Experiences
Of Harassment
By The Police And Security Services

by Sister
Muddassar Arani, solicitor
Arani & Co. Solicitors & Advisor to IHRC
A moving short talk by an experienced solicitor who has taken
on several human rights cases free of charge, defending Muslims
against persecution by the security services. Solid advice
here for the whole Muslim community to follow.
Since the 11 of September
I've had to deal with a lot of cases where my clients have
been harassed by MI5 and also the anti-terrorist branch. It
is extremely unfortunate that we in this country we who are
law abiding citizens are being harassed merely because we
are Muslims and not for any other reason. I have had to deal
with cases concerning sisters and brothers who have not done
anything wrong or illegal in this country and yet who are
being harassed by the government...
It is extremely unfortunate
that the so called people who represent the general (Muslim)
community or state that they represent the Muslim community
in this country have not spoken up for the victims, the Muslim
victims who are suffering in this country and are still doing
so today...
I had anti-terrorist branch
officers, not one, not two but three officers who came in
to my room in my offices and stated to me that my client was
innocent, that he had not committed any criminal offence,
and that the police officers required assistance from him.
After receiving legal advice, my client decided not to under
go an interview under caution. What happened to this man?
I'll tell you what happened to this man - the next day the
police officers arrested him! Detained him for two days in
police custody! And not to this day have I been provided with
any evidence as to what situation has changed since the conversation
the police officers had with me and the date of his arrest
which took place in November.
We are in the process of
applying for legal aid so that we can sue the police for the
false arrest of this particular individual. But this sorry
saga doesn't end there. My client came to see me recently
and what is happening now - you would have thought that the
police and MI5 would have left him alone, but no. They have
approached him again on the street because they want evidence
against certain individuals that they do not like in this
country. That is a very sad state of affairs that is arising
in this country. So this man who they don't have any evidence
against, was released from the police because their was not
even enough sufficient evidence to charge this individual
is now being harassed by MI5. Why? If there was evidence against
this individual he would have been arrested and charged and
would have been tried by now. But this harassment doesn't
stop there. Why not?
How much longer are
us Muslim people going to carry on suffering for? Its
becoming a joke! But he was not the only person who's
being approached. I have other individuals whom the police
would like to use as witnesses against other members of
the community. So what are they going to do - divide and
rule us - isn't that what they have been doing everywhere
else? Isn't it about time that every single Muslim person
united and started speaking up in one voice and stop letting
people divide and rule us... |
|
Sister Muddassar Arani
|
Stop speaking up against
each other - what you are doing is playing in to the hands
of the government when you do that. You all have to stand
as one - united. And if you stand as united you will be a
stronger force, a voice that can be heard, a voice that can
be respected and your views will be listened to, hopefully.
But if we carry on the
way we are carrying on - basically speaking up against each
other in the hope that we can appease the majority view -
they will continue to divide us and rule over us. And we will
not be able to fight for the basic fundamental rights that
we as citizens of this country should be entitled to...
We as Muslims should learn
that we do not have to become victims any longer, because
if we don't this situation, the sad saga will continue.
There are a few brothers
who have followed the advice that was given to them. They
have suffered in the short term, but in the long term there
have been benefits for them.
The situation where MI5
is concerned is quiet bad - what they do is they go to somebody
A and try to get evidence against somebody B, go to B and
try to get evidence against A. That is what they are doing
in reality because there isn't any evidence though, so they
want people to speak and try to incriminate somebody. Why?
MI5 have approached some
of my clients and offered them a stay in this country if they
will give evidence against other individuals. They have offered
my client the right to stay in this country if they backbite
on another Muslim person. That is a temptation indeed for
certain people who want to stay in this country, but its a
temptation which they have fought so far but some individuals
may not be that strong. They may not know what their rights
are and decide to succumb to their own needs...

Sister Muddassar Arani with her client Sulayman
Zain-ul-Abidin
whom she successfully defended
Talking about the case of Sulayman Zain-ul-Abidin:
My client was not
prosecuted because he was a terrorist.
My client was only prosecuted because he was a Muslim
and not for any other reason. It was not my client that was
being tried, it was ISLAM that was being tried. Islam not
terrorism. My client had to justify why he was following Islam.
My client had to justify how much he practised Islam. Why?
Aren't we all entitled to have our basic rights to follow
our religious beliefs? But no he couldn't do that could he,
because he was a Muslim...
... he ran a website
from his home address, one person went on a training course
- the same type of training course that is advertised by 125
different English companies. Why was he picked on - because
he was the only Muslim person advertising the same training
course.
We were in court
- it was shambles. It wasn't my client on trial - it was the
religion that was on trial. Fortunately we won that case,
it wasn't just a victory for my client and myself - it was
a victory for Islam in more ways then one.
Hopefully that will
send out a message to the government that they cannot use
Islam against individuals just because we are practising Muslims
- that is what is happening - people are going to become too
frightened to even practise their religious beliefs. That
should not happen.
It is very important
for us to all unite together and make sure that we assist
everybody in our community and we assist the unfortunate victims
who are suffering in Belmarsh Prison as we speak today.

"...we won that case, it wasn't just
a victory for my client and myself
- it was a victory for Islam in more ways then one..."
|