Lawyer Anwar hits out at ‘bile’ of online abuse after eyewitness account from scene of attack
A Scottish criminal defence lawyer who was an eyewitness to last week’s terror attack in Barcelona has condemned far right activists and their supporters after he was subjected to “vitriolic” abuse online. Aamer Anwar, one of Scotland’s most high profile
Glasgow, was visiting Barcelona at the time of the attack in the Las Ramblas area, which left 13 people dead.
After recounting what he saw and heard to media outlets, he said he received “vitriolic” abuse, with some people suggesting he was implicated in the attack, and others wishing that he was killed.
Mr Anwar said he regarded such “bile” as a “deliberate attempt to whip up race hatred and violence”, and that it was an effort to stifle his right to speak out, simply because he happens to be a Muslim.
Although friends and colleagues suggested he simply ignored the messages, Mr Anwar asked “why should such extremists be allowed to grow in confidence with no opposition?”
Speaking out about the abuse, he said: “Tommy Robinson, the ex-leader of the English Defence League, accused me of being a lawyer for Isis terrorist Aqsa Mahmood. I am nothing of the sort, having repeatedly described Isis as a perverted death cult, and only last year I was subjected to death threats from Islamic extremists for having spoken out. Others followed on from Robinson wishing I had been killed, saying I would be a ‘really good target for any new vigilante group’. Jokes were cracked stating my death would have been ‘poetic justice’.”
Mr Anwar said the identities of the victims in the attack demonstrated that people from all countries and of all religions were killed.
He explained: “Every race, creed and religion was represented on Las Ramblas – 34 countries from which the victims came, from the age of three to the age of 80 – and then to be subjected to such horrific abuse.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was among those who condemned the comments aimed at Mr Anwar. She wrote on Twitter: “The far right abuse that @ Aameranwar has suffered since the Barcelona attack is sickening. His dignity stands in contrast to their hatred.”
Mr Sarwar said he was grateful for the “absolutely amazing” support he has received from people after the abuse came to light.
He added: “What makes things better is compassion, what makes things better is humanity. They are not clichés, that is the only way forward and I saw that the next day I went back to Las Ramblas.
“I was there when the first candle was laid and for me that defiance, that spirit, that unity, that solidarity is what we saw in Manchester, what we saw in London, what we saw in Barcelona.”