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News & Current Events May 5, 2026 at 12:07 PM

Lawyer who represented Hamas in court says UK police falsely listed him as member of group

Posted by wasraelx

Lawyer who represented Hamas in court says UK police falsely listed him as member of group
the Guardian
Lawyer who represented Hamas in court says UK police falsely listed him as member of group
Fahad Ansari says it was ‘chilling’ that police ‘equated him with his client’ after he was stopped on return from family holiday in Ireland
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wasraelx May 5, 2026 +129
From the article: ‘A lawyer who filed Hamas’s challenge to proscription in the UK was recorded by police as being a member of the banned group, “equating him with his client”. On a risk assessment form, a detective inspector, who authorised the detention of Fahad Ansari under the Terrorism Act on his return from a family holiday in Ireland, wrote “Hamas” in the space reserved for “membership of a known group”. Ansari is challenging the stop at the port of Holyhead on 6 August last year, claiming his detention and the processing of data from his phone containing legally privileged lawyer-client communications were unlawful.’ ‘In written submissions for this week’s trial, Hugh Southey KC, representing Ansari, said: “The claimant is not a member of Hamas. His only association with the organisation is his instruction as their solicitor in the de-proscription proceedings lodged in April 2025.”’
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mlc885 May 6, 2026 +18
What a weird mistake for the police/prosecution to make. With the exception of, maybe,members of an uncommon religious group, the chances that your lawyer is a member of your group Is unreasonable unless this is, like, a mob lawyer. We are pretty clear that everyone deserves legal protection for crimes, a redress of grievances, or the right to a day in court {for less serious things, if they can afford it), assuming their lawyer may be a terrorist is not at all reasonable.
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8livesdown May 5, 2026 +428
Police probably made a list of members based on phone records. Lawyers, mothers, dentists, etc. Anyone in contact with a member of Hamas. And if you have the same lawyer or dentist, then you become member of Hamas as well.
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wasraelx May 5, 2026 +254
It’s really weird because the UK has a new and extremely active terrorist group committing mainly arson attacks on Jewish and Jewish-linked sites, including [one in east London](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/05/fire-former-synagogue-tower-hamlets-east-london?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other) just today and a [stabbing](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/29/stabbing-golders-green-london?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other) of two people likewise in central London on Wednesday. But it seems more counter-terrorism resources are being poured to arresting [thousands of pensioners for holding placards](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/11/met-police-make-arrests-at-london-palestine-action-protest?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other), and targeting people like this lawyer, than to actually protecting the community from a growing active threat.
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HonestBalloon May 5, 2026 +123
A car bomb was set off outside a police station in Northern Ireland and they're still more interested in arresting non-starters
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wasraelx May 5, 2026 +66
Yea that’s the [New IRA](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/01/man-charged-after-car-bomb-explosion-at-police-station-in-northern-ireland?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other) (which is loosely based on the Provisional IRA which was itself loosely based on IRA, you know the drill). This is a different group, seemingly very new and definitely extremely active and dangerous. But point stays the same, the police are too distracted on this nonsense and failing to actually secure the public safety.
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Oggie243 May 5, 2026 +2
> seemingly very new and definitely extremely active and dangerous. They're not new. Security services claimed they infiltrated them about 10 or so years ago. Incidents have continued to happen though. So I don't know if that was a bluff or is the security services are especially shite. They're also not the only proscribed terror groups still active. They were also representatives of proscribed groups invited to Westminster to discuss the Northern Ireland protocol. Police have been pretty limp wristed with them too. I honestly don't know why the Dunmurry attack has gotten so much attention outside NI. There have been a right few incidences the last few years that haven't even broke nationally, this one got picked up by the wire agencies pretty quickly. The fact that this is one of tbe few incidences that broke national recently gives the impression that the New IRA are a nascent group, but they've been around a while unfortunately.
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username_taken0001 May 5, 2026 +8
These are dangerous people, someone might get hurt. It is much easier to arrest protestors.
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ProfessionalOil2014 May 5, 2026 +64
Well yeah?  They’re pigs. Of course they’re going to do the easy thing instead of the actually good thing. 
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h4533b May 5, 2026 +32
Sorry to correct you but the stabbing was 3 people, the first of which was a Muslim guy, which never got mentioned in the headlines and you'd think it was an attack targeting Jewish people and I suspect the Muslim guy was not mentioned to stroke the right wing media narrative, as well as the fact that the attacker had very prominent history of being mentally unwell. However since the first stabbing, the police response was inadequate which subsequently meant that the attack on the 2 other people happened - despite there being ample opportunity for the police to apprehend the attacker. Your 2nd paragraph is absolutely spot on though.
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padestel May 5, 2026 +42
The former synagogue was being bought in February by a Muslim community group with plans to turn it into a mosque for what it's worth. https://www.thejc.com/community/muslim-group-puts-down-deposit-to-buy-east-london-synagogue-bsaux3tz
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bootlegvader May 5, 2026 +56
>you'd think it was an attack targeting Jewish people and I suspect the Muslim guy was not mentioned to stroke the right wing media narrative They probably consider it attack targeting Jewish people because after stabbing his roommate he got on public transportation to travel some distance to a Jewish heavy part of London and then targeted two visibly Jewish individuals. The first attack doesn't negate the targeted nature of the later attacks.
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wasraelx May 5, 2026 +32
You’re completely right and it’s so weird it wasn’t mentioned - I found it now in [today’s piece by the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/05/survivors-against-terror-letter-support-uk-jews?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other) yet their headline about the attack still says ‘two people stabbed’. I guess it comes down to first reports and then repetition, but this is the first media mention of the third victim I see, and it’s been 5 days The terrorist said explicitly he was looking for ‘visibly Jewish’ people so that probably played a role in the reporting too, but just glossing over the third victim like this? It also shows clearly that the ‘people’ committing terrorism only care about enacting violence, no matter what they claim.
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spaceborn May 5, 2026 +12
Ah yes passive voice. It's a good thing the guardian is running cover for these people. Otherwise folks might have to think about where the latest wave of anti semetic violence is coming from. We love the Guardian running cover. Literally the Norm Macdonald video.
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h4533b May 5, 2026 -2
He could very well have been trying to target Jews in that area but glossing over his very obvious mental health history and being arrested for violence in the past should raise some eyebrows about the narrative being put out and the lack of effort to correct it is quite frankly disgusting. The police definitely knew about the first attack so I'm not sure why that wasn't mentioned at all, it kinda absolves responsibility from the police as if they didn't know a dangerous person was on the loose. Btw I think most people know why there hasn't been an active effort to substantiate the facts of the incident, who owns the majority of the media in the UK and what are their political objectives? It's not hard to put 2 and 2 together. Same shit happened with the maccabi tel Aviv indcidents in Amsterdam.
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bootlegvader May 5, 2026 +5
>who owns the majority of the media in the UK and what are their political objectives? It's Tell us who runs the media and their political objective is presenting a story where two Jewish individuals were stabbed as them being targeted.
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el_dude_brother2 May 5, 2026 -5
Oh jeez, not this again. 3 people got stabbed by a crazied attacker targetting jewish people but because the first person they attacked was muslim it makes any jewish compliants about it invalid. Really strange logic coming out from the usual brainwashed folk. Just accept it was a bad thing. You dont need points scoring for everything.
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h4533b May 5, 2026 +4
"Brainwashed folk" huh... Calm down lad, the things i mentioned are facts not feelings. I also never said that the attacks on the Jewish people was not a bad thing?... Attacks targeting anyone for their looks, features, sexual orientation, skin colour, religion or lack thereof is bad and any decent human being will think the same. And yes that means antisemitic attacks against Jewish people is indeed in unacceptable - just as an attack on someone for being Muslim, Christian, atheist, buddist or whatever the f*** they are is BAD. Ironically, you're also downplaying the first victim who got stabbed so you're downplaying violence against a Muslim person, just as the police did - which lead to the subsequent stabbing. Had they responded quickly, would the attack have happened? Is it because of some preconceived notions you have? Your aggressive tone doesn't help.
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lordgoodsaar May 5, 2026
Youre claiming the news claimed it was an targeted attack on Jews to "stroke a right wing narrative." He stabbed his roommate who happened to be Muslim before deliberately making his way to the Jewish heart of London and attacking two people because of their Jewish appearance. If a Christian stabbed his christian roommate before making his way to a mosque to stab two Muslims, that's still a terror attack.
0
h4533b May 5, 2026 +7
That narrative falls on its head when you consider that him wanting to attack Jews was after attacking someone non Jewish, whilst having a mental health crisis which i would argue was a bigger factor than potential discrimination. Id say the same thing in your example and say the guy was not targeting Muslims and was being violent due to the nature of their mental health if the factors were the same. And also, the guy didn't go to a synagogue to attack people, he went to a majority Jewish area where 50% of people are not Jewish - hence not comparable to your hypothetical scenario of a person going to a mosque to stab Muslims.
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bootlegvader May 5, 2026 +4
No, it doesn't. The fact that he was having a mental health crisis doesn't negate that it was targeted attack against the Jewish community. >And also, the guy didn't go to a synagogue to attack people, he went to a majority Jewish area where 50% of people are not Jewish He traveled a specific distance to find an area where there are more Jews and then specifically targeted to visible Jews. He didn't just leave his apartment and ended up randomly stabbing two Jews.
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Fluffy-Republic8610 May 5, 2026 +1
It all depends what his motivation was. Its only a terror attack if he was otherwise well enough to committ a terror attack. But if he's mentally ill, then his motivation requires more doubt. At least a medical report at his trial. Then we can establish if this was terrorism or a failure of mental health care that allowed a dangerously ill person the freedom to attack innocent people.
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yourlocaltouya May 5, 2026 +4
The point is that most tabloids completely omitted the third victim, which is what OP was clarifying. Two things can be true at once.
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el_dude_brother2 May 5, 2026 +6
Probably cause people didnt know about first victim when it was reported. Not some conspiracy. People love to add comspiracy stuff around jewish attacks (we all know why). We should call it out. The person targeted jewish people, the government increased the threat and said Jewish people were being targeted. We dont need to down play it
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Fluffy-Republic8610 May 5, 2026 +3
Is the knife attacker who was in care for mental illness part of an active terrorist group? Can we know what his motivations were without a medical report? Given that he's mentally ill? The whole thing whereby people get clumped in as "terrorists" before they should is what the article is about. Yet you just did it. And it's a bit frustrating that people are being mislabeled as terrorists by the authorities still (you as an individual, I can forgive, it's a common catagorisation error that individuals are prone to) since this is exactly what happened during the northern Ireland troubles era in the 70s and 80s.
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ADP_God May 6, 2026 +1
Makes me wonder how this kind of thing even happens. Like, who is making these decisions?
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Drostan_S May 5, 2026
The UK is using anti-semetic attacks as a casus belli to attack muslims in their country.
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el_dude_brother2 May 5, 2026 -64
Maybe tell the pensioners to stop wasting police time by deliberately breaking the law in public.
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wasraelx May 5, 2026 +39
The UK High Court literally [found the law under which they’re being arrested to be unlawful](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/13/uk-ban-palestine-action-unlawful-high-court-judges-rule?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other) and for it to be a government overreach into free speech rights. [Full judgement here](https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/R-Ammori-v-SSHD-OPEN-Judgment-final.pdf) and it’s damning. The organising group would sure prefer if the police didn’t waste their OWN time [arresting Quakers in wheelchairs](https://news.sky.com/story/police-make-arrests-at-protest-in-support-of-proscribed-group-palestine-action-13409027) under the Terrorism Act, and instead focused keeping the public safe from actual terrorists, which they’re demonstrably failing to do.
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el_dude_brother2 May 5, 2026 -47
The group are deliberately looking to be arrested. If no one arrests them they will do something else to be arrested.
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kn1ghtbyt3 May 5, 2026 +25
effective protesting is when you dont disrupt anyone or anything at all and make sure the system keeps working without issue
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wasraelx May 5, 2026 +28
If you don’t see how bizarre it is that over 2500 regular people have been arrested under the f****** Terrorism Act for holding placards, under an amendment [found to be illegal by the country’s own High Court](https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/R-Ammori-v-SSHD-OPEN-Judgment-final.pdf), then there’s nothing one can tell you. The [suffragettes](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16945901) were ‘terrorists’ too you know, and more extreme than Pal Action, as was Mandela (in the US all the way [till 2008](https://time.com/5338569/nelson-mandela-terror-list/) when he was 90). Meanwhile real terrorists are setting shit on fire completely undisturbed by the state surveillance, because the service has decided to keep tabs on tens of thousands of clearly peaceful protesters, overloaded themselves and failed to intercept any of these actual terrorists.
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ClawingDevil May 5, 2026 +25
It's brave of you to publicise your stupidity.
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el_dude_brother2 May 5, 2026 -20
What a strange comment
-20
Logical_Net6108 May 6, 2026 -3
You're being disingenous. Once Palestine Action was proscribed supporting it became a crime. You can't use the ongoing spate of terror attacks against British jews as justification for the law not being enforced against supporters of proscribed terror group Palestine Action
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wolfydude12 May 5, 2026 +11
The UK is really embracing the whole "Anyone who briefly interacted with, or has any interaction for, *Hamas* is Hamas" Israeli line of defense, eh?
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theuncleiroh May 6, 2026 -3
honestly, UK is Khamas, prepare to be invaded
-3
RedEyeView May 5, 2026 +3
I had a run in with a hacker on Facebook who everyone was fawning over because he took down the EDL page. I didn't fall for it. Guy was obviously a mental extremist and I said as much. He wound up getting a drone strike dropped on him as head of ISIS cybercrime. I'm probably a small footnote on a terrorist list for that interaction.
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No_Excitement_1540 May 5, 2026 +34
Another data point for the UK police's competence... Unfortunately...
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Human_170716 May 5, 2026 +10
Well, he _is_ kinda being paid by them... /s
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wasraelx May 5, 2026 +81
I know you’re joking but seems important to point out for some of the commenters that there’s no way he’s paid by Hamas. They’re a proscribed group in the UK and therefore if he took £10 from them, he’d be in jail. The legal team [stated](https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hamas-files-second-appeal-overturn-uk-terror-designation) from the get-go that they don’t and wouldn’t. I tried to find how exactly is this funded and can’t, likely a combo of legal aid and public-interest funding (that’s not individual donors, but a separate court budget for contentious cases that need to be handled by veteran lawyers)
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AdCreepy5165 May 5, 2026 +23
It seems like an awful catch 22. Your expected to fight in court, but the government takes all your money. They expect you to take a government appointed lawyer, but when you don't they put your lawyer on a terrorist watch list.
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blue-mooner May 5, 2026 -38
That’s only visible if it’s a bank transfer though, right? How would the fuzz know if he was paid by them in cash?
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wasraelx May 5, 2026 +15
I guess the real answer is they cant know, if it were to be multiple layers of cash physically handed over, in the most sophisticated game of tag, all the way from war-torn Gaza. But terrorism financing is so strictly policed that even [regular families](https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/im-not-a-monster/id1540251892?i=1000594977720) who tried to send their stupid teenage kids money to get them from ISIS territory couldn’t do so without getting up to 15 years in jail. And that’s not ‘risking’ up to 15 years: that’s ‘getting’ up to 15 years, because almost everything under the Terrorism Act is a strict liability offence, meaning [intent doesn’t matter](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jun/21/jack-letts-isis-suspect-parents-found-guilty-of-funding-terrorism-oxford-syria?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other). Which sort of makes sense in a highlighted state of terrorism risk, because you don’t want terrorists taking the piss claiming they had no clue who they were sending or receiving money from. But of course it creates an extremely hostile system for anyone who just has the misfortune to be anywhere near terrorists or even suspects. And this lawyer is clearly watched on every step. And, based on the fact he got the job alone, you can guess he’s gonna be already loaded from the rest of his career, to put it bluntly. It makes no sense that he’d have any interest to have the fees covered by Hamas-tied funds. That’s like running in front of a moving bus to grab a dog-piss covered fiver on the road.
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Discount_Extra May 5, 2026
does current British currency have serial numbers?
0
kadaka80 May 5, 2026
According with records obtained by the Gestapo, the police did nothing wrong in this instance
0
Jealous_Disk3552 May 5, 2026 +1
This will all come down to the world "falsely"...
1
AerialReaver May 5, 2026 -90
Yeah they're trying to fight the terrorist list. Shouldnt there be some demonstrable harm done to UK citizens by the group they're calling terrorists? It's the same in Canada, we are not at war with them, they've never hurt or harmed a Canadian, why are they listed as terrorists?
-90
windless12 May 5, 2026 +25
Hamas killed 8 Canadians on oct 7 Also 1500 Canadians are serving in the IDF
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iamtheliqor May 5, 2026 +30
Why are Canadians serving in a foreign nations army?
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windless12 May 5, 2026 +25
And last I heard ( could be wrong) there's also over a thousand Canadians in the Ukrainian army too
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KingDaviies May 5, 2026 +23
Because it’s not a foreign nation to them, they’re dual citizens.
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AerialReaver May 5, 2026 -10
I'm so tired of you people thinking history started on October 7th. Canada put them on the terrorist list in 2002.
-10
mighij May 5, 2026 +11
Perhaps check the 7 oct casualty list?
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wasraelx May 5, 2026 +49
Absolutely, but by the same logic why isn’t the IDF on the list? The UK is a party to the Rome Statute (aka International Criminal Court) under which it has the obligation to arrest [Netanyahu under a war crimes & crimes against humanity warrant](https://www.icc-cpi.int/defendant/netanyahu) if he even enters the air place. We’re [supplying him weapons](https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/06/10/uk-may-have-paused-trade-talks-israel-arms-exports-are-still-elephant-room) instead. We’ve all seen the footage of Israeli soldiers committing war crimes. Not even just from investigative sources. They post it themselves on freaking TikTok.
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jedidiahohlord May 5, 2026 -17
He asked about hamas not israel Edit: israel has literally killed more Canadians than hamas did on oct 7th so like... maybe actually accept facts and not propaganda
-17
spaceborn May 5, 2026 -5
Why don't you research Hamas terror attacks and watch gopro footage of October 7th,then tell me if they're a terror group or not after you watch them throw grenades into rest rooms full of cowering kids.
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AerialReaver May 5, 2026 -9
Was it a "terrorist attack" or hamas fighting back against the apartheid? Why is what the IDF does to Palestinians daily before October 7th not considered terrorism?
-9
Kingofcheeses May 5, 2026 +8
Fighting back by killing a bunch of hippies at a music festival? How noble
8
BabylonianWeeb May 5, 2026 -28
Oh no Israel will bomb UK after this....
-28
Kaiisim May 5, 2026 -47
>Never mention the fascists, Never mention the bad shit, Never mention the tactics or you're in the league And these fuckers gonna say it's all about peace Check the stats m*********** it's all about greed Never mention their missiles Never mention the pistols Never mention the weapons Never mention submission Never mention the kids or you're in league Never mention the men or you're in league Never mention the women Never mention the children Never mention the victims or you're in league Never mention the toll or you're in league Never mention the war or you're in league Never mention the cause or you're in league Never get involved or you're in league
-47
Kuiperdolin May 5, 2026 -93
Lay down with dogs, wake up with fleas.
-93
ClawingDevil May 5, 2026 +67
I agree. If the government accuses you of crimes, nobody should defend you and you should just be sent to the gulag. That's how free, democratic societies function. F****** hell, there really are some thick cunts out there.
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NoNature518 May 6, 2026 -10
Funny enough, that’s how modern Islamic countries function. Besides, a devout muslim named Fahad Ansari who is actively representing islamic terrorists in an attempt to get them removed from a country’s terrorism list totally isn’t aligned with their goals and views.
-10
ClawingDevil May 6, 2026 +3
Erm, ok. Not sure what that has to do with anything.
3
[deleted] May 5, 2026 -34
[removed]
-34
zephyroxyl May 5, 2026 +36
Bro got told defense lawyers exist and then started trying to go through history. You get mad _fast_ huh?
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ClawingDevil May 5, 2026 +24
"vermin". So, basically a rat. You're calling people rats. If only there was an infamous group from the 1930s who called humans rats who we could compare this behaviour to.
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Kuiperdolin May 5, 2026 -20
You call people cunts for not being Hamas. There's a group of "people" we know you're in here and now, no comparison needed.
-20
wasraelx May 5, 2026 +71
🫩 I know right, how dare this lawyer defend criminals. He should be personally prosecuted for doing that. Matter of fact, why don’t we scrap the defence bench altogether. Seems they’re all defending criminals all the time like it’s their job or something.
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Kuiperdolin May 5, 2026 -3
I know, as long as a terrorist hangs a shingle that says "lowyer" he should be exempt of criticism for his actions. Matter of fact, why we don't kill our children ourself instead of giving the hassle. Seems like all the police does is keeping tabs of terrorists like it's their job or something.
-3
[deleted] May 5, 2026 -161
[removed]
-161
ParadoxFollower May 5, 2026 +168
Maybe you didn't know this, but lawyers represent criminals all the time.
168
Serious_Swan_2371 May 5, 2026 +80
Literally the point of lawyers is everyone on trial gets one. If this guy didn’t want to do it, the state has to provide someone to represent the defendant. So the alternative is the criminal still gets representation only now it’s paid for by taxpayers. Better to just let them hire their lawyers, and not treat lawyers like criminals (unless they actually do commit a crime while defending them). Lawyers represent murderers and rapists all the time, we don’t treat those lawyers as murderers and rapists. Same should be true of lawyers representing terrorists.
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Gold-Philosophy1423 May 5, 2026 +67
Do you think they don't deserve representation? Do you agree that a functioning legal system requires all parties to know their rights and process?
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EmergencyCucumber905 May 5, 2026 +15
Because in a civilized society everyone has the right to council and a fair trial.
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blueshoesrcool May 5, 2026 -125
He probably doesn't think they're evil. He's probably sympathetic to them secretly I suspect, but he will probably just say that he has duty to legal principle.
-125
Locke2300 May 5, 2026 +102
Jesus I hate this speculative psychology shit. We have as much evidence that you were the Green River Killer.
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h8sm8s May 6, 2026 +1
Even if he did, do you think he should be arrested? You’re so against free speech that you even want thought crimes to be prosecuted?
1
blueshoesrcool May 6, 2026 -1
No definitely don't think he should be arrested. He's doing a good thing. How did you read that from my comment. Maybe you are responding to the person above me?
-1
h8sm8s May 6, 2026
Oh, I think I just misunderstood your comment and I got so excited how funny it was to say thought crimes I didn’t stop to think properly haha. Sorry lol.
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