Pakistan Students July Update
The Pakistan students issue remains at the forefront of my work and and I deem an update necessary given I have some mixed news that needs sharing. Pakistanis inside and outside of Pakistan will be delighted as am I, at the news that two students Janas Khan and Sultan Sher were released on Tuesday.
Yet smiles soon turn into frowns when it seems their release is a smokescreen of sorts and proves once again that the British government is incapable of ending its crude dirty tricks as it now seeks their deportation on ‘visa irregularities’ and not national security as the BBC reports below:
Two terror suspects to be freed
Two Pakistani students arrested in north west England in April accused of being part of an alleged terror plot are to be released. Sultan Sher and Janus Khan were never charged but were due to be deported on the grounds of national security. Seven of the 12 men who were arrested remain in custody awaiting deportation.
Mr Sher’s solicitor called for an independent inquiry, saying his arrest and detention had been a “very serious” breach of human rights. The released pair will be required to wear electronic tags as the Home Office still wants to deport them due to visa irregularities, the BBC understands.
Twelve students were arrested in the terror raids in Manchester and Liverpool, with three subsequently released. The rest were put in prison pending deportation on the grounds of national security and their case, involving secret evidence they have not seen, is due back in court on 27 July.
Robust Measures
The Home Office said it was not allowed to detain the men indefinitely. “These individuals no longer meet the required criteria for detention on the grounds of national security. They are currently detained pending removal, but legally we cannot hold them indefinitely. We are therefore putting in place suitable and robust measures to ensure we are fully aware of their whereabouts as we progress their cases for removal.”
Mohammed Ayub, solicitor for Sultan Sher, said the men had maintained they were not extremists or terrorists. “Our clients were originally arrested in a blaze of publicity at gunpoint by the police. They were interviewed for 13 days and released into immigration detention without any criminal charges brought against them,” he said.
“Our clients’ plea of innocence is confirmed by the decision of the Home Office to firstly withdraw the intention to deport one of our clients on the grounds of national security and secondly to release him shortly. We believe that our original call for an independent inquiry into Operation Pathway has now been strengthened. We are of the opinion that lessons should be learnt as to how this investigation could have got it so terribly wrong and so that no other innocent person should have to suffer the ordeal that our clients have.”
The Independent today carries an interview with Janas Khan and I share it below:
Pakistan Students Launch Legal Action over Arrests
Janas Khan, one of two Pakistani students released from prison yesterday months after terrorism charges against them were dropped, has told The Independent on Sunday he was “shocked and angry” at his treatment by the UK Government. Lawyers acting for the remaining seven Pakistani students still held in prison have also announced they will launch a legal challenge against the Government this week.
The 26-year-old business student began to cry as he said: “Growing up we heard that the UK was the one place that respected human rights and justice, which is why I wanted to study here. I’m shocked and angry. I am innocent and I still can’t believe I was arrested on no evidence.”
Sultan Sher was also released from prison yesterday. The two were among 12 students who were arrested in April after the UK’s most senior counterterrorism officer was photographed walking into Downing Street carrying highly sensitive documents revealing details of the operation. The details were visible, and a premature police operation against an alleged al-Qa’ida plot ensued. The officer responsible, Scotland Yard’s Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick, resigned.
Criminal charges against all the students were dropped in May because of insufficient evidence, but they have been kept locked in high-security prisons under immigration laws. “They never told us what it was that we were supposed to have done,” said Mr Khan. His studies were due to finish in September, but the limitations of his parole conditions means it will be impossible to travel from Manchester to meet his tutors in Liverpool.
Legal challenges for the remaining students will now add to the authorities’ embarrassment following the bungled terror case. Two lawsuits will contest the legality of the Government’s use of secret evidence in their continued imprisonment as well as the lawfulness of the initial arrest.
I am of course seething at the crude way the British government has dealt with the students but I do not lose heart and promise I will not stop until justice is served. In terms of other developments, I am pleased to report the following progress recently:
- Discussed the issue with Lord Nazir who has raised it at the highest levels.
- Have had two meetings with a Cabinet Minister Liam Bryne
- Wrote to the Home Secterary Alan Johnson for which I received a useless reply of legal mumbo jumbo only a few days ago.
