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A magistrate has been given a formal warning for serious misconduct by a judicial watchdog for sharing on social media a video from Hamas about the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel.<\/p>\n
Abdul Malik, who is also a Bristol City councillor and mosque leader, originally claimed he had only been tagged in the post but later accepted he must have shared the post himself.<\/p>\n
The Judicial Conduct Investigations Office (JCIO) found Mr Malik had “failed to exercise due care and diligence” and his actions “had a detrimental effect” upon the “reputation of the magistracy”.<\/p>\n
The Green Party councillor has apologised repeatedly for the incident and insisted that he does not support Hamas.<\/p>\n
The party said “he has made abundantly clear that he does not endorse” the contents of the post he shared.<\/p>\n
In a statement<\/a> published on Tuesday, the JCIO said the post on Mr Malik’s Facebook timeline in October 2023 contained “a video from Hamas regarding their attack on southern Israel”.<\/p>\n Mr Malik told the media in early 2024 that he had been tagged in the post by someone else, and that it appeared on his account because it was not protected.<\/p>\n But this account was challenged and he later informed his superiors that he had “discovered he must have shared the post himself”, with an investigation then launched.<\/p>\n The JCIO said: “He explained that he had shared the post without checking its source or content, and did not endorse it, comment on it or ‘like’ it.<\/p>\n “He agreed the post was offensive and he emphasised that he does not support Hamas.<\/p>\n “He said he had been consistently critical of Hamas in his position as chair of a large mosque in Bristol. He removed the post as soon as he became aware of it and said he regretted sharing it and had learned from the incident.”<\/p>\n The JCIO said Mr Malik claimed his original explanation was given “in good faith” and that he had revised it when he realised it was not correct.<\/p>\n A nominated JCIO committee member found that Mr Malik’s initial denial of responsibility for the post “was publicly discredited and compounded the damage caused by the initial sharing of the post”.<\/p>\n Committee members recommended that Mr Malik be issued with a formal warning, noting his “previously unblemished conduct record and good standing within the community”.<\/p>\n The added he had been “consistently remorseful” following the incident.<\/p>\n High Court judge Mr Justice Keehan, as well as the Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood, agreed with the sanction, the statement added.<\/p>\n The Green Party said Mr Malik had “a long history of condemning Hamas in his role in his local mosque”.<\/p>\n A statement added: “Crucially he has shown learning from the incident and understood the offence and hurt it caused.<\/p>\n “Councillor Malik has the party’s full backing as an effective and hard-working councillor in Bristol and hopes that this will draw a line under this serious ill-judged action.”<\/p>\n Follow BBC Bristol on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>X<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Instagram<\/em><\/a>. Send your story ideas to us on email or via <\/em>WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n‘Consistently remorseful’<\/h2>\n
‘Offence and hurt’<\/h2>\n
More on this story<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n