Everyone thinks I was let off for my looks, says ‘Jihottie’ in terror trial
THE woman dubbed the ‘Jihottie’ in a landmark terrorism case has claimed the public think she was cleared because of her looks.
Nawal Msaad, 27, earned her nickname after she posted photos online of the glamorous outfits she would be wearing to her trial.
The university student even decorated the electronic tag on her ankle with jewels.
She was eventually acquitted of trying to smuggle £1 ,500 in her underwear to a jihadi fighter.
Yesterday, as Miss Msaad spoke out for the first time since her acquittal, her friend Amal El-Wahabi was jailed for two years and four months for arranging to transport cash to her 30-year-old husband Aine Davis, a Muslim con- vert fighting with IS. It is the first prosecution in Britain of funding terrorism in Syria.
Miss Msaad, a Muslim, complained of sexist treatment in the media and said she has received abuse from the Muslim community and threats of sexual violence on social networking sites for the way she dressed during her trial.
‘A lot of people think that I’m the smuggler who got away with it, that the jury only let me off because of my looks,’ she told Channel 4 News. ‘I was supposed to be a jihadi, but there I was dressed in skirts and matching blazers. Many people couldn’t handle this.
‘I was getting stick from the Muslim community, from people really bothered by the way I dress, sending me messages that I should cover up.’