LONDON, Jan. 19 (UPI) -- A Muslim cleric charged with inciting racial hatred testified Thursday in a British court, denying he urged the killing of non-believers.
In his first day of testimony, Hamza told the court that MI5, the British internal intelligence agency, monitored his speeches and told him for several years they fell in the acceptable boundaries of freedom of speech, The Independent reported.
Hamza is charged with soliciting violence at public meetings, using language aimed at stirring up racial hatred, possession of offensive video and audiotapes and possession of the Encyclopedia of Afghani Jihad -- described as a work with information "of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism."
In his testimony, Hamza said racism and anti-Semitism are contrary to the principles of Islam.
Hamza, an engineer before he became a preacher, also said he had in his possession blueprints of buildings at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, now attended by princes William and Harry. He told the court the blueprints were of interest to him professionally -- he did engineering work there in 1989 -- and that he had never shown them to anyone who might have any other interest.
