Al Quds speaker who blamed Grenfell on ‘Zionists’ won’t face prosecution by CPS
Islamic Human Rights Commission's Nazim Ali will not face action by the Crown Prosecution Service for his comments
An anti-Israel campaigner who claimed victims of the Grenfell Tower fire were “murdered by supporters of Zionist ideologies” will not face prosecution for hate speech.
Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) speaker Nazim Ali will not face action by the Crown Prosecution Service, after he was reported to the police for comments made at the June demonstration.
Ali appeared to blame the Grenfell Tower tragedy in which 71 were killed, on Israel supporters, telling the 1,000 crowd at Grosvenor Square: “Many innocents were murdered by Theresa May’s cronies – many of which are supporters of Zionist ideologies.”
“Some of the biggest corporations who are supporting the Conservative Party are Zionists. They are responsible for the murder in Grenfell. The Zionist supporters of the Tory Party.”
A CPS spokesperson said they “received a file of evidence from the Metropolitan Police in relation to the actions of an individual at a demonstration on 18 June 2017.
“We considered whether offences of inciting racial or religious hatred or a public order offence had been committed, in line with the tests set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
“We concluded that the evidential test in the Code was not met and therefore no charges have been authorised.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has now started a private prosecution against Nazim Ali, accusing him of using “threatening or abusive words or behaviour, within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.”
They claim he blamed the Grenfell tragedy on Zionists, and also that he warned marchers to be “careful of those Rabbis who belong to the Board of Deputies, who have got blood on their hands, who agree with the killing of British soldiers. Do not allow them in your centres.”
CAA add, that they have also made a complaint about the IHRC leader, who is a pharmacist, to the General Pharmaceutical Council, and about the charity, to the Charity Commission.
Gideon Falter, Chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “We have called for zero tolerance enforcement of the law against antisemitism and that is what politicians have promised. After reporting Mr Ali to the police, we waited to see whether the Crown Prosecution Service would prosecute him, but they declined to do so. Campaign Against Antisemitism has been left with no choice but to expend its resources bringing a private prosecution. We do not know of any other minority which is being repeatedly abandoned by the Crown Prosecution Service and left alone to defend itself.”
The Community Security Trust also criticised the CPS for not prosecuting Ali, adding that they will taking up their ‘Victim’s Right of Review’, as they reported the incidents to the police.
Speaking to Jewish News, the CST said they have “reported Ali’s appalling comments to the Police, provided transcripts and footage as evidence and we were willing to appear as a witness in court. We will be applying for a formal review of this deeply disappointing decision. It is difficult to understand how Ali’s comments fail to meet the threshold for prosecution.”
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