PRESS RELEASE

Justice for the North West 10 Campaign

Pakistani student challenges the system of secret evidence.

Protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London WC2A,

Daily Monday 21st –  Wednesday 23rd September 12.30am - 2.30pm

·         One of the 10 Pakistani students arrested on 8 April 2009 in the North West of England is bringing a challenge to the legality of the system of secret evidence. Because of the restrictions imposed by the draconian laws involved, he can only be referred to as XC.

After his arrest, three weeks of interrogations and searches revealed no shred of evidence against XC or any of the other students: Manchester police admitted they were innocent. However they were immediately re-imprisoned with a view to deportation as a ‘threat to national security’ and held as Category A prisoners. Bail was first denied in XC’s case in May 2009 when he was denied any information about evidence against him. At the second hearing, in July, bail was again rejected and ‘national security’ was cited as a reason. However this was again based on secret evidence and XC (and his lawyers) still were not told why his bail was denied.

·         In February the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg held that individuals need to know the case against them in order to receive a fair hearing.

A judicial review at the High Court on 21-23 September will consider whether the Special Immigration Appeals Court (SIAC) acted lawfully in denying bail to XC, since he does not know why bail was refused.

Yesterday John McDonnell MP commented, “The way these young people have been treated is unjust and unacceptable in a society that purports to support the rule of law. I support their campaign for justice”

·         On the eve of the judicial challenge, XC’s father, who is in Pakistan and had applied for a visa in order to visit his son three months ago, was told his application was being rejected with no reasons given.  He said yesterday ‘What kind of system of justice is this which can destroy the lives of young men with no evidence of wrongdoing! And no reasons given! And can stop a father visiting a son in this moment of terrible anxiety and suffering’.

·         Last month four of the Pakistani students held as Category A prisoners returned to Pakistan unable to bear the conditions under which they were being held – particularly the humiliating strip searches and searches of their cells with dogs in the month of Ramadan.

·         These students have felt compelled to return without being able to clear their names. Their reception by the Pakistani authorities, and the sureties their families had to provide about their whereabouts if they were called for interrogation, highlighted the fact that they are still on the terrorist register. 

  • XC will be joined in his challenge by an Algerian man who can only be named as U. U claimed asylum in the UK in 1992. He has also been held on the basis of secret evidence and was being held under 24 hour house arrest at his bail address until February 2009. His bail was then revoked by SIAC and he has been held as a category A prisoner ever since. His lawyers will apply for a judicial review of his bail revocation since it was on the basis of secret evidence.

 

For more information on the Justice for North West 10 campaign visit www.j4nw10.org  or call Amrit  Wilson 07846873341

Justice for the North West 10

Press Release 12th August 2009

Justice for Janas Khan! This student is not a terrorist.

 

Protest and press conference at appeal hearing

Janas Khan is appealing against the Home Office decision to withdraw his student visa. The appeal is being heard on 14th August 2009 at the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, 1st Floor, Piccadilly Exchange, 2 Piccadilly Plaza, Moseley Street, Manchester M1 4AH. The entrance is on Moseley Street, next to the Metro stop.

 

Justice for the North West 10 has called a protest at the entrance to the hearing at 9am. We will also be holding a press conference at this time and place.

 

Background

Janas Khan was arrested in April with other Pakistani students in terror raids across the North West of England. Gordon Brown claimed a massive terrorist plot had been foiled.  Jacqui Smith, then Home Secretary, labeled the students ‘Islamic extremists’. Janas Khan was imprisoned as ‘suspect S’. Two weeks later, the police admitted all the students were innocent but left them in prison without charge and without knowledge of evidence against them. No charges were brought but they were deemed a threat to national security and held for deportation to Pakistan. 

 

On 17th July 2009, Janas Khan and Sultan Shaer were freed from prison. There was simply no evidence. During his time in category A custody, Janas was regularly strip-searched and sniffer dogs were used on him. He was denied contact with his family in Pakistan. He was not told of the reasons for his arrest. 

 

An innocent student

Two and a half years ago, Janas Khan came to the UK to study for the International Masters degree in Business Administration at Liverpool Hope University. Until his arrest, all assignments were submitted on time.  As a result of his arrest and imprisonment, he was unable to complete the final four assignments prior to dissertation submission. 

 

Since release from prison, Janas has been electronically tagged and forced to live under curfew conditions so far away from Liverpool that he cannot attend the university. He remains indoors under curfew in his place of residence between 10.00 am and 12.00 am and between 6.00pm and 8.00pm. His property has not been released so he has no access to books, notes or computers and is unable to study.

 

Since imprisonment, Janas Khan’s mother has become seriously ill in Pakistan. Janas Khan says, ‘I feel my life has been turned upside down. I am just a student. A whole year of my life has been destroyed.  The others are innocent just like me. All I want is to be allowed to visit my mother and come back to finish my studies.’

 

Liverpool Hope University has agreed to give Janas Khan an extension to finish his assignments. However, he has to complete in the UK.  The Home Office withdrew his student visa and still threatens to deport him. Justice demands all restrictions on Janas Khan are lifted so that he can complete his education.

 

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

 

1.        On April 8th 2009 armed police swooped on Pakistani students in the North West . Three were released, though items and equipment remain confiscated. The remaining 12 were detained without charge.

 

2.        Ten of the students appealed against the deportation order. One, Tariq ur Rahman ‘voluntarily’ returned to Pakistan due to the stress of Category A detention.  Two others, Janas Khan and Sultan Shaer, were released on 17 July 2009.

 

3.        The national campaign is called ‘Justice for the North West 10’.

 

4.        The contact details for the campaign organizers are: J4NW10@yahoo.com or  

Manchester: Tariq Mehmood 07808 173031.

London: Amrit Wilson 07846 873341

Birmingham: Naeem 07721 427690

Sheffield: Javed Saddiqui 07962 174582.

 

5.        The campaign website is http://www.j4nw10.org/

 

6.        At bail hearings set for the week beginning 27 July 2009, Judge Mitting denied all bail for the seven remaining students and left review until March 2010.

 

7.        J4NW10 has called a protest at the Janas Khan’s hearing on Friday, 14 August 2009 at 9am. The protest and press conference will take place at the entrance to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, 1st Floor, Piccadilly Exchange, 2 Piccadilly Plaza, Moseley Street, Manchester M1 4AH. Telephone 0151 243 1400. Textphone 0151 243 1450. Fax 0151 243 1401.

 

Press Release 30 July  2009

 

 

  • Imprisonment without charge continues for seven Pakistani students.

 

  • Seven Pakistani students, who were arrested in April 2009, were refused bail on Wednesday  29th July.  They have been in prison since their arrest, without charge.  Their case will next be heard in court in March or early April, after Easter.  The Special Immigration Appeals Tribunal SIAC have been asked to provide some more information for another secret hearing in September.

 

  • Tariq Mehmood of the Justice for the North West 10 campaign (J4NW10) said, 'It is a mockery of justice to hold people in prison for a year without charge and without telling them what the evidence against them is.'  Referring to the refusal of Bail for the students he said, 'What sort of justice is this where part of the hearing is behind closed doors, where  secret evidence is secretly heard, of which neither the defendants or their lawyers are aware and as a result people whom the police have declared to be innocent are going to remain in prison as Category A prisoners?'

 

  • Initially 12 men had been arrested across the North West and PM Gordon Brown declared that a very big terror plot had been foiled. Two of them, Hamza Shinwari  and one who was a minor were released. Ten were 'released' from police custody but immediately imprisoned as CAT A prisoners, awaiting deportation to Pakistan.  Since then, Tariq Ur Rehman a widower, with three children has gone back to Pakistan, while Sultan Sher and Janas Khan were freed on Friday 17th July. The seven students appealing for bail between 27 and 29 July included Abdul Wahab Khan, Shoaib Khan, Mohammed Ramzan and Ahmed Faraz Khan others cannot be named for legal reasons. 

 

  • Since starting our campaign the J4nw10.org campaigning continues to grow with committees now in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Seffield and supporters  outraged at the injustice of this case, continue to join the campaign.

 

  • Amrit Wilson one of the organisers of the demonstrations outside the Bail hearing said, 'It is really ridiculous for Gordon Brown to not to apologise for the false claim he made. There was no terror plot. There was no conspiracy. These men are innocent and should be released.'

 

Further details Amrit Wilson 07846873341 or wilson_amrit@yahoo.co.uk

 

 

JUSTICE FOR THE NORTH WEST TEN (j4nw10)

PRESS STATEMENT

 

·        The Justice for the North West 10 campaign welcomes the release of Sultan Sher and Janus Khan and urges the Home Office to release the other seven students still in prison immediately.

·        The government now admits they are innocent and they are not ‘a threat to national security’  why then are Janus and Sultan being humiliated by being tagged like animals? This is a clear breach of their human rights and an attempt to save face by the authorities, since it is now obvious to the public that there was no ‘terror plot’. 

·        As Tariq Mehmood of the j4nw10 says ‘It is now clear that Gordon Brown has misled the nation.  There was never any terror plot. He should resign!’

J4nw10  demands that:

·        The government should  apologise to all the students and their families for the traumas they have experienced in the last 13 weeks and the false  accusations they have faced. They should also apologise to the British public for very seriously misleading them.

·        The government should now also compensate all the students for the time and money they have lost as a result of the disruption of their studies, and for the 13 weeks they have had to suffer as Category A prisoners.

We will continue to campaign for these demands and for the immediate, unconditional release of all the students.

We thank the growing number of people in all walks of life across the UK who have supported our campaign. We will continue to fight for justice!

The protest outside the Bail Hearings will be as planned on 27 July 2009

 

PRESS RELEASE from Justice for the North West 10 Campaign

11th June 2009

  Tariq Ur Rehman, one of the North West 10 has returned to Pakistan today, the 11th of June. He is being forced by his family circumstances – he is a widower with three young children - to accept what is in effect a voluntary deportation. This is not a victory for him or his legal representatives. Tariq had to choose between 18 months in a Category A prison or going back to Pakistan giving up his postgraduate studies and hopes for the future and losing the savings he had invested in his education.

As he has said in an  interview on the plane, he had not been involved with or associated with any activity which was in any way suspicious. He said, he knew 3 or 4 of the others arrested with him and they also had ‘normal lives’not involved in or associated with extremism.  ‘I have been arrested just because I am a Muslim and I belong to Pakistan. They have destroyed my life, my future. I came to UK for a better future’.

He also said he was returning as a protest over the fact that he was held as a Category A prisoner in Belmarsh, where he was very disturbed by the humiliating strip searches and searches of cells with dogs.  

There is no guarantee that he will not be tortured or treated as a terrorist in Pakistan. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has already said that he is likely to be ‘debriefed’, or interrogated.

The other 9 students arrested in the case are still in Category A prisons, challenging the deportation orders on them. Tariq Mehmood for the Justice for the North West 10 Campaign (j4nw10) said: ‘This is a travesty of justice, it is just to save the face of Gordon Brown and the Labour government – they know there was never any terror plot! The case is a disgrace to the British establishment!’.

Tariq Ur Rehman’s return to Pakistan comes on the same day that nine Law Lords, in a major challenge to the use of secret evidence, unanimously ruled that it was unfair that individuals should be kept in ignorance of the case against them in cases of people  subject to control orders.

This raises some important questions for the case of the North West 10, The Home Office uses control orders against terror suspects who cannot be tried because the  intelligence being used against them is kept secret. In the case of these Pakistani students the control order is replaced by a deportation order. They cannot be tried because not a shred of evidence against was found. But they are to be deported because the Home Office considers them a threat to national security on the basis presumably of secret evidence. They have been given no information whatsoever as to the reasons why they are being deported and why they were refused bail.  Yet the High Court was prepared to keep them in prison without them being given reasons at all.  No wonder Tariq Ur Rehman believes there is no possibility of justice here.

In course of the new  ruling on secret evidence, the senior Law Lord  Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers said: "A trial procedure can never be considered fair if a party to it is kept in ignorance of the case against him.

"If the wider public are to have confidence in the justice system, they need to be able to see that justice is done rather than being asked to take it on trust.

"The best way of producing a fair trial is to ensure that a party to it has the fullest information of both the allegations that are made against him and the evidence relied upon in support of those allegations."

As Justice (a legal group supported by many of the UK's most eminent lawyers) put it "Secret evidence is unreliable, unfair, undemocratic, unnecessary and damaging to both national security and the integrity of Britain's courts."


FOR FURTHER DETAILS CONTACT Amrit Wilson 07846873341 or wilson_amrit@yahoo.co.uk

Website www.j4nw10.org