British jihadi bride Shamima Begum was compared to a ‘shell shocked’ First World War soldier by her family’s lawyer this morning.
Appearing on Good Morning Britain, lawyer Tasnime Akunjee claimed that the 19-year-old, who left London four years ago to marry an ISIS fighter in Syria, is ‘traumatised’.
He added that ‘she’s a British citizen at the end of the day’.
Later in the show he was seen in a heated exchange with presenter Richard Madeley, after comparing Shamima to a war hero.
In an interview with Sky News yesterday, the teenager showed little emotion as she claimed the British people ‘should have sympathy’ for her, despite admitting that she still agrees with the ideology of Isis.
However, his most shocking comments came after he was question by Mr Madeley, who said Shamima ‘doesn’t look traumatised, she doesn’t sound traumatised, she seems very, very together to me’.
Mr Akunjee replied: ‘You might have said the same sort of thing about first world war soldiers in the middle of shell shocks.’
The comparison was branded ‘a bit of a stretch’ by Mr Madeley, who later added: ‘But she talks fine? My grandfather was a first world war soldier and he found it very difficult to talk about some of the things he had seen, and always did.
‘She seems to have no difficulty speaking about severed heads in bins and being “OK with”, I quote, the executions that she witnessed.’
Mr Akunjee also said that he doesn’t believe all families ‘with a 15-year-old’ would always know what they were up to, referring to the time Shamima left with two school friends to head to Syria.
Also speaking on Good Morning Britain, actor Danny Dyer said he believes Shamima Begum should return to the UK to ‘explain’ her actions.
He said: ‘[She had] no guidance, clearly. Because if you think about it, what on earth? How has it got into her head that going to Syria at 15 years of age is the answer? What is that about?
Speaking to Sky News from a refugee camp in northern Syria yesterday, the 19-year-old said: ‘I cannot live in this camp forever.
‘They do not have any evidence against me that I am dangerous.’
But she refused to apologise for her actions and seemed indifferent to the atrocities committed by the organisation she joined, saying she ‘doesn’t regret’ leaving the UK. She said:
‘It’s made me tougher, stronger. I married my husband – I wouldn’t have found someone like him back in the UK.
‘I had my kids, I did have a good time there, just at the end things got harder and I couldn’t take it any more.’ But she admitted: ‘I didn’t know what I was getting into when I left.’
