Sadiq Khan today declared that the Government should not stand in the way of Shamima Begum returning to Britain to fight for her UK passport accusing them of trying to ‘sub-contract justice to another country’.
The Mayor of London does not agree with the Home Office’s decision to challenge the Court of Appeal ruling allowing Begum to challenge the decision to revoke British citizenship in person on UK soil.
But counter-terror experts have warned that the decision to let Begum back into the UK could have dire implications for national security – including opening the door to other jihadis and their brides coming back from Syria and Iraq.
London mayor Sadiq Khan (pictured today) said Shamima Begum (right) should return to the UK to face justice in the criminal courts.
Mr Khan said today: ‘I think people who commit criminal offences must face the music.
‘While we’ve got courts in this country and judges who are some of the fairest in the world, I think if a British citizen commits an offence here or overseas they should face justice in the criminal courts.
‘And if she (Begum) has committed a criminal offence I’m sure the jury will find her guilty, and justice will be served. What I’m not in favour of is us sub-contracting justice to another country.’
On Thursday, senior judges said Begum – one of three east London schoolgirls who travelled to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State group – should be allowed to return to the UK to fight the decision to remove her British citizenship.
It came as the lawyer representing the family of jihadi bride Shamima Begum today made the extraordinary admission that ‘nobody can be sure’ if she is still a terror threat to Britain – but insisted that she should be allowed to return to the UK anyway.
Tasnime Akunjee also declared that a ‘lack of technology’ in the Syrian camp where Begum is living means she cannot fairly fight for her British passport to be returned.
It came as Begum was pictured wearing jeans, a shirt and a blue hat while walking through a Syrian refugee camp after winning a bombshell Court of Appeal victory that could see her back in the country within weeks. When she does return to the UK, Begum is likely to be arrested and questioned before being charged with terror-related offences.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain Mr Akunjee was asked if she could be a terror threat or groom others following her extremist past and said: ‘No one can be sure including her family that that won’t happen – but that is pure speculation’.
Macer Gifford, British former currency trader who travelled to Syria to fight with the Kurdish YPG militia against the Islamic State, also appeared on the show and said Begum must face trial in Syria or Iraq.
He said: ‘I do not trust the British legal system to get this right. just 1 in 10 jihadis who have come back to Britain find themselves in court. ‘My fear is that Shamima Begum will come back to the UK and get a slap on the wrist and she’ll be out within 2 years. Why can’t they [ISIS members] stand trial in Syria and Iraq where they committed these crimes?’
Tasnime Akunjee, a lawyer representing the family of Shamima Begum. admits they cannot be sure if she is a threat to Britain but insists she should return to the UK to win back her passport
Macer Gifford, British former currency trader who travelled to Syria to fight with the Kurdish YPG militia against the Islamic State said he fears Begum will come back to the UK and only ‘get a slap on the wrist’
Begum, who left to join IS five years ago when she was 15, had been stripped of her British citizenship after she was found, nine months pregnant, in a Syrian refugee camp in February last year, and was previously pictured wearing a black burka.
But yesterday she won a legal challenge after judges ruled she had not been granted a ‘fair and effective’ appeal. They said she should be allowed to return for a fresh hearing in a bid to overturn the Home Office’s decision.
Yesterday, Downing Street said it was ‘bitterly disappointed’ by the ruling and Sajid Javid, the former home secretary who oversaw the removal of her citizenship, said he was ‘deeply concerned’.
MPs and victims of Islamic State atrocities reacted furiously after three Court of Appeal judges said she could return here from a refugee camp in Syria.
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen was left furious by yesterday’s ruling saying it risked a flood of jihadis returning. He told MailOnline: ‘It opens the door for all her fellow jihadi brides to return to Britain – and potentially their terrorist partners too.
‘Most Brits will rightly think that when you swear allegiance to another country that declares war on Britain, that you have given up all the rights and protections and privileges of your British citizenship. After today’s ruling it appears you have not’.
Appeal: Begum challenged the decision made by then Home Secretary Sajid Javid saying she now feared for her life. Her third child Jarrah, pictured in her arms, died at three weeks old
Tooba Gonda (left), a former AK-47-wielding ISIS bride who groomed others online and bragged online about her ‘real freedom’ in Syria before caliphate collapsed. Jihadi bride Amira Abase (right) from Bethnal Green is rumoured to have been killed in an air strike but there are reports that Begum’s schoolfriend could still alive
Former bouncy castle salesman Siddhartha Dhar, 36, known as jihadi Sid, could be among the male jihadis looking to get back to Britain following today’s ruling
Jihadi bride Shamima Begum has been pictured today wearing jeans, a shirt and a blue hat as she walked through a Syrian refugee camp
These include Tooba Gondal, a former AK-47-wielding ISIS bride who groomed others online and bragged online about her ‘real freedom’ in Syria before the caliphate collapsed.
She is also in the Al Hol camp with Begum and has begged to come back to the UK because of ‘dire conditions’ there.
Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director of the counter-terror think-tank the Henry Jackson Society, said: ‘The deeply troubling implication of this judgment is that up to 150 terrorists are now legally entitled to enter the UK in order to appeal the decision in their case.
‘This decision could have dramatic repercussions for our entire counter-terror strategy.’
British jihadi fighters believed to be alive including former bouncy castle salesman turned alleged executioner Siddhartha Dhar, 36, ‘Jihadi Jack’ Letts, ISIS grave digger Shahan Choudhury, fast food addict ‘Hungry’ Hamza Parvez and Cardiff ice cream salesman Aseel Muthana may also try to seize on Begum’s legal victory.
UK civil rights groups including Liberty helped launch Begum’s legal battle in Britain and the Court of Appeal found she could not have an ‘effective’ appeal against the decision by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in February while she is out of the country – and said letting her back into the UK ‘outweighed national security concerns’.
The three judges, led by Lord Justice Flaux, said: ‘The Court concludes that Ms Begum’s appeal to the Court of Appeal should be allowed, so that she can have leave to enter the UK in order for there to be a fair and effective appeal before SIAC’.
However, sympathisers of the jihadi bride could risk up to 14 years in jail if they attempt to help her come back. A government source revealed a ‘simulation’ was carried out last year by intelligence experts at the Home Office, shortly after Begum was found in a Syrian refugee camp.
It concluded that anyone who assisted her return could be arrested under Section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The law sets out how it is a crime to ‘fund’ terrorism and carries a jail term of up to 14 years. Funding could involve money or property –for example, a plane ticket.
Lord Carlile, the leading QC and former terror tsar, confirmed it had potential to be a viable tactic. ‘That is quite possible. I don’t think the Government is under any obligation to take extraordinary steps to bring her back.’
Richard Walton, former head of Scotland Yard’s Counter-Terrorism Command, warned it may not be easy to hold Begum behind bars. He said: ‘She would likely be arrested and charged with terrorism offences but the evidence against her could be weak.
‘If released, she would present an on-going threat and would need to be subject to rigorous monitoring costing the state hundreds of thousands of pounds over months and years.’
Mother-of-three Begum, 20, whose children with Dutch jihadi husband Yago Riedijk all died, is still in the Al Hol camp in northern Syria but could be heading back to Britain within weeks after today’s landmark ruling.
Her first two children, a one-year-old girl and a three-month-old boy, died in the caliphate after becoming sick and malnourished, while her third child Jarrah died shortly after he was born in the camp where his mother still lives.