"Abd el-Fattah, who landed in London from Egypt on Boxing Day, has been at the centre of a political storm over social media posts he published more than a decade ago, including tweets in which he called for Zionists to be killed. Keir Starmer said he was delighted by Abd el-Fattah's arrival on Friday after the British government helped secure the activist's release from years in an Egyptian jail. However, the prime minister has since condemned the tweets and said he was unaware of them."
"The activist, who was granted British citizenship while in prison in 2021 through his mother's birth in the UK, has apologised unequivocally for his posts after opposition parties called for him to be deported and his citizenship revoked. Human rights campaigners have reacted with anger to the suggestion, saying citizenship stripping as a punishment for social media posts would be an extremely authoritarian step."
Alaa Abd el-Fattah returned to London from Egypt on Boxing Day after release from years in an Egyptian jail. Past social media posts from more than a decade ago, including tweets calling for Zionists to be killed, sparked political controversy. Keir Starmer welcomed his arrival but condemned and said he was unaware of the tweets. The foreign secretary launched a review into serious information failures around his case. The activist obtained British citizenship in 2021 through his mother's UK birth and has apologised unequivocally. Home Office sources said the legal bar for revocation was not met and the evidential case had been unchanged for 12 years. Campaigners warned that stripping citizenship for posts would be authoritarian.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]