The UK prime minister is facing criticism after he celebrated the return to Britain of a human-rights activist who was recently released from an Egyptian prison but whose past social media posts apparently contained violent and antisemitic language.
Successive British governments have campaigned for the release of Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a dual national who had been imprisoned in Egypt for most of the past 14 years. He returned to the UK on Friday after Egyptian authorities lifted a travel ban that had forced him to remain in the country since he was freed in September.
But a senior member of the opposition Conservative Party on Saturday criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer for giving a “personal, public endorsement” to Abdel-Fattah when Starmer said he was “delighted” the activist had been reunited with his family in Britain.
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Robert Jenrick, the Conservative spokesman on justice issues, demanded to know whether Starmer knew about historical social media posts in which Abdel-Fattah allegedly endorsed killing “Zionists’’ and police.
Jenrick also called on Starmer to condemn Abdel-Fattah’s statements and withdraw his “unalloyed endorsement” of the activist.
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“Nobody should be imprisoned arbitrarily nor for peaceful dissent,’’ Jenrick wrote. “But neither should the prime minister place the authority of his office behind someone whose own words cross into the language of racism and bloodshed.”
