Terror-Accused Aberdeen Student Tweeted Rigby Murders 'Nutters'
An Aberdeen medical student accused of terrorist charges retweeted two weeks before he was arrested that the murderers of soldier Lee Rigby were "fringe nutters," a court was told yesterday.
Yousif Badri, 29, who is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow, denies three terrorism charges.
The jury has been shown photographs and videos showing Badri enjoying himself with friends and family, including relatives and friends dancing at weddings.
They were also told that he was a keen supporter of Chelsea Football Club, enjoyed going to the cinema and loved cars.
Defence QC Murdoi Macleod also produced Badri's twitter feed from May 2013.
After Mr Rigby was killed at Woolwich barracks by two men in May 2013 , Badri retweeted a tweet which stated: "The murderers in custody tonight are about as representative of Islam as the EDL is representative of the white community. Fringe nutters. "
The jury was also shown another retweet this time from comedian Dara O'Briain which said: "Excellent point. Muslim view "Islamic" terrorists the same way Christian view Westbro Baptist church."
The court was told that Badri, a final year medical student who was education co-ordinator of Aberdeen University's Muslim Students' Association, was arrested by police on June 6, 2013.
The jury was shown one of the posters seized from his flat in Ashgrove Road, Aberdeen, included a "No Racism for Muslims."
The court also heard that Badri's mother and father, who came to Britain in the 1990's are both doctors and one of his sisters received a commendation for her work as a police officer with West Yorkshire Police.
The jury was shown a photograph of her commendation certificate which was taken by Badri and among his photographs.
Detective constable Mark White, a member of the counter terrorism team based at Aberdeen, who was giving evidence for the third day, was asked how many officers were investigating Badri.
DC White said: "Ten to 12 of us."
He added that there were hundreds of thousands of files on Bardi's computer and said: "Someone estimated it would take us years to look at them. "
The court heard that this problem was overcome by enlisting the help of West Midlands Police.
DC White said: "A team from Police Scotland went down with files and West midlands police assisted us. . I was not part of that team."
Badri faces a number of allegations including an accusation he was involved in conduct "with the intention of committing acts of terrorism".
The offences are said to have been carried out at two places in Aberdeen -Badri's former flat in Ashgrove Road and in Berryden Retail Park.
Badri's current address in Halifax, West Yorkshire, also features in the alleged offences.
Prosecutors claim that between 2007 and 2013 Badri collected or made a record of information likely to be useful to a person "committing or preparing an act of terrorism". This allegedly included footage of terror attacks as well as instructions on "urban assassinations" and "guerrilla tactics".
The second charge alleges that Badri "with the intention of committing acts of terrorism" engaged in various actions between 2006 and 2013.
Accusations listed in the indictment include a claim he had an "equipment list" for attending a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.
He is also said to have possessed "advice for those involved in conducting terrorist attack planning operations".
The charge further states that he had documents, recordings and files containing "extreme ideology".
The final accusation claims that on April 16 last year Badri posted on Twitter the phrase: "Whoever feels safe from punishment, misbehaves".
The comment is said to have come from a copy of the Inspire magazine - described as being published by the "propaganda wing" of Al-Qaeda.
Badri denies all the charges against him.
The trial before judge Lord Turnbull continues.