{"id":660984,"date":"2025-12-29T20:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T20:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/660984\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T20:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T20:32:09","slug":"egyptian-british-activist-apologises-for-past-social-media-posts-as-police-launch-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/660984\/","title":{"rendered":"Egyptian-British activist apologises for past social media posts as police launch review"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul data-testid=\"Summary\" class=\"summary-module__summary__QjADA\">\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Abd el-Fattah apologises for past social media posts<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Counter-terrorism police assess posts after public referrals<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">UK political figures call for deportation consideration<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Government announces review of information failures<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Dec 29 (Reuters) &#8211; Activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, freed from prison in Egypt and now in Britain, apologised on Monday for his &#8220;shocking and hurtful&#8221; social media posts made more than a decade ago, which counter-terrorism police said they are assessing.<\/p>\n<p>Abd el-Fattah, 44, became Egypt&#8217;s most prominent political prisoner after spending years in and out of detention and a rare symbol of opposition during a crackdown under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/uk\/egyptian-british-activist-apologises-past-social-media-posts-police-launch-2025-12-29\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fworld%2Fuk%2Fegyptian-british-activist-apologises-past-social-media-posts-police-launch-2025-12-29%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>He <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/egyptian-british-activist-alaa-abd-el-fattah-arrives-uk-after-release-egyptian-2025-12-26\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">arrived in Britain<\/a> last Friday after obtaining British citizenship in 2021 through his mother, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying he was &#8220;delighted&#8221; by the news.<\/p>\n<p>In the following days, British newspapers ran stories about posts he made on the former Twitter platform between 2008 and 2014, seen by Reuters, which endorsed violence against &#8220;Zionists&#8221; and police.<\/p>\n<p>In another he called British people &#8220;dogs and monkeys&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Counter Terrorism Policing said the posts were being assessed following referrals from the public.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Abd el-Fattah said many of his tweets had been misunderstood but that others were unacceptable.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Looking at the tweets now &#8211; the ones that were not completely twisted out of their meaning &#8211; I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added they were mostly &#8220;expressions of a young man&#8217;s anger and frustrations&#8221; at wars in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza, and &#8220;the rise of police brutality against Egyptian youth.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party which tops opinion polls, called for Abd el-Fattah&#8217;s deportation. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said the country should consider it.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for Starmer said he was not aware of the posts when he campaigned for Abd el-Fattah&#8217;s release and called the comments &#8220;abhorrent&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>But the spokesperson added the government has a record of helping its citizens overseas.<\/p>\n<p>Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper later said she was also unaware of the posts and that her office would urgently review its processes after what she called &#8220;an unacceptable failure&#8221; of due diligence.<\/p>\n<p>In a letter to lawmakers that was posted on X, Cooper said long-standing procedures and due diligence had been &#8220;completely inadequate&#8221; and promised changes to ensure accurate information and proper checks.<\/p>\n<p>The Board of Deputies of British Jews said his posts were of &#8220;profound concern.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Abd el-Fattah was most recently serving a five-year sentence in Egypt imposed in December 2021, after he shared a social media post about a prisoner&#8217;s death.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Andy Bruce, Sam Tabahriti and Andrew MacAskill<br \/>\nEditing by Alexandra Hudson and Rosalba O&#8217;Brien<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__element__5eCce article-body-module__trust-badge__5mS3f\">Our Standards: <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/about-us\/trust-principles.html\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__medium__2Rl30 text-module__small__sph8i link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersagency.com\/en\/licensereuterscontent\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"button-module__link__A3sD0 button-module__secondary__70gBu button-module__round__QDFgq button-module__w_auto__Sem-F\" data-testid=\"LicenceContentButton\" rel=\"noopener\">Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><a data-testid=\"AuthorBioImageLink\" class=\"author-bio-module__author-image__jcaG3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/authors\/sam-tabahriti\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" tabindex=\"-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 author-bio-module__description__9ynkB\">Sam Tabahriti is a UK breaking news correspondent covering general and political news for Reuters. He has over five years of experience covering general news and three years covering business and legal news. He is also a keen cyclist and photography enthusiast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Abd el-Fattah apologises for past social media posts Counter-terrorism police assess posts after public referrals UK political figures&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[202028,748,202019,202020,202021,124879,201812,202034,201806,168730,201809,202032,201814,201807,202036,202039,202037,168735,202038,202035,201810,168728,168722,168734,201808,168723,201815,201813,168732,202033,120873,202022,202031,12920,124890,393,84751,2732,124880,4884,202023,202042,202024,7900,202029,202043,202030,1144,168737,202040,124882,202044,202045,168742,202018,202041,712,202025,202026,84744,84729,16,15,1764,84750,202027],"class_list":{"0":"post-660984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-afr","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-civ","13":"tag-clj","14":"tag-crim","15":"tag-cwp","16":"tag-destafa","17":"tag-destafn","18":"tag-destcsa","19":"tag-destdnp","20":"tag-destg","21":"tag-destgfn","22":"tag-destgns","23":"tag-destlby","24":"tag-destocatpm","25":"tag-destoukdnm","26":"tag-destouktpm","27":"tag-destoustpm","28":"tag-destouswdm","29":"tag-destozatpm","30":"tag-destpge","31":"tag-destpsc","32":"tag-destrast","33":"tag-destrbn","34":"tag-destreulb","35":"tag-destrnp","36":"tag-destrws","37":"tag-destrwsa","38":"tag-destucdptest","39":"tag-destuki","40":"tag-dip","41":"tag-dli","42":"tag-eg","43":"tag-emea","44":"tag-emrg","45":"tag-england","46":"tag-europ","47":"tag-gb","48":"tag-gen","49":"tag-great-britain","50":"tag-hrgt","51":"tag-imm","52":"tag-judic","53":"tag-legal","54":"tag-meast","55":"tag-mpop","56":"tag-nafr","57":"tag-northern-ireland","58":"tag-packageus-top-news","59":"tag-packageworld-news","60":"tag-pol","61":"tag-pxp","62":"tag-racr","63":"tag-reuters-legal","64":"tag-rsbihuman-rights","65":"tag-rulesimmigration","66":"tag-scotland","67":"tag-secur","68":"tag-soci","69":"tag-topcmb","70":"tag-topnws","71":"tag-uk","72":"tag-united-kingdom","73":"tag-wales","74":"tag-weu","75":"tag-www"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}