Al-Qaida man challenges conviction over 'Britain's role in his torture'

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Source: The Guardian

A British man found guilty of being a senior member of al-Qaida launched his appeal against conviction today on the grounds that the British government was complicit in the torture he suffered before he went on trial.

Rangzieb Ahmed, 35, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, is serving a life sentence at a prison in Yorkshire after being convicted of membership of al-Qaida and of directing a terrorist organisation.

Today his lawyers told the court of appeal that his trial should not have been allowed to go ahead because of the role the UK played in his unlawful detention and mistreatment in Pakistan before he was deported to the UK, and because the courts had a responsibility to take a stand against torture.

"He was unlawfully detained, he was interrogated, and he was tortured," Joel Bennathan QC, for Ahmed, told the court. "We say the United Kingdom was complicit in these acts. While being interrogated, it is our case that he was asked many, many, questions about events in Manchester which were, a year and a bit later, to form the basis for his arrest in Manchester, and prosecution in Manchester."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/30/al-qaida-conviction-britain-role-torture