A Member of the European Parliament has received threats on Facebook that have resulted in a man from Harrogate being arrested and investigated.
Speaking with the Harrogate Informer, Mr Sajjad Karim, a Conservative MEP for the North West of England has confirmed that he received threats and that the matter is currently with the police.
North Yorkshire Police have said that a 55-year-old Harrogate man was arrested on Friday 17 June 2016, in connection with social media messages sent to an MEP. He has been released on bail pending further enquiries.
Mr Karim was first elected to the European Parliament in 2004 at the age of 33. He was re-elected in June 2009 and again in 2014.
The threatening comments were in relation to comments that Mr Karim had made around a video that showed UKIP Leader, Nigel Farage, being challenged on streets of Birmingham. Mr Karim made the comment that “The young man would have been dealt with if the cameras had not been present”
Mr Karim says that his comments were picked up by some UKIP-biased media outlets and reported as “Farage would have been dealt with if the cameras were not present”, leading to over 1,700 comments on his Facebook page, including threatening comments from the man from Harrogate.
Mr Karim is a strong advocate of remaining in Europe and has continued to canvas for support.
