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We were detained
the day Babar Ahmad was detained
Stop Police Terror Calls The British Public To Stop
Being Bullied By Bush & Blair
In light of Thursday’s (5 August 2004) arrest of
Babar Ahmad by Anti-Terrorist officers acting upon an extradition
request from the US, incredulously alleging that he is responsible
for planning attacks and laundering money to terrorists, Stop Police
Terror urges all British people to stop being bullied by Bush and
Blair and fight injustice by attending the forthcoming conference in
Tooting, South London this Sunday.
The high-profile case of Mr. Ahmad, formerly referred to as Suspect
A, who was arrested as part of the December raids, was the
foundation and inspiration for the Stop Police Terror campaign.
Therefore it comes as no surprise that the British establishment are
seeking to remove this thorn in their side only two days before the
South London Stop Police Terror conference was due to be held.
Moreover, his arrest comes at a time while investigations as part of
the official complaint he lodged are still pending in this case
which had attracted much media attention and aroused deep anger in
the community. It is rather convenient that the British
establishment are now seeking to eliminate the very individual who
has exposed and widely publicised the extent of police brutality and
the arbitrariness of their arrests.
Mr. Ahmad is a law-abiding, upright British citizen, born and
educated in South London, Described as an “intelligent, articulate
graduate with a lovely family”, he is a well-known, highly
beneficial member of the community, who has contributed particularly
to the preservation of the Muslim youth and ensuring they are
occupied with Islamic activities. Is he really a dangerous
terrorist, a key Al-Qaeda planner of operations as they would have
us believe, or simply a political pawn? Where is the much-lauded
British justice? Why must we bend at Bush’s every beck and call?
Was it not sufficient that the Anti-Terrorist officers burst into
his home and brutally beat Mr. Ahmad, inflicting more than 50-
potentially life-threatening- injuries in December 2003? Was it not
sufficient to imprison him in solitary confinement and interrogate
him for 10 days, subjecting him to psychological abuse, only to
release him as a free man without a single charge levelled against
him. Surely if there had been a shred of incriminating evidence it
would have been found in the forensic searches of his property, in
the intricate scans of his computers or in the raid of his
workplace. And if that were not enough, then exhaustively sending
samples of his DNA and fingerprints around the globe should have
been more than adequate in securing some charge, but unsurprisingly
– yet again – they were able to find nothing. So from where arises
the need to extradite this British citizen to a country infamous for
its human rights abuses?
Can we really have faith in an administration which has arrested
more than a staggering 5,000 Muslims on its own soil since 2001,
whose soldiers continue to torture and humiliate innocent civilians
from Afghanistan to Iraq to Guantanamo? Can we rely upon an
administration which extracts confessions under torture and duress -
or who renders individuals to foreign governments to torture on
their behalf - and makes such confessions the basis for arrests and
charges levelled against individuals across the globe? Can we trust
an administration which deprives its detainees of legal counsel, of
access to witnesses, to independent enquiry for years, who evade the
rulings of their own Supreme Court? Can we trust such an
administration to treat Mr. Ahmad with fairness and justice, when
its interests lie in raising and lowering the terror alert at whim,
to secure their seat in the upcoming elections, who revel in
creating an atmosphere of fear and paranoia amongst the British and
American people?
Let us not forget recent examples of the December and the Manchester
raids, where all detainees were released without charge, or the
arrests of Algerians in Scotland, whose lives were destroyed in
spite of their innocence now being established. Let us not forget
the 594 arrests with only 6 charged. Let us not forget the
extradition proceedings against Lofti Raissi which was thrown out in
a British court for “lack of evidence” and more recently, the
charges levelled against Abu Hamza extracted from a Guantanamo
detainee interrogated under torture in legal limbo, and as part of a
plea bargain from a “man forced to buy his liberty with his
conscience”. We must not allow another miscarriage of justice and
must refuse this extradition. We demand that his case is transparent
and that if charges are brought against him, that he should be
entitled to a fair trial, with access to a lawyer on British soil.
Stop Police Terror urges all Muslims and non-Muslims alike to
protest this outright denial of justice and show their support for
the campaign by attending this Sunday’s Denial of Justice conference
in Tooting, South London. There will subsequently be NO ENTRY FEE
required.
ACTION ALERT
1. The minimum but the most effective means of helping Babar Ahmad
is
to supplicate for him - Make dua for Babar Ahmad in your tahajud
(night) prayers, while you are fasting and in the places and times
where du’a is most likely to be accepted. Take advantage of the fact
it is Yawm Al-Jumuah, make du’a between the adhan and the iqamah and
in the hour (the last hour before Maghrib on a Friday) in which
supplications are not rejected.
2. Advise all Muslims and non-Muslims you know to attend this
conference
3. Publicise the conference in every way that you can - distribute
flyers, send out e-mails.
4. Raise awareness for this case by mentioning it in your Khutbahs
(Friday sermons), lectures, and by referring people to
www.stoppoliceterror.com
5. Write letters of complaint to Mr. Ahmad’s MP, Tom
Cox, and to David Blunkett. Further details and model campaign
letters will be available during the conference.
6. Write to him. This can be done irrespective of geographical
location, providing that the letters will reach him in sufficient
time. Send words of encouragement and support, exhorting him to be
patient and steadfast, reminding him of his reward and of those who
are being tested more severely.
If you do not have time to write a letter, then at the very least
send a “Thinking of you” card.
With respect to the Muslims, this is something our faith has obliged
upon us and which carries a great reward, as the Prophet (SAW) said,
“Whoever relieves a believer’s distress of the distressful aspects
of this world, Allaah will rescue him from a difficulty of the
difficulties of the hereafter… Allah is helping the servant as long
as the servant is helping his brother." (Muslim).
Please send letters to:
B Ahmad MX5152
HMP Woodhill
Tattenhoe Street
Milton Keynes
Bucks
MK4 4DA
Please ensure that all letters will reach Woodhill Prison by Friday
13th August since there is a strong likelihood that he may move
locations thereafter.
We must stand up in support of the victims of Police Terror before
we ourselves become the victims. Refusing to attend out of fear or
paranoia that we will become guilty by association is simply playing
into the hands of Bush and Blair. Do not fail to act before one day
it is said, “We were detained the day Babar Ahmad was
detained”.
Source: Stop Police Terror Campaign Group
06 August 2004
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