Alaa Abd El Fattah's Return to UK Sparks Controversy Over Past Posts
Alaa Abd El Fattah flew to the UK on Friday to reunite with his family for the first time in 12 years after being released from an Egyptian jail. Rights groups have described his detention as unfair. The UK prime minister welcomed his return on X, but the announcement was met with criticism after old social media posts by Abd El Fattah resurfaced, in which he called for the killing of Zionists and police officers.
Keir Starmer, the opposition leader, said he was unaware of the resurfaced posts. The government stated it is reviewing information failures in the case, and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper ordered a senior civil servant to assess ministers' awareness. Abd El Fattah apologised for the posts, describing them as expressions of a young man's anger, a move that was welcomed by the prime minister's spokesman as the right thing to do.
BBC findings revealed that Abd El Fattah's Facebook account had liked posts that framed criticism against him as a “relentless smear campaign” by unnamed powerful entities. Another liked post claimed he was a victim of a Zionist campaign; the original post has since been deleted.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick argued that these posts suggest the apology was insincere and that Abd El Fattah still holds extremist views. Jenrick suggested the possibility of citizenship revocation. However, Downing Street responded that the threshold for revoking citizenship is high and any such move would face legal challenges.
Abd El Fattah was granted British citizenship in December 2021 through his London-born mother. Earlier, in 2021, he was convicted of spreading fake news about torture—a trial widely condemned by rights groups. Conservative and Reform UK parties have called for his deportation and the stripping of his citizenship. While the Home Secretary has powers to strip dual nationals' citizenship if it is not conducive to the public good, officials note that the bar is very high and a legal challenge would be lengthy.
