"Al-Qaeda" terrorism charges dropped
01 November 2003
Nine Algerians who were arrested in dawn raids in Scotland and England and charged under the Terrorism Act in December 2002 had all of the charges against them dropped in December 2003 when the Crown Office announced that it would be taking no further action against them. The men, who were accused of planning to carry out a Hogmaney attack on celebrations in Edinburgh, have demanded an official declaration of their innocence fearing that they face imprisonment or death if they return to Algeria. Their situation is similar to others detained under the Act for long periods before being released, deported or charged with minor criminal or immigration offences. The case has prompted the Scottish Human Rights Centre to call on the government to reconsider its use of the "flawed" Terrorism Act saying that it discriminated against ethnic minorities.
The men were arrested as part of the Lothian and Borders police force's Operation Scopia in high profile police raids in Edinburgh and London at the end of 2002. They were charged under section 57 of the Terrorism Act, with possessing "an article in circumstances which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that [it] is for a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism." However, the evidence against them was non-existent. Within four months of the arrests the men were bailed and they have now been told that the charges have been dropped altogether. Operation Scopia has been described as "enormously expensive" and it is thought that much of the "intelligence" for the operation originated with MI5.
Rosemary McIlwhan, director of the Scottish Human Rights Centre said that: "It is interesting to see that the arrest of these people was trumpeted and fanfared whereas when they were released it was all very quiet, and now we have had the charges dropped with next to no comment at all." She continued with the fundamental legal point:
They [the police] should make the investigation first and then arrest people, they shouldn't just arrest people and then investigate.
While Lothian and Borders police felt that they had "carried out a thorough and professional investigation", the solicitor for some of the men, Aamer Anwar, argued that the police and security services should be held accountable. He said:
I think the Crown Office, the police, the security forces and the Government in this country should be held accountable. They destroyed these men's lives. They brought forward a case in which clearly there was no evidence. We knew right from the start there was no evidence against them, but these men were accused of being members of al-Qaeda. The security services leaked to the press that there were plots to blow up Edinburgh... when they knew it wasn't factually correct, yet now they say no further proceedings. We want answers.
Anwar, who is demanding an inquiry into who sanctioned the arrests, said that the men did not know if they would be compensated. One of the men arrested, Salah Moullef, described how he was prevented from sleeping by questioning and detained without access to his wife and children. He said that his only "crime" was his religious beliefs. Another, Hakim Ziem, was concerned that his wrongful arrest left allegations of terrorism hanging over him. He said:
We cannot go back to our country to see our families, we cannot go to work because everyone knows our names, we cannot do anything, our life has been destroyed.
The men are demanding answers about their detention. Their solicitor is appealing for the men to be granted asylum to spare them from the repurcussions in Algeria. He said: "We will be pleading with the Government to grant them asylum - if they are deported they will face torture in their own country and there is even the possibility they will be executed."
Scotland Today 10.12.03; BBC News 24.12.02; 9, 10.12.03