Shamima Begum must face judgement for her crimes in the UK

When Shamima Begum, who has lost her latest attempt to regain her British citizenship, left for Isis-occupied Syria to live in what she claims she thought was “paradise”, she was 15 years of age. She had been apparently radicalised and encouraged by friends and propaganda videos, and she was a child. She had been groomed at an impressionable age, trafficked and exploited by a remorseless group of violent zealots. One of the court’s key findings included “credible suspicion” that Ms Begum was recruited, transferred and then harboured for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Yet due to her crimes, she is still largely considered an unsympathetic figure. Despite her mild celebrification, the podcasts and media interviews and an appearance on a lifestyle magazine cover, she is nobody’s idea of a cover girl for human rights. At the time that she left Britain, she was above the age of criminal responsibility. When she was there, in the Isis "caliphate", she has admitted she knew what was going on (though perhaps not fully).

She was a member of the Isis religious police, the Hisbah, not renowned for their compassionate ways. She says she was OK with beheadings, and that she thought the Manchester Arena bombings were justified as retaliation. She married an Isis fighter – albeit one who was, for a time, in prison on suspicion of being a western spy. Anything else she was involved in seems to be a secret shared by the security services only in closed court. She was surely either a terrorist or a terrorist sympathiser. That is fact.

Shamima Begum was also British, and on any sensible understanding of the term, she is British still. She was born in the UK, and calls herself a “Bethnal Green girl”; and she is. This is key.

As the judge at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, Mr Justice Jay, pointed out: “British citizenship is a fundamental entitlement and carries with it rights and privileges of huge importance to the individual, in particular the right of abode in this country … British citizenship is not an absolute entitlement for everyone. It can be removed by the secretary of state, but not if to do so would render the subject stateless.”

He ruled that the home secretary of the time, Sajid Javid, was correct in law in depriving her of her citizenship, so far as an immigration court is concerned. But that will not be the end of the matter, legally or politically. Ms Begum’s lawyers will appeal, and the higher courts will determine if Mr Javid acted correctly under the widest of legal obligations.

Technically, Ms Begum could claim Bangladeshi citizenship, but – aside from family links – it’s a tenuous claim, and she has plainly been born and brought up in Britain (and Bangladesh doesn't want her). Despite the enormity of her crimes, like other British citizens who’ve transgressed to an extreme degree at home and abroad, she is Britain’s responsibility.

In the past, British citizens have had their citizenship retained precisely so that they could face trial, and even execution, for treachery or war crimes. Indeed, on one notable occasion, British allegiance was virtually forced on one notorious traitor: William Joyce, or Lord Haw Haw, hanged for treason in 1946.

In exactly the same way, Shamima Begum should not be allowed to live in a detention camp run by Syrian rebels. Eventually, one way or another, she may well be set free, and left to live out her life as a free woman.

Instead, Ms Begum should be brought to trial, made to face her crimes, and make her case. The truth should be told. A court, her victims, and the public need to hear all the evidence; including, as far as prudent, the material gathered by the security services. Then justice can take its course, and the country can achieve some sort of closure.

If Ms Begum still represents a threat to life – in Syria, the UK or elsewhere – then she should be incarcerated for as long it takes to see that threat subside; and she should receive an appropriate punishment for any crimes she is convicted of.

Unlike the regime Ms Begum for a time enthusiastically supported, justice in Britain is a universal human right. Wanting Ms Begum to stand trial, account for herself and face a potentially very long jail sentence is hardly handing her the soft option.

For justice to be served, Ms Begum needs to return home – and for that to take place, she will need her formal citizenship restored.