UK Launches ‘Separation’ Prison Wings for Extremists and Jihadists

The UK has set up two new ‘separation wings’ in prisons to isolate jihadists and other extremists and stop them spreading their murderous ideology.

The first so-called ‘jihadi’ wing – housing infamous hate preacher Anjem Choudary – opened in Frankland Prison in July, and it has been joined by one in HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire and HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes.

The plan is to house 28 of the nation’s most dangerous extremists in the units to separate them from other prisoners by the end of the year, The Sun reports.

Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah told the paper: “Extremism must be defeated wherever it is found. And I will do what I can to prevent the most dangerous extremists spreading their poisonous ideology in an attempt to influence and convert others.”

The Ministry of Justice, however, has refused to identify the extremist inmates or reveal if they fought with terrorists in Syria.

Mr. Gyimah added: “It is right that these offenders are separate from other prisoners so we can limit the chances of them targeting the vulnerable offenders who are at risk of being dragged into their warped and repugnant way of thinking.”

In 2016, it was reported that one in five prisoners in the UK’s top security jails is now Muslim, a rise of 23 per cent from just five years ago.

In total, a 20 per cent increase in the jail population in Britain has been accompanied by the rise in Muslim inmates – up 122 per cent over 13 years.

A growing number of this Muslim prison population is adopting radical views behind bars. The number of ‘far right’ prisoners is small but also rising.

Back in 2015, a report by UK prison’s Independent Monitoring Board revealed the UK had its first Muslim-majority prison where non-Muslim inmates were being pressured to convert to an “Islamic protection racket”.

Last year, it was reported that the government had allegedly attempted to cover up a report on Islamist extremism in prisons, revealing how some staff fail to tackle the problem for fear of being called racist.

The independent review commissioned by the Justice Secretary found Islamists behind bars were exploiting the “sensitivity to racism” among prison staff to make spurious reports of discrimination.

The Ministry of Justice announced plans for the first extremist wings this April after a review by former prison governor Ian Acheson called for them.

The report warned that a radical, Islamist, and often proselytising prisoners had already engineered a “de facto” separation of Muslims and non-Muslims behind bars.

In 2015, experts from the Quilliam Foundation called for imprisoned Islamic extremists to have their own segregated wings to prevent the radicalisation.