News

The Newspaper

Archives

Press Releases

Subscribe

Advertise

Mailing list

Links

About us

What's on and where

Messages for
The Muslim News

Contact The Muslim News

The Muslim News on your PDA

Back to index

Issue 223, Friday 30 November 2007 - 19 Dhu al-Qa'dah 1428

Muslim lawyer faces charge for contempt of court

By Elham Asaad Buaras

Aamer Anwar could face trial for contempt of court after a judge accused him of making a “multi-faceted tirade” and “unwarranted attack” on the judiciary and for criticising a Scottish student’s terrorism trial.
Anwar spoke out against what he dubbed “farcical” evidence presented against his client Mohammed Atif Siddiqui, who became the first person to be convicted under the Terrorism Act 2006. Siddiqui was jailed for eight years on terrorism charges prompting Anwar, of Beltrami Berlow Solicitors, to read out a strong statement outside the court. In the statement, Anwar said the accused did not receive a fair trial and that it was heard in an “atmosphere of hostility”.
He also said the prosecution was “driven by the state” and that Atif had been found guilty of “doing what millions of young people do every day - looking for answers on the internet.”
The trial judge, Lord Carloway, said he was concerned that the solicitor was making “disparaging remarks” prompting Anwar to pledge an apology. Carloway said, “He seems to criticise the advocate depute in stating the prosecution was driven by the state. He impugns the verdict of the jury...and the activities of the trial judge.”
Referring to the remark about Atif using the internet to look for answers, Carloway said that, based on evidence heard during the trial, the comment was “simply a lie”.
On November 7, a coalition of politicians, writers and lawyers joined forces to warn that the courts’ treatment of human rights lawyer Anwar represented an “attack on freedom of speech”.
Iain Banks, the author, joined Labour politician Tony Benn, Respect MP George Galloway, Bashir Mann, convener of the Muslim Council of Scotland and veteran human rights lawyers Gareth Pierce, Imran Khan, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC and Michael Mansfield among others, to appeal to the court to stop pursuing Anwar.
In an interview with The Muslim News (last issue) Anwar also hit out at the Terrorism Act and what he thought to be its bias application. “The Terrorism Act is the most draconian piece of legislation that’s been brought into this country. It’s more draconian than the Patriot Act in the United States. But it’s being exclusively used on Muslims,” he said.
Khan said, “There should be no attempt to silence lawyers. If lawyers can’t speak out then one of the bedrocks of justice - the right to highlight a miscarriage of justice - just goes.”
Kennedy, a Labour member of the House of Lords, said, “This is exactly the sort of thing a young lawyer does when they are describing what their client felt. To take it to the stage of contempt of court is excessive.”
Convener of the Muslim Council of Scotland, Maan, told The Muslim News he was “surprised and concerned.”
“I’ve heard London lawyers say much worse things and speak out against sentences. I don’t want to play the race card but his [Anwar’s] race and faith might have been a factor.”
He added that, should Anwar be charged or convicted of contempt of court, it would be a “travesty of British justice and totally against the norms of British society. His conviction could do a lot of damage to the human rights movement in the UK and would be completely unjustified. We have to remember it was an unprecedented case where someone was convicted for what they might have done as opposed to what they actually did.”