YOU COWARD, MR JAVID
Jihadi Jack’s parents’ damning words over decision to strip their son of British citizenship
JIHADI Jack’s parents branded Sajid Javid a ‘coward’ yesterday as a furious row erupted over the decision to strip the Islamic State fighter of his British citizenship.
John Letts and Sally Lane said their son Jack Letts had been left in a ‘legal black hole’ after his British passport was revoked by the then-Home Secretary last month.
They spoke out as MPs condemned the decision, saying it set a ‘bad example’ to the world by dumping British militants on to other nations.
The Canadian government also accused the UK of ‘offloading their responsibilities’. Letts, nicknamed Jihadi Jack, holds dual Canadian citizenship as his father, John, 58, an organic farmer, is Canadian.
The 24-year-old left school in Oxfordshire at the age of 18 to join IS fighters in Raqqa, Syria.
He fought on the front line in Iraq for the terror group in 2014, but was captured while attempting to flee to Turkey in May 2017. He is now being held in a Kurdish jail in northern Syria.
Yesterday, his parents accused the
‘He’s in a legal black hole’
Government of ‘shirking responsibility and passing the buck to the Canadians’. Mr Letts told Channel 4 News: ‘Justice doesn’t seem to be able to happen here.’ He added: ‘I thought British citizens had certain rights. I thought we had the right to innocent until proven guilty, the right of a trial, the right of free speech.’
He described Mr Javid as ‘a bit of a coward and in denial and naive’ and said he would ‘love’ to debate him and find out the reasons behind the decision.
Mrs Lane, 57, said: ‘It was a real shock that your Government can do this to you without any form of redress or discussion... Jack and other people are now in a legal black hole.
‘I think Jack wants to come back to whatever country will take him. We’ve been told by the Canadian government that they’ve been making every effort to bring him back.’
The couple were convicted in June this year of funding terrorism after sending their son £223, and were sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months after an Old Bailey trial. Asked about the effects of their court ordeal, Mr Letts said: ‘We did what we had to do to keep our son alive and to get him free.’
He added: ‘We think he’s still alive, we actually have no proof of life. We know he’s been tortured. I want him out of his situation and I want him to face justice if, indeed, he’s done something wrong. I fervently believe that he hasn’t.’
The Home Office can only strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they have two passports, as international law prevents any government from making people stateless.
The decision could strain relations with Canada ahead of a meeting between Boris Johnson and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau at the G7 in Biarritz next weekend.
A spokesman for Canada’s public safety minister said: ‘Terrorism knows no borders, so countries need to work together to keep each other safe. Canada is disappointed the UK has taken this unilateral action to offload their responsibilities.’
The row comes after Shamima Begum, 19, a former schoolgirl from Bethnal Green who ran away to Syria, was controversially stripped of her British citizenship in February. Her family is challenging the decision in the courts.
Yesterday, former defence minister Tobias Ellwood said Britain should take responsibility for its home-grown extremists. He also said the UK should lead calls on how ‘foreign fighters face justice, and who is ultimately responsible for bringing them to justice’.
Andrew Mitchell, the former international development secretary said it was not in the national interest to eschew responsibility for ‘dangerous, evil’ British jihadists.
More than 150 dual nationals have been stripped of their British citizenship since 2010.
The Home Office would not comment on individuals but a spokesman said: ‘Decisions on depriving a dual national of citizenship are based on substantial advice from officials, lawyers and the intelligence agencies and all available information.’