The Nation : Pak HC goes thru humiliating search

Pak HC goes thru humiliating search

By Asif Mehmood | May 17, 2009

LONDON-Pakistan High Commissioner to UK, Wajid Shamsul Hassan had to go through a painful process during his meeting with Pakistani students at UK high security Belmarsh prison on Saturday, entirely unlike what his counterpart enjoys in Pakistan, The Nation has learnt.

High Commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hassan went to see the Pakistani students Shoaib Khan, Abdul Wahab Khan and Tariqur Rehman on reports that one of them was seriously disturbed during detention at notorious category A prison Berlmarsh and wanted to go back to Pakistan.

While talking to The Nation, he confirmed that he had to go through the same process what one goes through at the airport.

According to a source, he may have been reportedly photographed, fingerprinted and physically searched by taking off his shoes, belt and jacket before entering category A to see his country’s citizens.

According to a source, the same process was applied to lawyers and Consul Generals of Pakistan Masroor Junejo and Chaudhry Arif Mehmood at Manchester and Milton Keynes on their visits to prison on April 28, 2009 but Pakistani authorities did not raise any voice against it.

The humiliation with Pakistani diplomats is the violation of 1964 Vienna Convention and Counsellor Relations against the diplomatic norms.

Daily Express : One In 14 Terror Suspects Convicted

ONE IN 14 TERROR SUSPECTS CONVICTED

By Gabriel Milland | May 14, 2009

JUST one in 14 people arrested for alleged terror offences is convicted, official figures showed yesterday.

Government data showed that less than a third of those arrested are even charged with a terror-related offence.

The figures are a major embarrassment to ministers who fought a long battle to increase the time terror suspects can be held without charge. Currently, suspects can be held for up to 42 days.

They also come just weeks after raids on a supposed major terror plot in Liverpool and Manchester resulted in no one being charged.

Shadow security minister Baroness Neville-Jones said courts should get the right to use phone-tap intelligence as evidence. She said: “The Government needs to allow intercept evidence in court so real terrorists don’t get let off for lack of admissable evidence.”

The figures showed almost 230 people are arrested for ­terrorism offences every year. Between September 11 2001, and March 31 2008, there were 1,471 arrests for terrorism. Of these, 521 resulted in a charge, with 222 people charged with terror offences, and 118 charged with terror-related offences.

Of the 340 people charged in relation to terrorism, 196 were eventually convicted – 102 for terrorism offences and 94 for terrorism-related offences.

So of 1,471 arrests, 102 were convicted under terror laws.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said it was “worrying” that “the overwhelming majority” of those arrested were not guilty of any charge.