Terror suspects like Shamima Begum will be punished like VICTIMS if they exploit contemporary slavery laws, watchdog warns amid claims Met Police covered for ‘Canadian spy’ who transported ISIS bride into Syria
Begum said to have been trafficked by agent on payroll of both IS and Canada
The shocking assertions are presented in book titled The Secret History of the Five Eyes
QC thinks modern slavery definition so wide suspects may be treated as victims
Terror suspects like Shamima Begum might be considered like victims if they exploit modern slavery rules, the terrorism watchdog said last night.
Explosive claims in a new book that the so-called Jihadi Bride was brought into Syria by a spy working for Canada – before Justin Trudeau’s nation then conspired with the UK to cover up its role – emerged this week.
It spurred calls for an inquiry into whether the Met and the government knew the alleged people smuggler was responsible for assisting Begum and her two colleague schoolgirls join ISIS while simultaneously serving as a double agent.
Now, Jonathan Hall QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, argues the definition of modern slavery is so wide that terror suspects such as Begum herself may even be deemed as victims by authorities.
He told the Times of his concern over the assumption that any youngster recruited to a terrorist outfit was ‘automatically’ a victim.
Terror suspects like Shamima Begum might be treated like victims if they exploit modern slavery rules, the terrorism watchdog said last night
Begum left school in Bethnal Green, East London, to fly to Syria in 2015, where she married an ISIS fighter and gave birth to three children, all of whom died early
Mr Hall said deciding whether or not Begum was a victim should not be the major issue when her bid to restore British citizenship comes to court in November.
He noted that judging the risk she poses was a more essential concern than the circumstances in which she came to Syria.
‘The concept and the way in which the statute is administered is excessively broad,’ he said.
Mr Hall highlighted particular problems with the idea that a youngster recruited to a terrorist organisation was inevitably a victim, ‘if they did so fully of their own free will’.
‘It is at odds with the fact that youngsters are not often considered as victims when they commit other crimes, merely because someone recommends they should do so,’ he added.
Fresh details came to light this week, suggesting the now-23-year-old Begum was transported into the Middle East by a double agent, on the payroll of both IS and Canadian intelligence.
But officials in Ottawa are then believed to have kept quiet, even as Scotland Yard mounted a vast, international search for Begum, and her pals Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana, according to The Secret History of the Five Eyes.
Five Eyes is an intelligence sharing cooperation, founded during the Cold War, between the UK, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The book, by journalist Richard Kerbaj, argues that Canada finally revealed its involvement in the plot as executives feared becoming exposed, then also managed to convince Britain to cover-up its position.
In response to the claims, calls have been made for a probe into what the police and intelligence agencies knew about Canada’s operations.
Jonathan Hall QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, argues the term of modern slavery is so wide that terror suspects may even be deemed as victims by authorities
Begum left school in Bethnal Green, East London, to travel to Syria in 2015, where she married an ISIS member and gave birth to three children, all of whom died early.
Her youngest child perished in the prison camp in Syria’s north-east in 2019.
She has made earlier attempts to reclaim her British citizenship, but lost in her Supreme Court appeal to return to the UK to argue her case in person.
The Supreme Court ruled on national security grounds that she cannot return to Britain to file an appeal against the ruling. The legislation indicates a person’s citizenship can be withdrawn if they are found to be in the public interest.
Speaking to iNews from the camp while she awaits a trial by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces earlier this summer, she reiterated that she wants to be ‘as British as possible’, but confessed that she expects she will spend the rest of her life in Syria.