Lee Rigby murder: Adebolajo’s brother says killing was justified

Jeremiah Adebolajo claims his brother Michael had sought to ‘please Allah by fighting in his cause’

The brother of one of the men convicted on Thursday of murdering Lee Rigby has told the Guardian that he believes the killing of the soldier in the street was justified by their Islamic faith.

In remarks that a majority of British Muslims would regard as an extremist mutation of their religion, Jeremiah Adebolajo claimed his brother Michael had sought to “please Allah by fighting in his cause” in the barbarous attack in Woolwich, south London.

Jeremiah also sought to argue that the brutal murder of a young man was motivated by anger at western foreign policy – but dismissed the possibility that MI5 could be blamed because the security service had repeatedly tried to recruit his brother as an informant.

The horrific, public murder of May 2013 sparked a renewed debate and focus, from government down, about what triggers certain people to commit terrorist acts in the furtherance of a political cause.

Jeremiah Adebolajo’s interview offers a rare – and highly controversial – insight into why his brother murdered, and to the fact some extremists will support his actions. But it left the imam of a mosque attended by Michael Adebolajo appalled.

Shakeel Begg, senior Imam at the Lewisham Islamic centre in south London, said the Adebolajo view of Lee Rigby’s murder was wrong and against Islamic teachings: “The tragic events which took place in Woolwich, the brutal killing and murder of Lee Rigby goes against the very foundations of our religion.

“As Muslims, we find this act to be something totally abhorrent and unacceptable and this is not jihad.”

In the interview, Jeremiah – who says he was converted to Islam by Michael – adopted many of the views his brother expressed when he gave evidence at the Old Bailey. Asked if he was proud of his brother, Jeremiah said: “In that he is a Muslim and that he sought to please Allah by fighting in his cause and dying in his cause, then to this extent yes.”

Interviewed by the Guardian before the jury returned its guilty verdict on Michael, Jeremiah said he loved his brother more than he did a year ago, despite the Woolwich events. Counterterrorism officials continue to assess 2,000 individuals in the UK as posing a terrorist threat, a number that they say has remained roughly constant since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US.

Jeremiah works as an English teacher in Saudi Arabia, and came back to Britain for his brother’s trial. Aged 27, Jeremiah then studied politics at Essex University; previously when he was at school in Essex, he was being tutored for Oxbridge before he was expelled.

His defence of his brother contrasts with the stance taken by their parents – of Nigerian Christian heritage – who have condemned their son’s attack.

Jeremiah said he was close to his brother, and that their upbringing in Romford had not been deprived and there was a strong family focus on education. He dismissed claims Michael Adebolajo might …read more