02/05/2023
Cachella Smith
The new measures will include a ban on convicted terrorists taking leading roles in religious services of all faiths.
Convicted terrorists will no longer be able to take leading roles in religious services and face more rigorous check for extremist literature.
The new measures are aimed at preventing radicalisation within prisons and follow Jonathan Hall’s review ‘Terrorism in Prison’ published last year.
As a consequence, terrorists will no longer be able to lead the call to prayer or deliver sermons for any faith.
It represents an extension of existing measures – which currently prevent the most dangerous prisoners leading Friday prayers – to all faiths and not just those in high-security prisons.
Meanwhile, current prison rules do not have a limit on the number of books prisoners can own. Restrictions announced today will introduce a maximum weight of 15kg and mandate that the books fit into two medium size boxes.
It follows instances where prisoners have gathered hundreds of books in their cells.
In one case an offender had more than 200 books which the Ministry of Justice described as “an apparent attempt to thwart prison officers searching for extremist material”.
Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, Alex Chalk said: “Faith can play a vital part in prisoners’ rehabilitation but we must never tolerate terrorists who seek to exploit religious services to advance their own sinister agenda.
“These changes, alongside tougher sentences for terrorists who commit crimes behind bars and our work to separate more of the most radical terrorists, will better protect our hardworking staff, other prisoners and the public.”
There are currently around 200 convicted terrorists in prison.
Other measures which have been introduced since Jonathan Hall’s report include an investment of £1.2m for a specialist Separation Centre and high-risk casework team, as well as the introduction of mandatory polygraph testing.