Solicitor who called Jewish journalist a ‘Zionist pig’ is struck off

A solicitor was struck off on Friday for posting antisemitic abuse online last September about prominent Jewish social media users.

Farrukh Najeeb Husain did not attend the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal hearing at which he was permanently barred.

The immigration and employment solicitor had represented himself in earlier proceedings, during which he made several accusations against the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority, which had brought the claim. At one point he said the SRA was “weaponising new antisemitism”.

The hearings began immediately after the law firm Bevan Brittan, where Husain was working at the time, reported him to the regulator for his posts on X/Twitter. In those posts, Husain called the Times journalist Hugo Rifkind a “Zionist pig” and said the barrister Simon Myerson KC “wreaks of white privilege”. He also referred to Rifkind’s “eastern European kin”.

In its ruling earlier this week, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found that several of Husain’s online posts were offensive. The solicitor had argued that his X account was personal and that no allegations should have been bought against him.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said after the judgment: “This is the right sanction. Farrukh Najeeb Husain’s rhetoric online was vile, and there was no evidence of any regard or remorse for the hurt and disgust that he caused.

“The SRA was right to bring this case to restore confidence in the legal profession, and we were pleased to be able to contribute expert opinion at the hearing in order to inform the panel and bring about this week’s decision and today’s sanction. The SDT has shown that there is no place for antisemitism in English law.”