Female Muslim journalist in UK shocked over ‘execution’ tweet

A female Muslim journalist in Britain has revealed that she is “incredibly upset” over a Twitter message calling for her to be stoned to death. Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a newspaper columnist, said she was unaware of the message until a friend contacted her about it.

“Can someone please stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death? I shan’t tell Amnesty if you don’t. It would be a blessing, really,” Sky News quoted Conservative Birmingham city councillor Gareth Compton as having tweeted.

He has been arrested and bailed over the posting on his personal account on the micro-blogging site. Alibhai-Brown also revealed her daughter, who uses Twitter, had seen the message before she found out.

“Before she went to bed, my teenage daughter was unusually distressed. She said she didn’t want me to be a journalist anymore and was worried that if I went to the door to answer it somebody would shoot me,” she said.

“Later we found out, so initially I was incredibly upset by it. It was a rational discussion I was having on the radio, not at all an angry discussion.”

A Conservative spokesperson said Compton’s language was “unacceptable”, and he had been suspended from the party indefinitely. Compton has since deleted the tweet and apologised, calling it “an ill-conceived attempt at humour”.