Leicestershire Police have seized assets worth more than £250,000 from Leicester-based Muslim ‘activist’ Majid Novsarka, better known as Majid Freeman, who is facing terrorism charges over supportive statements about Hamas and social media posts relating to terrorism.
Court documents lodged at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court reveal that the force has made six separate applications under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. The applications include a request to forfeit £239,008 in cash seized from Novsarka on March 19, 2024, which police have described as “terrorist cash”.
Leicestershire Police are moving to seize over £250,000 in cash, frozen accounts, and crypto wallets linked to Majid Novsarka (also known as Majid Freeman), a prominent figure during the 2022 Leicester unrest, which saw Hindu homes and temples attacked.
— INSIGHT UK (@INSIGHTUK2) August 28, 2026
Authorities have launched… pic.twitter.com/qbX6OuY6MZ
The documents also show that police are seeking to continue detaining cryptocurrency-related assets held through KuCoin, Nest, Revolut and CB Payments. The wallets are valued at $36,069, or approximately £26,000. A further, undisclosed sum held in an account frozen in July 2024 is also the subject of a forfeiture application.
The six applications are due to be considered at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on November 10, 2026. Novsarka, 38, denies the two terrorism charges against him and is due to stand trial at Birmingham Crown Court in September 2027. The offences concern his social media activity.
According to the prosecution case, Novsarka is accused of expressing views supportive of Hamas, which is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK. He is also accused of using a social media post relating to the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris to encourage his followers to carry out, plan or incite similar acts of terrorism.
Novsarka has denied the allegations. His representatives at CAGE have also challenged the suggestion that the seized money was connected to terrorism, arguing that there has been no determination about what the cash was intended for and pointing out that his charitable activities involved handling and transferring money.
The seizure proceedings are separate from the criminal prosecution, and the court has yet to determine whether the money or crypto assets are connected to terrorist activity.
Majid Freeman, the fanatic who was at the forefront of instigating violence against Hindus in Leicester
Majid Freeman is a local Leicester Muslim “activist” who is known to harbour problematic and extremist Islamic views. Throughout the Leicester violence, Majid was at the forefront of spreading fake news that instigated violence against Hindus.
It was on 28 August 2022 that a scuffle broke out after India defeated Pakistan in a T20 match after the Indian flag was desecrated. After the scuffle, Hindus had even calmed the situation down and tended to the individual who had snatched and desecrated the Indian flag. Majid Freeman, however, had a different story to tell.
On the 30th of August, after the Leicester police got influenced by the Muslim organisations and lied about “death to Muslims” being chanted by Hindus (they later clarified their investigation found no such chants were heard), Majid took to Twitter to rabble-rouse against Hindus.
On the 30th itself, he lied about Quran being desecrated in Leicester, insinuating that the Hindus had committed this act. However, OpIndia tried to verify these claims.
There was another incident that was cited by Majid Freeman to claim that Hindus had been attacking Muslims. He claimed that a mob of 30+ Hindus had chased and assaulted a Muslim teenager. When confirmed, it turned out that while the Muslim organisations had claimed this, no video evidence was submitted to the police and no investigation was underway, OpIndia was told by Insight UK.
On the 4th of September, when the violence against Hindus started with mobs hunting them down in their houses and on the streets, Majid Freeman took to Twitter to dog-whistle against Hindus again.
Freeman did not merely report on the unrest. He repeatedly amplified inflammatory allegations against Hindus at a time when tensions were already running high, helping push unverified claims to a large online audience.
From the 4th to the 7th of September, Muslim mobs went on a rampage against Hindus. On the 4th of September, when Majid tweeted and dog-whistled, the Muslim mob went on a rampage unprovoked while the Hindus were celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi. Eggs were thrown when Hindu symbols were spotted and where Ganesh puja was being held. A Hindu man was dragged out of his home and stabbed. When his aunt ran out of the house to defend him, she was injured because the Muslim mob punched and beat her.
On the 12th of September, a dangerous lie started. It was alleged that Hindu men had attempted to abduct a Muslim girl while she was going to school.
After the story went viral, aided by Majid Freeman, the Hindu man started getting threats from Islamists since they had outed his car number, his location and his picture.
On the 14th of September, the Leicester police confirmed that the news was fake.
In fact, another lie that was circulated by Majid Freeman and his Islamist cohorts was that a Mosque was attacked by Hindus during their peaceful protest. The Leicester police confirmed that no such mosque was attacked; however, they did confirm that a Hindu temple had been vandalised.
A BBC investigation into the Leicester disorder previously examined the role of social media in spreading unverified allegations. It specifically documented how Freeman shared a claim that a 15-year-old Muslim girl had nearly been kidnapped by Indian boys. Freeman later acknowledged that the allegation turned out to be wrong.
The episode showed how Freeman used his social-media reach to amplify an unverified communal allegation, contributing to an atmosphere in which Hindus were increasingly portrayed as perpetrators of attacks that had not occurred.
Freeman’s conviction during 2022 Leicester violence
Freeman’s conduct during the unrest eventually resulted in a separate criminal prosecution. In June 2024, he was convicted of a Section 4 public-order offence relating to the September 2022 disorder. He was sentenced by Northampton Magistrates’ Court on September 9, 2024, to 22 weeks in prison.
The court found that his conduct involved an intention to provoke “immediate unlawful violence”. OpIndia reported that the judge concluded Freeman had used abusive words with the intention of provoking violence.
The conviction was for a public-order offence, but it further cemented Freeman’s record of using inflammatory rhetoric during the Leicester unrest.
Earlier scrutiny over extremist associations and terror links
Freeman’s online activities and associations had attracted scrutiny well before the Leicester riots. OpIndia investigation revealed Freeman often expressed sympathy for Islamist extremist figures and causes.
Freeman had even encouraged European Muslims to undertake jihad in Syria and had published material praising or paying tribute to Al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. OpIndia also examined his involvement with organisations involved in humanitarian activity in Syria and alleged connections to networks associated with Islamist extremism.
A separate report by the Henry Jackson Society similarly recorded allegations that Freeman had encouraged Muslims to “do jihad in Syria” and had promoted tributes to al-Awlaki.
He is also linked to humanitarian organisations operating in Syria, including Aid4Syria and organisations associated with the Turkish charity IHH.
On social media, Freeman has often expressed sympathy towards ISIS and Al-Qaeda-linked figures.
From Leicester riots conviction to terrorism prosecution
In the latest case, he is accused of encouraging terrorism and expressing support for Hamas through social-media posts. Those charges remain contested and will be tested at trial in 2027.
The latest seizure proceedings add another dimension to the case. Leicestershire Police are seeking the forfeiture of more than £239,000 in cash described in court documents as “terrorist cash”, alongside cryptocurrency assets worth approximately £26,000 and another frozen sum.
The November hearing is expected to examine the police applications concerning the substantial sums seized from Freeman, while his terrorism case remains pending before Birmingham Crown Court.
