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'NOT BUYING IT'

Shamima Begum’s like a domestic abuser who offers to help clean and bandage the wounds & fractures, says Ulrika Johnson

SHAMIMA Begum is like a domestic abuser who offers to help clean and bandage the wounds and fractures they caused, Ulrika Johnson has said.

The former ISIS bride, 22, has once again made headlines as she appealed to return home after leaving the UK aged 15 to join ISIS in Syria.

Shamima Begum spoke with GMB yesterday about how she could help stop Brits being groomed by ISIS
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Shamima Begum spoke with GMB yesterday about how she could help stop Brits being groomed by ISIS
Begum left the UK to join ISIS at the age of 15 and is now appealing to return
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Begum left the UK to join ISIS at the age of 15 and is now appealing to returnCredit: ITV

The young woman claimed she would be able to .

Her interview on Good Morning Britain caused waves as she appealed directly to Boris Johnson, saying: “I think I could very much help you in your fight against terrorism because you clearly don’t know what you’re doing and I want to help.”

But Ulrika Johnson today slammed Begum's comments - saying she was like a domestic violence abuser. 

Writing for The Sun, the former Gladiator presenter said: “This young woman who has for the past few years used the innocence of age; vilification and victimisation by the media; her shy and impressionable personality and people ‘making things up about her’ as a defence for her desire to join ISIS, aged 15.

“In yet another manipulative attempt to forge her road to freedom and in a dramatic change of image, she has not only adopted a western look to help normalise her for us but has made a direct appeal to the PM that she would be willing to help in the fight against terrorism.

“No doubt, she hasn’t lost the battle to return to the UK yet and some Human Rights lawyer will fight her case until she finds herself back in the country she betrayed.

“And all the while I was watching and listening, the only parallel I could draw was with that of a domestic abuser who has beaten, injured and violated their victim and then without even drawing breath, offers to help clean and bandage the wounds and fractures.  

“How, in so many cases of abuse and treachery, the perpetrator transforms themselves into the victim. 

“I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it. And I’m not buying it."

In the interview Begum appeared wearing a black Nike baseball cap, a grey vest top and lipstick along with her hair down.

Her look was completely different in comparison to her previous interviews where she appeared with a hijab and no makeup.

Asked whether she was groomed by ISIS, the former jihadi bride said: "I think yes, I was groomed and taken advantage of and manipulated into coming."

She said that at the time she did not know ISIS "was a death cult".

Speaking from northern Syria, she added: "I thought it was an Islamic community that I was joining.

"I was being fed a lot of information on the internet by people in ISIS telling me I need to come because I can’t be a good Muslim in the UK."

In February 2019, the British government issued an order revoking her British citizenship and stated that she would never be allowed to return.

READ MORE SUN STORIES

But in July 2020, the Court of Appeal ruled that Begum should be permitted to return to the UK in order to fairly contest this decision by instructing lawyers properly.

This ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom which in February ruled unanimously against her, thus reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal.

She was pictured leaving Gatwick airport in 2015
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She was pictured leaving Gatwick airport in 2015Credit: PA
Ulrika Johnson wrote about Begum for The Sun
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Ulrika Johnson wrote about Begum for The SunCredit: The Mega Agency
Shamima Begum says Boris Johnson ‘doesn’t know what he’s doing’ in fight against terror and SHE could help catch UK jihadis
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