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BABAR AHMAD - THE LONGEST SERVING BRITON HELD IN THE UK WITHOUT TRIAL
As with many other extradition cases, Babar’s case is not about innocence or guilt, it is about the appropriateness of extradition where the suspect, evidence and the alleged criminal conduct all reside in the UK.
Key Facts:
- Babar Ahmad is a British citizen, born in 1974, and brought up in Tooting, South West London. His parents migrated to Britain in the 1960s; his father worked as a civil servant in the Foreign Office for 40 years and his mother was a teacher. Babar graduated in London and was working as an I.T. Analyst in Imperial College London at the time of his arrest. Babar was popular in his local community and known as a devout Muslim holding mainstream views.
- Babar was arrested by the Metropolitan Police’s Territorial Support Group in December 2003. Despite offering no resistance, he was severely assaulted during this arrest, sustaining 73 separate injuries. His home and other locations were raided and computers and other evidence seized.
- He was released without charge 5 days later.
- Shortly thereafter, Babar was arrested pursuant to an extradition warrant from the US. All of the materials (computer hard drives, records etc) cited by the US indictment, were originally taken from Babar by the Met in December 2003, on which the CPS found no basis to bring charges.
- The US has accused him of involvement with a series of websites that allegedly supported Chechen resistance fighters in the 1990s.
- The US claimed jurisdiction because it is alleged thatone of the several dozen computer servers on which the websites were hosted, was located in Connecticut (US), for a period of about 18 months from early 2000.
- Babar was remanded in custody in August 2004 and has been in a series of Category A prisons across the UK ever since, pending resolution of his extradition case – the equivalent of having served a 12 year sentence, without trial.
- It is a matter of plain fact that the allegations contained in the US charges could easily be dealt with under UK terrorism laws if there were any basis to them.
- The first judge judge to examine the case against Babar (Senior District Judge Timothy Workman, who is the UK’s most senior extradition judge) ruled on the 17th 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.” Judge Workman again raised these concerns about Babar Ahmad’s case whilst testifying before the Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee on 28th November 2005. What Judge Workman did not know then, but has since become apparent is that all the ‘evidence’ against Babar was actually seized in the UK and sent to the US, following a controversial raid for which four police officers are to be prosecuted.
- If extradited and found guilty, Ahmad faces a potential sentence of life without parole in solitary confinement in a super-max prison or, even worse, a further and indefinite number of years of incarceration without trial.
Some simple points of principle:
1. Do you believe it is fair for someone to be spending 6 years behind bars in Britain without trial?
2. Do you believe it is right to extradite a British citizen on allegations of criminal conduct which took place in Britain, where all the evidence can be found in Britain, rather than try him in Britain in front of a jury of his peers?
3. Do you believe the Government should continue to order the extradition of British citizens to the US whilst in the midst of a review of our extradition laws, which have been called into question by the very man who supported their implementation, the former Home Secretary Rt Hon David Blunkett MP?
If your response to these is ‘NO’, we urge you to make your views known to the Home Secretary who has the power to refuse or stay the US extradition request, and to the Attorney General, under whose guidance the CPS can both investigate and prosecute Babar Ahmad and put an end to his extradition ordeal.
We hope you agree that justice should be blind. It is too easy to see the words ‘suspected Muslim terrorist’ and suspend any impartiality. Whatever happened to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty? Babar maintains his innocence of any criminal activity, let alone of anything remotely akin to terrorism.
Further details can be found on Babar’s family’s campaign website www.freebabarahmad.com.
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