LONDON: The man accused of stabbing to death British lawmaker David Amess at a church where he was meeting voters last week is due to go on trial next year, London’s Old Bailey court heard on Friday.
Ali Harbi Ali, 25, the son of an ex-media adviser to a former prime minister of Somalia, is accused of repeatedly knifing Amess a week ago in a church hall where he was meeting voters in his constituency. Ali was arrested following the attack at a constituency surgery in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on Friday.
Prosecutors also allege that Ali, who they say was inspired by Islamic State militant group, had planned to attack a member of parliament for more than two years before last Friday’s murder.
Ali appeared by videolink from London’s top security Belmarsh Prison for a brief hearing at court on Friday, speaking only to confirm his name and age in a clear, loud voice.
Nick Price, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “We will submit to the court that this murder has a terrorist connection, namely that it had both religious and ideological motivations.”
The suspect, who is charged with murder and preparing acts of terrorism between May 2019 and September 28 this year, will next appear at the Old Bailey on November 5 and a preliminary trial date was set for March next year. He was remanded in custody and is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Friday.
Ali is accused of visiting the home of one MP, the Houses of Parliament and the constituency surgery of another MP at various times this year as part of reconnaissance for a potential attack. On Thursday, another court was told by prosecutors he had carried out reconnaissance on two other lawmakers prior to the attack on Amess.
READ MORE: British lawmaker stabbed to death while meeting constituents
The killing of 69-year-old Amess, a father of five children, five years after another British member of parliament was murdered on the street, has prompted calls for better protection of lawmakers.
A member of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party, he was attacked at the Belfairs Methodist Church in Leigh-on-Sea, northeast of London and died there despite the efforts of paramedics.
British lawmakers regularly hold “surgeries”, or one-to-one meetings with voters in their constituencies, a tradition considered a bedrock of democracy. But with little or no security and an emphasis on access for all, surgeries can make lawmakers vulnerable.
On Wednesday, interior minister Priti Patel said the terrorism threat level to lawmakers was now deemed substantial, which means an attack is considered likely. Police forces across the country have also been working with individual MPs about their security in their constituencies.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “I hope that the family of David Amess and all those who love him will get the justice they deserve as fast as possible.”
He praised the police outreach to MPs on security, but said MPs must not be “intimidated by this appalling murder into changing the way we conduct our Parliamentary business or the way we work in our constituencies – which I think is the last thing David Amess himself would have wanted”.
