Family of British jihadi – dubbed ‘Hungry Hamza’ for complaining about missing KFC – plead for him to return to UK from Syria to face justice
- The family of Hamza Parvez have called for him to return to UK and face justice
- Parvez left for Syria aged 19, one of the first Britons to join ISIS, in 2014
- He used social media accounts to recruit others and was stripped of citizenship
- But he has been in jail since the defeat of the Caliphate, held by Kurdish forces
- He criticised life under ISIS and claimed he didn’t know what he was joining
The West London family of the British jihadi nicknamed ‘Hungry Hamza’ for complaining about the lack of KFC in war-torn Syria, have called for him to return to the UK to face British justice.
Hamza Parvez, 26, fled Britain for Syria, aged 19 but five years later, the terrorist – now held by western-backed Kurdish forces – claims he never bought into IS ideology, despite spending half a decade under the brutal regime.
From his prison cell Parvez, who has been stripped of his British citizenship, told The Mirror he was stuck ‘between a wall and a hard place’ unable to leave.
Meanwhile his family, who say they will always hate him for his actions and for the stain it has left on their reputations, are calling for him to face justice in Britain.
His parents Mohammed and Riaz want his citizenship restored so he can face court here.
Hamza Parvez became one of the first Britons to join ISIS in 2014 AND used social media and propaganda videos to encourage others to join him
They also want his wife and young children, one of whom is disabled, to be brought up with their family in North West London. They are believed to be in a camp in northern Syria.
Riaz, 50, has demanded a meeting with Home Secretary Sajid Javid to discuss his case.
Weeping as she was shown photos of Parvez, who has lost more than four stone in prison, talking to the Mirror in Syria, she said: ‘I can’t believe this is Hamzah.’
One relative blamed the stress of Parvez’s actions for causing his father, 62, to have a stroke and brain haemorrhage but still said: ‘He has to come back.
She added: ‘He was very selfish. People treat us like terrorists and we are good, normal people.
‘We hate what he did and will always hate what he’s done, because it’s going to affect us forever.
‘That’s why it’s only fair he comes back and is punished in some type of way.’
She added his family ‘would be very concerned’ if it emerged he could also face extradition to the US.
Hungry Hamza: the jihadi who complained about a lack of fast food has lost weight under his Kurdish captors
Hamza in a photograph released by his family on learning he had gone to wage jihad in Syria
The relative said he is ‘nowhere near as high profile’ as two of the IS ‘Beatles’ El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey, who were sent to America. She insisted he should face justice in Britain, not Syria or the United States.
She said: ‘That would be really unfair because he hasn’t committed such crimes as Kotey and Elsheikh.’
Interviewed at the secret Kurdish prison camp in Rojava, northern Syria, Parvex IS beheading videos were good publicity, but criticised bosses for leaving him and others to carry the blame.
The former police cadet said: ‘The leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi put into place those who call the shots.
‘They were told to do what they wanted them to do. It’s one of the most frustrating things because now it is us that get the short end of the straw.
‘And it’s us who have to dig ourselves out of the grave that they dug for us.’
But he admitted: ‘To be honest, when we first came and Islamic State was building and it was taking lands, it was kind of exciting.’
He was referring to the horrific period during which ISIS executed and abducted thousands of people.
And he said: ‘Everyone that’s come out of Islamic State is being painted with the same brush… by default, you are guilty until proven innocent.’