Written evidence submitted by Ashfaq Ahmad
I write further to your discussions with my daughter
Dr. Amna Ahmad regarding my son Babar Ahmad, who has been imprisoned
since August 2004 whilst awaiting extradition to the US under
the US-UK Extradition Treaty 2003.
I now enclose a recent letter signed by twelve Muslim
community leaders regarding Babar's case, including Sir Iqbal
Sacranie and Lord Nazir Ahmed.
I would be grateful if you could consider this letter
as part of our family's submissions regarding my son Babar's extradition
case. Babar's solicitors will be making further more detailed
submissions later this week.
I thank you for taking the time to consider these
submissions and am happy to assist you further in any way that
I can.
APPENDIX
LETTER SIGNED BY MUSLIM COMMUNITY LEADERS
REGARDING BABAR AHMAD'S CASE
We, the undersigned representatives of some of Britain's
largest Muslim communities, wish to express to you our deep concerns
about the case of Babar Ahmad, who has been held in prison without
trial since August 2004, fighting extradition to the US under
the controversial "fast-track" procedures.
Babar Ahmad is a prominent member of Britain's Muslim
community and over the last six years, our congregations have
voiced to us their collective outrage at what is widely held to
be a grave miscarriage of justice. We in turn have repeatedly
conveyed these frustrations, in private and public, to senior
officials in the previous Government.
Extradition treaties exist to apprehend fugitives
seeking refuge from their crimes in a foreign country, not for
citizens subject to over-expansive jurisdiction whilst living
in their homeland. Babar Ahmad has not committed any crime in
the US so he is not a "fugitive." Even according to
US prosecutors, "at all times material" to the allegations
against him, he was living in the UK.
This prompted Senior District Judge Timothy Workman,
the UK's most senior extradition judge, to rule on his case on
17 May 2005: "This is a difficult and troubling case. The
defendant is a British Citizen who is alleged to have committed
offences which if the evidence were available, could be prosecuted
in this country." As you will be aware, several MPs and peers
from all parties, including Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg,
have raised concerns about his case in Parliament.
The Coalition Government has pledged to rectify our
unfair extradition arrangements with the US. We acknowledge the
Home Secretary's intention to draw a line under the past by reviewing
controversial anti-terror legislation and holding an inquiry into
the abuse of torture suspects. However, we find it difficult to
comprehend how extraditing Babar Ahmad to the US, where he may
languish in prison for further years on end whilst awaiting trial,
will enable us to move on from the past and repair the damage
to community relations caused by the events of the last few years.
In light of the recent announcement that a review of the extradition
laws led by Lord Justice Scott Baker is due to begin, we believe
it only reasonable that Babar Ahmad's extradition be stayed until
such time as the review has been completed.
In an interim decision on Babar Ahmad's case on 8
July 2010, the European Court of Human Rights declared that prosecuting
Babar Ahmad in the UK is a viable alternative to extradition.
We understand that the Attorney General Dominic Grieve has been
made aware of fresh developments in Babar Ahmad's case, including
the recent decision of the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute
four police officers in relation to the assault on him during
his arrest.
There cannot be two parallel systems of justice whereby
some British citizens facing extradition to the US are afforded
rights that others are deprived of, regardless of the seriousness
of the allegations. We also note that the Home Secretary has recently
frozen the extradition to the US of computer hacker Gary McKinnon
(whose case is similar to Babar Ahmad's) and that Prime Minister
Cameron has held talks with President Obama regarding that case.
In light of all of the above, over six years after
Babar Ahmad's incarceration, we urge you in the strongest possible
terms to help stop his extradition and put him on trial in the
UK. Such a gesture will not only end this lengthy miscarriage
of injustice but it will also win the hearts and minds of the
Muslim communities in Britain.
| Sir Iqbal Sacranie OBE)
Chair of Trustees, Balham Mosque
| Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham
Former Secretary General, Muslim Council of Britain (MCB
|
| Farooq Murad
Secretary General, Muslim Council of Britain (MCB)
| Fuad Nahdi
Executive Director & Founder, Radical Middle Way (RMW)
|
| Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra
Imam, Leicester
| Mohammed Ali
CEO, Islam Channel
|
| Nabil Ahmed
President, Federation of Student Islamic Society (FOSIS))
| Massoud Shadjareh
Chair, Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC
|
| Mohammed Sawalha
President, British Muslim Initiative (BMI)
| Ismail Adam Patel
Chair, Friends of Al-Aqsa
|
| Salim Mulla
Chairman, Lancashire Council of Mosques
| Moazzam Begg
Director, Cageprisoner
|
|
