High profile lawyer Aamer Anwar has corrected a tweet in which he referred to the tragic murder of Kamil Charyszyn.
On Tuesday, Mr Anwar took to Twitter to bemoan the lack of coverage on the incident.
Directed by early reports in The Scottish Sun, he stated that the man – a Celtic fan – was killed after a shouting match with four others who were wearing Rangers colours.
This was a clear nod to a football/sectarian motive.
https://twitter.com/AamerAnwar/status/1374485392720683008
The following day Mr Anwar retracted his previous comments having spoken to police who advised that they don’t believe the murder to have been motivated by football or sectarianism.
The Glasgow Times also stated that “there has been speculation that the alleged killing was football related but it is understood the police are not pursuing this as a line of inquiry.”
At the time of writing, the initial tweet is still on Anwar’s timeline.
Spoke to @policescotland this morning about brutal murder of Kamil Charyszyn, despite initial press reports, they confirmed they don’t believe the murder to be football related or sectarian- still looking for the suspects👇🏽 & Kamil’s young family can be supported at link below https://t.co/XaZvoXZZTl pic.twitter.com/63p8ch0erM
— Aamer Anwar✊🏾🏳️🌈#BlackLivesMatter (@AamerAnwar) March 24, 2021
The most important issue here is that a man has been killed and a young family left without their husband and father – It is tragic and senseless.
“A fundraiser to support his bereaved wife and children was set up by Charlene Reynolds, who has advised mourners not to place football colours at Kamil’s memorial spot,” as reported by the Glasgow Times.
Given sensitivities that surround Old Firm games and the rivalry in general, it is critical that unfounded rumours and speculation aren’t given oxygen, especially by key figures like Aamer Anwar.
All that it does is to allow people with grievances to pin blame and derision onto rival groups of people and in this case – football clubs.
If a mindless person is wearing a football top and murders someone, it is not the responsibility of the football club or a whole collective fanbase – that is ridiculous.
Typically in Scotland, there is often a tabloid frenzy to create a pile on around tragic and awful situations like this.
We must do better – the truth and integrity is too important to ignore.