London man denies claims he attacked Muslim woman, tweets he was defending girlfriend

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Was Pawel Uczciwek attacking a Muslim woman or defending his girlfriend? (Twitter)
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Aniso Abdulkadir (Twitter)
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Aniso Abdulkadir (Twitter)
Updated 17 July 2017
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London man denies claims he attacked Muslim woman, tweets he was defending girlfriend

DUBAI: A London-based architect accused of attacking a Muslim woman has taken to Twitter to defend his actions, claiming his friend was the victim and that he was defending her.

Aniso Abdulkadir posted tweets carrying a photo of Pawel Uczciwek, claiming he tried to pull off her hijab while she waited for a train at Baker Street underground station.

She said he shouted at her, telling her to “show her hair,” and spat in her friend’s face.

The alleged incident happened in the early hours of Saturday morning.

At the time Abdulkadir tweeted: “This man at Baker Street station forcefully attempted to pull my hijab off and when I instinctively grabbed ahold of my scarf he hit me.”

She added: “He proceeded to verbally abuse my friends and I, pinning one of them against the wall and spitting in her face.”

Her claims were retweeted more than 35,000 times by Monday afternoon.

British police confirmed the incident was being investigated as a hate crime. A police spokesman added: “Behavior like this is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated… This incident has been reported to us and we’re investigating.”

But architect Pawel Uczciwek has now responded to the accusations, tweeting that the allegations made about him were “completely false.”

Defending his actions, he said his female friend was the victim of a racist attack and that he was trying to “diffuse” the situation.

London’s Metro newspaper quoted Uczciwek as saying: “The police is fully cooperating with me and will be able to obtain CCTV footage showing the three women attempting to attack my partner because we are in an interracial relationship.”

He added: “My partner was attacked by three people — i diffused it. The media does not even care that a black woman was attacked???

“Three people attempted to attack one person A BLACK WOMAN and there is not a care in the world from media???”

He tweeted that the perpetrators were treated as victims, adding: “I am shocked.”

Uczciwek wrote that he intervened to ensure none of the four women were harmed.

He added: “The media is using religion as a scapegoat because they clearly have no care for a black women being attacked in London.”


Israel arrests 2 Turkish CNN journalists over live broadcast outside IDF HQ

Updated 03 March 2026
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Israel arrests 2 Turkish CNN journalists over live broadcast outside IDF HQ

  • Police said reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility
  • Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites

LONDON: Israeli police have arrested two Turkish CNN journalists who were broadcasting live outside the Israel Defense Forces’ headquarters in Tel Aviv.

Police said the pair were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility, according to the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit.

Reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman, from the network’s Turkish-language channel, had been reporting near the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters on Tuesday after Iran launched another missile barrage at Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel.

During the live broadcast, two men believed to be soldiers approached the crew and seized the reporter’s phone, according to initial reports and a video circulating online that could not be independently verified.

Police said officers were dispatched after receiving reports of two people carrying cameras and allegedly broadcasting in real time for a foreign outlet.

Israel’s long-standing military censorship system, overseen by the IDF Military Censor, has long barred journalists and civilians from publishing material deemed harmful to national security.

Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites.

After a series of similar incidents involving foreign media — most of them Palestinian citizens of Israel working for Arab-language and international media, along with foreign journalists — during the 12-Day War, Israeli police halted live international broadcasts from missile impact sites, citing concerns that exact locations were being revealed.

The Government Press Office later imposed a blanket ban on live coverage from crash and impact areas.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir subsequently ordered that all foreign journalists obtain prior written approval from the military censor before broadcasting — live or recorded — from combat zones or missile strike locations.

Police said that when officers asked the CNN Turk crew to identify themselves, they presented expired press cards and were taken in for questioning.

Burhanettin Duran, head of Turkiye’s Directorate of Communications, condemned the arrests as an attack on the press and said Ankara is working to secure the journalists’ release.