Woman cleared of funding terrorism told to ‘cover up’

Nawal Msaad was acquitted of trying to smuggle €20,000 to a jihadi fighter in Syria.

She spoke to me as her friend Amal El Wahabi, who is married to the man fighting in Syria, was due to be sentenced after being found guilty in the same trial.

While Ms Msaad was cleared, El-Wahabi (pictured below) was the first Briton to be convicted of plotting to fund jihadists in Syria and, on Thursday afternoon, was sentenced to 28 months and seven days at the Old Bailey.

El-Wahabi, 28, was jailed for duping her old school friend – Ms Msaad – into taking money to her husband in Syria.

But Ms Msaad told me she believes her friend’s plea that she was going to join her husband for a new life in Turkey. She added the there was no evidence he has joined an extremist group.

She also said she still angry at the press coverage she received during her trial. When we meet, she brings along her laptop and shows me some of the online abuse she received on social media sites.

“It completely changed my life, to be accused of terrorism is the worst thing ever.”

She added: “A lot of people think that I’m the smuggler who got away with it. That the jury only let me off because of my looks.”

Ms Msaad was cleared in August at the Old Bailey of trying to smuggle money to her friend’s husband, Aine Davis.

The press constantly said I had the money stuffed down my knickers, but it was proven in court this wasn’t true. But this didn’t matter to many reporters.

Ever since she was first arrested at Heathrow Airport as she tried to board a flight to Turkey, the media has focused on Ms Msaad’s dress. She was pictured every day arriving at court in a variety of different outfits and was labelled a “jihoti.”

Ms Msaad revealed to me that this has led to her receiving regular abuse and threats of sexual violence on social networking sites.

‘I was getting stick from the Muslim community’

“The press constantly said I had the money stuffed down my knickers, but it was proven in court this wasn’t true,” she said. “But this didn’t matter to many reporters.”

Many labelled her a terrorist. But Ms Msaad says although this was hurtful, she was also targeted by her own community. “I was supposed to be a jihadi, but there I was dressed in skirts and matching blazers. Many people couldn’t handle this,” she said.

“I was getting stick from the Muslim community, from people really bothered by what I was wearing, sending me messages telling me to cover up.”

I asked her if she understood why some people thought she courted the publicity, knowing the cameras would be outside court every day. “We live in a free country, I should be able to wear what I want. This is how I dress normally, why should I change? I am a Muslim and I am proud.”

‘Maybe I was a little naive… I believed her’

During the trial, the jury was told that Amal El Wahabi had asked Ms Msaad to carry the money to Turkey to give to her husband. The prosecution claimed the money was to fund El Wahabi’s husband, who was fighting with extremists in Syria.

We have a cash culture. It is not unusual for us to send money home to our relatives. Nawal Msaad

I asked Ms Msaad if she regrets not asking more questions about the money.

“Well maybe I was a little naive. But I am from an ethnic background, we have a cash culture,” she said. “It is not unusual for us to send money home to our relatives, it really is not. I was told Amal was going to set up home with her husband in Turkey and I believed her.

“In fact, all of the texts and conversations that the prosecution read out in court suggest that is what Amal herself believed.”

‘She was more into EastEnders than Middle East politics’

Ms El Wahabi told the court that her husband had left her and her two young children to live abroad. He asked her to go with him, but she kept refusing and this led to huge arguments between the couple. In the end, she agreed to go only when he threatened to take a second wife.

Ms Msaad said: “I genuinely believe Amal did think she was going to join her husband for a new life in Turkey.

“Neither of us knew much at all about the Syrian conflict before this trial. I didn’t even know Syria shared a border with Turkey. And Amal herself told the jury she was more into EastEnders and Coronation Street than Middle East politics.”

But the prosecution did produce pictures that Aine Davis had sent to his wife of himself wearing a balaclava and also a selection of extremist material.

Ms Msaad believes her friend would not have understood the material, and that she was a woman who was desperate to keep her husband: “She won’t be the first woman to have done something stupid for love.”

The court never heard directly from Mr Davis. The police admitted they have never spoken to him and that it is not known where he is exactly: “He never came forward, it’s true, but it also means he never got a fair trial.”

Terrorist v freedom fighter

It is believed up to 500 British Muslims have gone to Syria to join the jihad. The security services fear that some will become radicalised and pose a threat to the UK if they ever return, especially those who have joined the brutal group Islamic State.

But Ms Msaad points out that the Islamic State did not even exist when she and her friend were charged. “It is obvious he is engaged in violent conflict, but we don’t even know where he is,” she said. “He could be in Syria, or on the border of Syria and Turkey. It’s not clear who he is fighting for.

“I’m sure he would not describe himself as a terrorist, many people who go to Syria see themselves as freedom fighters.”

Ms Msaad now wants to get on with the rest of her life, although she says it’s proving difficult because her name is always associated with the trial. “I can’t get a reference, people don’t want to be associated with me. My Bank has written to me saying they no longer want me as a customer.”

But she is determined to learn from her experience. I ask her if she has forgiven Amal, and she said that she had. “People might find that surprising,” she added, “but she has apologised to me and I believe she was sincere.”