Campaign launched to defend terror raid victims

Article published: Saturday, May 16th 2009

A campaign has been formed in Manchester to defend 10 Pakistani students arrested in terror raids last month. People from around the UK attended meetings in Longsight on May 9th and Cheetham Hill on May 12th and were addressed by legal representatives of the students, their families from Pakistan and other innocent victims of the Terrorism Act.

A campaign has been formed in Manchester to defend 10 Pakistani students arrested in terror raids last month. People from around the UK attended meetings in Longsight on May 9th and Cheetham hill on May 12th and were addressed by legal representaitves of the students, their families from Pakistan and other innocent victims of the anti terror laws.

The 10 students were among 12 men arrested in a series of terror raids which took place on April 8th across the north west of England. Armed police were photographed pinning one man to the floor as he ate his lunch at Liverpool John Moore’s University. The raids came shortly after the Metropolitan Police’s top counter-terrorism officer Bob Quick left intelligence documents relating to the men on display as he entered Downing Street for a meeting.

Gordon Brown joined security chief’s in hailing the raids as a success, claiming a ‘very big plot’ had been foiled. After days of interrogation and extensive searches of homes and property, all the charges were dropped. However, the 10 Pakistani nationals were immediately moved into immigration detention. Home Secretary Jaqui Smith is now attempting to deport them to Pakistan on the grounds that they pose a threat to national security. The men have legitimate student visas, and the government has refused to produce evidence supporting their allegation. 

The ‘Justice for the North West 10’ campaign aims to prevent the deportations, secure the release of the men and allow them to continue their education in the UK. The families of the 10 men are beggining their own campaign in Pakistan – where the controversy has attracted a great deal of attention – and addressed the Longsight meeting. Tahir Rahman, brother of Tariq Rahman, spoke from Peshawar. ‘Tariq was sent to the UK to study and make a better life for his family.’ He said. ‘His young wife died during the birth of their first child. his father is dead. His paralysed mother cannot come to terms with her son’s imprisonment. She has not spoken to her son since his arrest.’

Nasrullah Jaan Khattak, father of Abid Nasir, also speaking from Peshawar, said, ‘I fear for my son. I appeal to the government to give him the chance to finish his education. I have not been able to speak to my son since the arrest and we are very worried about him and his health. we sent our son to study not to be oppressed.

On Tuesday, the 10 detainees appealed at the Royal Court of Appeal, London. They have been denied bail until the proceedings resume in July and are being held as category A prisoners, denied visitors and telephone calls. The Justice for the North West 10 organisershave fiercely criticized authorities over their treatment of the men. Manchester based writer and campaign organiser Tariq Mehmood said, ‘What sort of society locks people up without charge, without evidence, threatens to throw them out of the country on the whims of politicians and sexed up intelligence reports? What has happened to this country where the police are threatening more such raids? We are all but in a police state. The gloves are nearly off and it won’t simply be Muslims who will feel the heat.’

‘These students must be allowed to telephone their relatives in Pakistan. They should be freed immediately, their visas must be reinstated and they must be compensated for the financial loss and the mental and physical suffering.’ 

He and other campaigners are also demanding an official apology from government ministers. In coming weeks they will host more public meetings around the country, and regular demonstrations outside Strangeways prison where some of the men are bing held

 

 

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