A man claiming asylum has been sentenced to 45 months in prison for posting pro-Islamic State videos online. Hakan Barac, 28, arrived illegally in the UK in April 2023 and was in the process of claiming asylum when he was arrested by counter terrorism officers last year.

Bristol Crown Court heard how the Turkish national had posted videos on social media featuring Saudi-born Canadian recruiter Mohammed Khalifa and praising Osama Bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Barac pleaded guilty to five counts relating to the dissemination of extremist material and expressing support for a proscribed organisation. Placing Barac behind bars, Judge Martin Picton told him that his actions were “utterly unacceptable.”

He said: “The dissemination of material of this kind has the clear potential to be supportive of such activity.

“It is apparent from your own use of social media that you have a mindset that is aligned with that ideology.

“The pattern of terrorist activity in modern times demonstrates the potential for individuals to be encouraged by material they see posted on social media so as to carry out acts of violence.

“Anybody posting material in the nature that features in this case runs the risk of encouraging another to commit an act of terrorism.

“This is not a victimless crime and the maximum penalty, as well as the relevant sentencing guidelines reflect that position.

“You are here seeking asylum but at the same time choose to disseminate material that strikes at the very heart of our democratic society.

“For you to behave in that way when seeking refuge in this country is very difficult to understand and must seem utterly unacceptable to all right-thinking people.”

Prosecuting, Ben Lloyd added: “The defendant shared such material recklessly. In other words, he was reckless as to whether an effect of his posting the material would be the direct or indirect encouragement to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.

“The prosecution’s position is that the defendant’s activity, while not intentional, nevertheless involved a repeated and wilful disregard with a clear, serious and obvious risk of encouraging terrorist activity.”

Tim Forte KC, mitigating, argued that his client had “no intention to assist or encourage,” pointing to the fact that very few people saw the posts.

He said: “He thought he had a hundred followers – that’s not a huge group in a country of 60 million, in a world of eight billion “He thought he had a hundred followers – that’s not a huge group in a country of 60 million, in a world of eight billion.

Judge Picton confirmed that given the sentence, Barac would be considered for deportation on his release from prison.