooms available for anyone to pick up, the report said. 

Chaplains in several prisons even encouraged prisoners to raise funds for Islamic charities with connections to international terrorism.

The report, not yet cleared for publication, concluded that many Muslim chaplains were under-equipped for counter-radicalisation work because “sometimes because they lacked the capability but often because they didn’t have the will”.

Jails in England and Wales hold 12,328 Muslim inmates – as of January 2016 – with 131 convicted terrorists and 1,000 branded vulnerable to radicalisation. Muslims make up 4.8% of the population but 14.5% of prisoners.

Home Office official Ian Acheson, who led the report, is said to have “pulled no punches” in criticising weaknesses within the National Offender Management Service.

A Whitehall source said: “Nobody there has been brave enough to confront and tackle this pernicious ideology.”