A Somerset MP who signed an open letter urging the Foreign Office to bring Egyptian dissident Alaa Abd el Fattah to the UK has condemned his anti-Semitic posts.
Mr el Fattah (who holds dual British and Egyptian citizenship) returned to Britain on Boxing Day after spending several years in Egyptian prisons.
Following his return, numerous historic "shocking and hurtful" social media posts have emerged in which he appears to call for violence against "Zionists" - posts for which Mr el Fattah has apologised "unequivocally".
Adam Dance, the Liberal Democrat for MP for Yeovil, was one of 107 MPs who wrote to then-foreign secretary David Lammy MP in December 2024 to demand Mr el Fattah's immediate release and return from Egypt.
Following coverage of Mr el Fattah's social media posts in the national press, Mr Dance said that signing the letter was "not an endorsement" of the dissident's views, past or present.
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Mr el Fattah was a leading voice in the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, and took part in several hunger strikes during his time behind bars.
He was most recently detained in September 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison in December 2021, on charges of spreading false news.
Following an investigation by the United Nations and lobbying from both the current Labour government and its Conservative predecessors, Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi pardoned the activist.
Mr el Fattah was granted UK citizenship in December 2021 during Boris Johnson's premiership, reportedly through his UK-born mother.
Mr Dance (who was held his seat since the general election in July 2024) said: "I was not aware of Alaa Abd el Fattah’s anti-Semitic tweets at the time I signed the letter.
"Had I known about those remarks, I would not have signed it in the same way. They are abhorrent and I reject them completely.
"I regret that this information was not known to me at the time.
"My support was based on the principle that British citizens should not be detained overseas without due process. It was not an endorsement of his views or past statements."
Other MPs who signed the letter to Mr Lammy include former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, former Green Party co-leader Sian Berry, former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith and Bath MP Wera Hobhouse.
Mr Dance added that he would support the relevant police force conducting a review of Mr el Fattah's posts to see whether any criminal proceedings should be brought against him.
He said: "Now that Alaa Abd el Fattah is back in the UK, he should be treated like any other British citizen.
"If his past comments are believed to breach UK law, then it is right that the police consider them and take any action they judge appropriate.
"No one should be above the law."
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