ISIS bride Shamima Begum – the British woman who fled to Syria in 2015 to join the terrorist group and quickly married one of its fighters – lost her bid on Friday to return to the UK to fight for the recovery of its citizenship because it poses a security risk.
A unanimous decision of the UK Supreme Court last year overturned a decision of the Court of Appeal, which ruled that Begum should be able to return so that she can bring a fair appeal in her case.
“The right to a fair trial does not take precedence over all other considerations, such as the safety of the public,” said Robert Reed, the president of the Supreme Court, Reuters reported.
“If a vital public interest makes it impossible to hear a case fairly, then the courts usually cannot hear it,” he said, adding that Begum’s appeal should be suspended until she can play an effective role in the case. play without any danger. public.
“That is not a perfect solution, because it is not known how long it may take before that is possible. But there is no perfect solution to a dilemma of its current kind, ”he said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the ruling, his spokesman said, adding that the government’s priority was “to maintain our national security.”
British-born Begum, 21, was 15 when she left with two other schoolgirls from Bethnal Green Academy in East London to join the terrorist group.
She married an ISIS fighter two weeks later and lived in Raqqa, the capital of the self-proclaimed caliphate. In 2019, Begum turned to a refugee camp in Syria, where three of her children died.
She told reporters she wanted to return home, but former Home Secretary Sajid Javid stripped her of citizenship months later, with Internal Intelligence considering her a security threat.
He argued that she was of Bengali descent and could go there instead.
Begum is now in Al-Roj refugee camp, run by Syrian Kurdish authorities, where UN law experts said this month the conditions were “subhuman.”
ITV News filmed her walking around the camp, wearing sunglasses, a jacket, a T-shirt and leggings. She declined to comment on the outlet.
Human rights groups said Britain had a duty to return Begum and others to similar situations and prosecute them for all the crimes they committed, rather than leaving them abroad.
“Leaving them in a legal black hole – in Guantanamo-like circumstances – is not in line with British values and the interests of justice and security,” Maya Foa, director of campaign group Reprieve, told Reuters.
With pole wires