A group with a track record of backing Muslim terror suspects has organized demonstrations in four English cities in support of an Islamist activist facing trials in Leicester and Birmingham in September.
[S]anity has never been CAGE’s strong suit.
CAGE International defended Majid Freeman at rallies in London, Birmingham, Leicester, and Dewsbury from July 17 to 29—days before he was scheduled to face trial for his role in the Hindu-Muslim Leicester riots of 2022.
Freeman’s First Case
Freeman has two court appearances scheduled to take place in September. On September 1, 2025, Freeman, also known as Majid Novsarka, faces a retrial of a case previously adjudicated on September 9, 2024. In this case, Freeman was convicted under Section 4 of the Public Order Act and sentenced to 22 weeks in prison for instigating violence against Hindus in Leicester. District Judge Amar Mehta found that Freeman had used “abusive words with the intention that violence would be provoked” and that “immediate unlawful violence was intended.”
Predictably, CAGE called the 2024 verdict against Freeman (which he appealed, hence the retrial) “a clear example of a politicized judiciary and police force, determined to silence one of the UK’s most prominent pro-Palestine Muslim activists.” It blamed Mehta for maintaining “a consistently unfavorable stance towards Freeman throughout the proceedings.”
On July 30, 2025, CAGE announced that a hearing in the retrial that had been scheduled to take place on July 31 had been adjourned and that the organization no longer needed supporters present at the court in Leicester.
“Freeman’s legal team is considering grounds for an appeal despite his also facing separate terror offences, in the hope of having his conviction quashed,” a spokesperson for the British Hindu advocacy group, Insight UK, told Focus on Western Islamism (FWI).
The spokesperson continued:
Freeman’s inflammatory rhetoric and spread of misinformation incited unrest and endangered community harmony between Muslims and Hindus. All attacks during the unrest were actually on Hindu people, Hindu property, and places of worship, with none recorded on Muslims or mosques. The violence that followed left scars across Leicester’s Hindu population and beyond. He is a stark reminder of the damage extremist Islamist narratives can inflict on peaceful communities.
Freeman’s Second Case
The second case, stemming from charges leveled against him in July 2024, is scheduled to begin in Birmingham Crown Court on September 8, 2025. In this case, Freeman is charged with encouragement of terrorism for social media posts relating to the 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical weekly, that resulted in the deaths of twelve victims.
The court previously heard that he “intended members of the public to be directly or indirectly encouraged, or otherwise induced, by the statement to commit, prepare or instigate acts of terrorism.” He was released on conditional bail and ordered not to use social media, except for WhatsApp.
On July 23, Freeman’s X account, which is “now being managed independently to keep you up to date about Majid’s upcoming events, trials, etc.,” drew attention to Freeman’s legal troubles, reporting that there were “only 8 days to go before Majid Freeman is in court in Leicester for the Hindutva [nationalist Hinduism] retrial. Before that, we have an extremely important tour taking place for his Gaza trial.” The administrator noted that “Majid is not allowed to post on social media as part of his bail conditions.”
The online group Documenting Oppression Against Muslims (DOAM) joined CAGE in urging supporters to participate in the demonstrations. “This is more than just a trial—it’s a test of our right to speak up for justice and stand with the oppressed,” DOAM tweeted.
Freeman ‘Key Influencer” in Leicester Riots
Freeman has been at the center of Islamist-related controversies for quite some time. An investigation by the Henry Jackson Society’s Centre on Radicalisation and Terrorism titled “Hindu-Muslim civil unrest in Leicester: “Hindutva” and the Creation of a False Narrative,” lists Freeman as one of the key “influencers” of the Leicester riots.
“Many of Freeman’s allegations of violence against Muslims perpetrated by Hindus in
Leicester have later been found to have no evidence,” the investigation concluded. One of his tweets accuses two Hindu men of beating up a 17-year-old Muslim boy. An Islamist retweeted Freeman frequently during the unrest, including his posts referring to “Hindutva racist thugs.”
According to the 39-page report, published in November 2022, Freeman offered prayers for the brothers of an ISIS fighter and posted prayers for Aafia Siddiqui, a woman charged with trying to shoot U.S. military in Afghanistan while shouting “death to all Americans.”
Another dossier, “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing: How Islamist Extremists Exploit the UK Charitable Sector,” published by the Henry Jackson Society in 2018, describes Freeman’s time as a “charity worker” on the Aid4Syria convoy. Aid4Syria, which brought humanitarian aid into Syria during that country’s civil war, named projects after the above-mentioned Aaifa Siddiqui, who was convicted in 2010 for the attempted murder and assault of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. This report states that Freeman had “approvingly posted a link on Facebook to a video presenting Islamic State as a legitimate reaction to Western foreign policy” and that “Jerusalem would be conquered by jihad, not by peace.”
CAGE’s Support No Surprise
“It is unsurprising that CAGE, a so-called ‘advocacy’ group that has spent years defending known agents of Islamist terror, has rallied on behalf of Majid Novsarka,” Aurele Tobelem, Director of Research at the Forum for Foreign Relations, told FWI.
Tobelem, a historian, elaborated:
In 2015, CAGE’s research director, Asim Qureshi, publicly referred to ISIS executioner Mohammed Emwazi (alias “Jihadi John”) as a “beautiful young man.” Eight months later, an external audit proved that the group had failed to adequately distance itself from Emwazi, despite his attested record of beheading innocent civilian hostages. In 2019, CAGE was listed by The Arab Weekly as among the customers of the Qatari-owned Al Rayan Bank, a financial institution that has since been repeatedly accused of transferring money to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist militias.
“Novsarka has praised attacks by al-Qaeda and Hamas,” Tobelem noted. “Any sane individual would prosecute him. But then again, sanity has never been CAGE’s strong suit.”
CAGE did not respond to a request for comment from FWI.
