Raissi family sue the Met
01 May 2004
The wife and brother of Lofti Raissi, who were arrested at gunpoint on 21 September 2001, have launched a legal action against the Metropolitan police alleging wrongful arrest. Lofti Raissi, along with his wife Sonia and his brother Mohammed Raissi, were detained on suspicion of involvement in "terrorist" activities under the Terrorism Act 2000. Mohammed was released without charge after two days and Sonia was released without charge after five days. Lofti Raissi was released after seven days but immediately rearrested on the basis of an extradition warrant issued by the USA. The FBI had claimed that they had extensive evidence proving that he was actively involved in a conspiracy with members of the al-Qaeda network.
The charges in the extradition warrant were used to hold Mr Raissi for a further five months as a suspected terrorist in Belmarsh prison, before he was released on 24 April 2002. The judge said that there was no evidence substantiating his involvement in terrorism. He continued:
[Lofti Raissi] has appeared before me on several occasions where allegations of involvement in terrorism were made. I would like to make clear I have received no evidence whatsoever to support this contention.
The case exemplified what Amnesty International described as "the dangers of how the extradition process could be used to label someone as a "suspected terrorist" and to detain someone for a prolonged period of time, in the absence of a prompt and thorough assessment of the evidence".
Sonia Raissi and her brother in law, who were ordered to strip in front of police officers, forced to wear white paper overalls and held incommunicado, say that they were falsely imprisoned, unlawfully detained and assaulted by Metropolitan police officers. They are seeking damages for humiliation and loss of dignity and a "punitive award for arbitrary, oppressive and the unconstitutional conduct of the police." Sonia Raissi told the Guardian newspaper: "There was not a shred of evidence that Lofti had ever been connected to terrorism. He was not even charged with terrorism, just stupid minor charges that the judge threw out anyway....I now want an apology and my life back”.
Guardian 30.6.04, Times 30.6.04; Amnesty International "Rights Denied: the UK's Response to 11 September 2001" 5.9.02