A British criminal defense lawyer was fined £34,595 by Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal for posting a series of hateful messages on Facebook in which he advocated violence against Zionists and Jews.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority began investigating Majid Mahmood, a partner at City Law Chambers in Luton and a director at Liberty Law Solicitors, after the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, a watchdog group, brought a complaint after being made aware of the solicitor’s posts.
According to the SRA, which brought the case to the tribunal, Mahmood "publicly communicated anti-Semitic and/or offensive and wholly inappropriate posts from his Facebook account” after posting that Jews “aint gods chosen people they’re Satans love child’s and it’s a shame e the plane carrying them didn’t blow up mid air [all sic].”
In another post, Mahmood wrote that “somebody needs to shoot all the Israeli Zionists dead then send their bodies to America as a present for Obama and his Zionist pals.”
“The intemperate language used, the hatred manifested, including against anti-Zionists as well as Jewish people, and wishing them dead by graphic means were terrible ideas for a solicitor to be promoting,” the tribunal ruled, levying the fine and suspending Mahmood from practicing law, a suspension that was itself suspending. Should Mahmood continue posting such messages, he will be temporarily banned from practicing law.
"We are particularly pleased that in the Tribunal ruled that there is no such thing as a minor anti-Semitic act,” the CAA said in a statement.
"Whilst we do not agree with the decision to allow Mr Mahmood, who has repeatedly made vile statements calling for death and destruction, to remain in practice as an officer of the court, we nonetheless welcome this decision. We commend the Solicitors Regulation Authority for doing the right thing in bringing this action, and we applaud the Tribunal for sending this strong message that antisemitism within the legal profession will be severely punished."
