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UK police pay £60,000 damages over assaulting terror suspect

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, March 18, IRNA -- The Metropolitan police Wednesday agreed to pay £60,000 damages to a British Muslim man after admitting in the High Court that anti-terrorist officers subjected him to a prolonged series of violent assaults and religious abuse.

The court heard that Babar Ahmad, a 31-year old computer specialist, was subjected to 'serious gratuitous prolonged unjustified violence' and 'religious abuse' after when he was arrested under the UK's terrorism laws in December 2003.

Ahmad was subsequently released without any charge after being held in custody for six days, but was re-arrested the following year under a US extradition warrant and has remained in a British jail since awaiting the outcome of his appeal to the European Court of Human rights.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) welcomed the decision by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to accept full liability for the Islamophobic assault, which left Ahmad with over 70 injuries but criticized the refusal to issue an apology.

"In light of the admission that officers ridiculed and insulted the Islamic faith during the course of torturing Ahmad, the Commissioner's refusal to apologize is a slap in the face of every Muslim in the UK," said IHRC chair Massoud Shadjareh.

"At a time when immense pressure is being put on the Muslim community to work towards community cohesion, this arrogance exposes the tolerance of Islamophobia within the police," Shadjareh said.

The police commissioner accepted that despite Ahmad offering no resistance, he was subjected to a violent assault by at least four officers, and that he was forced onto his knees into the Muslim prayer position and taunted, "Where is your God now?"

The admissions were made on the second of the trial which follows over five years of complaints and litigation during which the police have persistently denied the allegations. This included the Independent Police Complaints Commission clearing officers of any wrongdoing.

The IHRC called for a full independent inquiry into the systematic failure of institutions to carry out their functions without bias, saying that 'institutional racism and Islamophobia continue to fester within the Metropolitan Police Service'.