Lee Rigby murder: Killer's brother claims act was justified

Jeremiah Adebolajo said that his brother Michael had sought to 'please Allah by fighting in his cause'.

16:46 20 December 2013

Jeremiah Adebolajo, the brother of Michael Adebolajo who is one of the men convicted of murdering Lee Rigby, has said that he believes the killing of the soldier in the street was justified by their Islamic faith.

He added that Michael sought to “please Allah by fighting in his cause.” Jeremiah also argued that the murder was motivated by anger at western foreign policy.

However, Jeremiah’s claim has appalled the Imam of a mosque that he attends in south London. Shakeel Begg, senior Imam at the Lewisham Islamic centre, reacted to Jeremiah’s claims and said: "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."
Jeremiah also compared his brother and Lee Rigby saying:
"From a strictly secular point of view he is the same as Lee Rigby. Lee Rigby is a man who decided to join the armed forces of Britain to protect what he holds dear. And my brother was a man who decided to also join military resistance in what he holds dear.

“We may call them different things, one might be called the armed forces whilst another might be called the mujahadin. I would suggest that from that purely secular point of view my brother and Lee Rigby are exactly the same.

“From a religious point of view I consider my brother to be better because he is a Muslim and because he is fighting in the cause of a war."