He understands the concern
A man who was convicted of a terrorist offence has defended standing in local elections this year, saying he understands “people’s speculation and concern”.
Shahid Butt was found guilty of a plot to blow up the British consulate in Yemen in 1999, but said the charges were fabricated and that he was tortured into making a confession. Both Labour and Conservative politicians raised concerns about his suitability when he announced his plan to stand as an independent candidate, in the Sparkhill ward on the Birmingham City Council.
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Speaking to BBC Politics Midlands this week, Butt said: “I’ve always maintained from day one, that these were false, fabricated charges that were put against me, I was tortured into signing a confession.”
What’s he been up to lately? Good peaceful friendly things?
Butt has been a controversial figure more recently, when he encouraged Birmingham Muslims to protest against a football match in November between Aston Villa and the Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv. He was accused of using language which might have encouraged physical confrontations.
Social media footage from the protest showed Butt saying: “Muslims are not pacifists… if somebody comes into your face, you knock his teeth out.”
Protesting the football match why? Because…Jews?
Not someone I would feel happy voting for, I must say.
Sureena Brackenridge, the Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East, said: “I am stunned that someone who was found to be a terrorist, who planned to blow up a British consulate, is now putting himself in a position to represent people of Sparkhill.”
Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Yardley in Birmingham told ITV News: “The idea that people who have been convicted of terror offences underplaying that as having had a colourful past and standing to represent part of my family in that area, I find that absolutely appalling.”
Think of him as quirky.
He’s a trans-pacifist. He might have been assigned terrorist at court, but that’s not how he identifies.
I’m not saying there’s nothing to be concerned about, here, but I will note that marching against the football match because it was against an Israeli team is a reasonable form of protest. Israel has been committing war crimes, and that fact isn’t mitigated by their Jewishness. Athletic teams are often points of national pride (as stupid as that is), and so they are legitimate targets of shaming actions, as well.
And sadly, I cannot say without further research that I’m disinclined to believe his assertion that he was innocent of the bombing charges and tortured into confession. The intelligence forces are known to create threats when they cannot find a legitimate one to address, just so that they can be shown to be ‘doing something about the problem’.
Of course, once he dropped in the fun bit about “Muslims aren’t pacifists”, all bets are off. Active threats of violence should put you beyond the pale.