Bob Stewart, the MP found guilty of racially abusing an activist, is to appeal against his conviction, the Guardian has learned.
Stewart was found guilty this month of a racially aggravated public order offence after a confrontation last year with Sayed Alwadaei, the director of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, outside the Bahraini embassy in London.
Alwadaei had accosted Stewart outside a reception at the embassy over a trip Stewart took to Bahrain before its elections, paid for by the country’s government. The activist shouted: “Bob Stewart, for how much did you sell yourself to the Bahraini regime?”
In response, Alwadaei claimed Stewart said: “You’re taking money off my country, go away,” also telling Alwadaei to “Go back to Bahrain.”
Stewart, who was a Conservative MP at the time, was said to have added: “Go away, I hate you. You make a lot of fuss,” and also told him: “Shut up, you stupid man.”
Alwadaei, who says he is living in exile in the UK after being tortured in Bahrain, complained to the Conservative party about the incident, after which the Metropolitan police launched their own investigation.
Earlier this month, the chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, found Stewart’s words amounted to a racially aggravated offence, fining him £600, with additional legal costs bringing the total to £1,435.
Alwadaei said on Monday he had received notice from the police that Stewart intended to appeal against the verdict. Alwadaei was told in a letter: “It is disputed that the words used by Mr Stewart were racially abusive or abusive for the purposes of the section 5 Public Order Act offence.”
Stewart did not respond to a request for comment, but told the court during a hearing earlier this year that the accusation of racial hostility was “absurd” and “totally unfair”.
Since his conviction, Stewart has surrendered the Conservative whip and announced he will not stand again at the next election in his Beckenham seat.
He has found support from some Tory colleagues, including two deputy Conservative chairs, Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith.
Anderson and Clarke-Smith have been trying to raise money to cover Stewart’s fine and legal costs, with Anderson calling the former army colonel a “friend and a war hero”, and Clarke-Smith calling the case a “disgrace”. Clarke-Smith added: “Many will be appalled at the subsequent conviction for what was simply a polite request for somebody to go away and conduct their protest somewhere else where it would be more appropriate.”
A crowdfunding page set up by Clarke-Smith to raise money for Stewart has collected more than £19,000 – nearly 1,300% above what he needs.
Alwadaei said he now wants the Conservative party to remove the whip permanently from Stewart and to punish those who have backed him since: “If the party fails to take action … it will only embolden people to become more abusive in the future.”
The Conservative party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
