Man suspended by party over AK47 rifle photos demands his daughter’s letter removed
SNP councillor threatens action over internet blog
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A north-east woman has been forced to remove the full text of a letter written by the daughter of a suspended SNP councillor – who was filmed firing an AK47 assault rifle – from her internet blog after being threatened with legal action.
Kezia Dugdale, a Labour activist from Elgin, published the material, written by Jahangir Hanif’s teenage daughter Noor, on her Soap Box blog yesterday.
The letter, which has been sent to First Minister Alex Salmond, contains a series of allegations about her millionaire Glasgow councillor father.
He was suspended by the SNP last month for two months after photographs were published of him apparently taking his family – including his five-year-old daughter – to fire a rifle at a military-style camp in Pakistan in 2005.
Recently-elected Glasgow East MSP John Mason has come under fire for branding criticism of the councillor’s actions in another country “racist” and “colonial”.
In a statement issued yesterday, Mr Hanif said: “Editors are to be advised that a Labour Party blog containing defamatory statements concerning me has been withdrawn and an undertaking granted that it will not be re-posted following the initiation of interdict proceedings.
“Notice is given that in the event that newspapers or broadcasters publish extracts from the blog that legal proceedings will follow.”
Miss Dugdale, 27, the daughter of recently-retired Elgin High School depute rector Jeff Dugdale, said she was seeking legal advice.
The Aberdeen University law graduate works as a parliamentary researcher for Lothians MSP George Foulkes and was one of three Labour members shortlisted for the Glenrothes by-election candidacy. A party spokesman said: “We are surprised to hear an SNP councillor is taking legal action against a blogger for printing a letter from his own daughter to the first minister.”
