Azad Ali update

Further to my piece back in January about Azad Ali, the senior Muslim civil servant who launched an astonishing verbal onslaught against the Government over its response to Israel’s military strikes in Gaza – and has suggested that killing British troops in Iraq is justified. At the time I reported The Mail informing us that

"Treasury official Azad Ali, president of the Civil Service Islamic Society, now faces the sack over the remarks.... Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell – who is the patron of the society – acted immediately after being alerted to the comments by The Mail on Sunday"

If you read my piece you find out more about the "moderate" Azad Ali. It was with some dismay that I read in The Mail that:

"A Muslim civil servant suspended amid claims that he used his personal website to justify the killing of British troops in Iraq has returned to work at the Treasury.

Azad Ali, an IT worker and president of the Civil Service Islamic Society, was suspended on full pay for six months following comments on his blog."

So Azad Ali was "punished" by being suspended on full pay for six months and is now back at work as if nothing had happened.

Could someone explain why Azad Ali, a civil servant, is back at work after a six month paid holiday with no other action being taken whilst DC Richard Horton, author of the Night Jack blog, was forced to stop blogging and given a written warning.


UPDATE:
Commenter "BrianE" raises a very pertinent addendum:

"You might also ask why two civil servants have been sacked for blogging. One a few months ago "Civil Serf" for commenting on the number of non-jobs where she worked, and one last week for being "unkind" to Hazel Blears.
I wonder if either will now consider going to a Tribunal on the basis that they have been unfairly discriminated against?"