Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick criticized Sir Keir Starmer for welcoming an Egyptian pro-democracy activist to the UK after historical messages emerged on social media showing the activist apparently calling for the killing of Zionists.
Alaa Abdel Fattah, a dual British national, left Egypt earlier this week after being released from prison following a presidential pardon.
In 2021, he was convicted of “spreading fake news” after sharing a Facebook post about torture in the country.
The Prime Minister said he was “pleased” to hear the activist had arrived in the UK to be reunited with his family and said his case had long been a “top priority” for the government.
But Jenrick said Sir Keir’s comments were a “serious error of judgement” as he highlighted some messages sent by Abdel Fattah more than a decade ago in support of the killing of “Zionists” and “police officers”.
The shadow justice secretary added that the prime minister’s message amounted to a “personal and public endorsement” of the activist.
Jenrick said in a letter: “No one should be arbitrarily imprisoned, nor should they be arbitrarily imprisoned for peaceful dissent. But nor should the Prime Minister put the authority of his office behind those whose words involve racist and bloody language.”
Cabinet ministers including Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Justice Minister David Lamy posted similar posts of support following Abdel Fattah’s return.
The Jewish Leadership Council, a charity representing British Jewish organizations, criticized the British government’s “warm welcome”.
The BBC understands the activist’s messages, which were deemed abhorrent by the government, were only highlighted in recent days before they came to the Prime Minister’s attention.
Abdel Fattah was released from prison in September after a long campaign by his family, backed by celebrities including actresses Dame Judi Dench and Olivia Colman, and lobbying by the British government.
He spent more than a decade in prison, including being sentenced to five years in prison in December 2021 after a trial that human rights groups deemed grossly unfair.
The previous Conservative government also lobbied for the activist’s release, with a government spokesman saying: “He is a British citizen. A long-standing priority for successive governments has been to work to free him from detention and reunite him with his family in the UK.”
Labor sources also accused Jenrick of trying to rewrite history for his own political gain.
Abdel Fattah is a writer, intellectual and software developer who rose to prominence during the 2011 uprising that forced Egypt’s former president, Hosni Mubarak, from power.
In 2014, Abdel Fattah was nominated for the Sakharov Prize, the European Human Rights Award, but it was withdrawn due to his 2012 tweets about Israel.
He said his comments were part of a “private conversation” that took place during Israel’s offensive on Gaza and were taken out of context.
After being released from prison, Abdel Fattah was removed from the travel ban list that kept him in Egypt for three months by Egyptian authorities and is now reunited with his 14-year-old son, who lives in Brighton.
“I’m learning how to go back to life,” he told the BBC in Cairo after his release in October.
He added: “I did much better than I expected. Much better than most people expected.”
