A "moral panic" around Shamima Begum was exacerbated by former Home Secretary Sajid Javid to boost his chances of becoming Conservative leader, a family lawyer for the ISIS recruit told GB News.
Lawyers for Ms Begum told an immigration tribunal that the 21-year-old, who now lives in a refugee camp, that she fell prey to human traffickers when she left London for the Middle East in 2015.
The Home Office says this is a new and spurious claim, and one which Begum hasn't made before in several interviews.
A court has heard there is "overwhelming evidence" that Shamima Begum was a victim of trafficking when she left the UK. Issue date: Friday June 18, 2021.
PA
Appearing on the Brazier and Muroki show, Tasnime Akunjee said it was "disingenuous" for the Home Office to claim the issue of trafficking had not been raised before.
He told the Brazier and Muroki show: "I wrote a 30-odd page letter to Sajid Javid (former Home Secretary) at the time outlining all the avenues available to Shamima Begum at the time and trafficking was certainly one of them. It's an open letter, it was published in the Times and it's there for anyone to read."
Asked why public opinion against Ms Begum was so strong, Mr Akunjee said: "I certainly think in terms of Shamima Begum, we've had 400 people return in the context of that war and 400 return before Shamima Begum.
"It's interesting to note that Shamima Begum has been singled out by the media. This in my view has happened, at the time it happened, Sajid Javid weaponised Shamima Begum issue widely in the press in order to bolster his chances in the Tory leadership.
"So where you have a Home Secretary who leverages a particularly situation, then of course it becomes of media interest, and it can become a moral panic. I believe Shamima Begum is the icon of that moral panic."
Last week on GB News, the former Home Secretary Sajid Javid, said he stood by his decision in 2019 to revoke Begum's citizenship, a decision supported by more than 70 per cent of the British public.