Last updated Atif Sidique wins his appeal at the High Court in Edinburgh and walks free 9 February 2010
Mohammed Atif Siddique is a Scottishprisoner who was found guilty, but later cleared on appeal,[1] of one of his convictions "collecting terrorist-related information, setting up websites...and circulating inflammatory terrorist publications", resulting in a sentence of eight years' imprisonment. His defence has consistently been that he was a curious 20-year-old youth, still living with his parents, who was "looking for answers on the internet".[2] One of his convictions was quashed on appeal on the 29th of January, 2010. He remains a convicted terrorist.
BBC programme maker Peter Taylor reported in his acclaimed three part series "Generation Jihad" that Siddique was linked to extremist Abid Khan, who was later imprisoned for Terrorist offences also.
Siddique's parents, of South Asian descent,[2] run a general store in Alva, Clackmannanshire which their son believed should stop serving alcohol as an off-licence.[3] Arguments with his parents led to his running away from home once, before returning.[3]
On April 12, 2006, Siddique was accompanying his 40-year-old paternal uncle Mohammed Rafiq on a trip to his farm in the Punjab region, when officials at Glasgow International Airport informed the pair that they would not be allowed to fly. The laptop computer that Siddique was carrying was confiscated,[6] and agents DC Murray and Leigh Graham opened the computers files, against police protocol.[7] His cell phone was also seized, after a photograph of Islamic protestors of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons was discovered. It was alleged he was flying to meet Aabid Khan, a friend of one of the Toronto 18, and thus may have been plotting to involve himself with the group.[4][8]
At 7am the following morning, local police officers, MI5 and Special Branch stormed the Siddique house with a battering ram,[9] arresting Siddique, his older brother Asif, their uncles Rafiq and Mohammed Niaz, 46 - the latter of whom was a 26-year resident of Stirlingshire.[10]
The uncles were released from Govan police station after thirteen days imprisonment.[11] Siddique was charged the next day under Section 58(1b) of the Terrorism Act 2000, collecting information that would "likely be useful" to a terrorist.[2]
Asif, who was a 25-year-old law student, was released the day after Siddique's charges were laid, after he was questioned about his feelings towards the September 11th attacks after police found postcards sent from friends he maintained in New York City.[10]
Trial
During the four-week trial under judge Lord Carloway, Siddique was accused of having shown photographs of suicide bombers to students at Glasgow Metropolitan College,[2] classmate Kyle Ramsey stated that Siddique had encouraged him to watch an online video of a beheading, and classmate Fozia Begum testified that he had claimed Osama bin Laden was his god, and he was a member of al-Qaeda.[12]
He was also accused of carrying on email correspondence with a suspected militant identified only as "The Englishman" in court proceedings.[13] The emails had been discovered after Canadian authorities requested Britain monitor a suspected militant recruiter living in Northern England.[3]
The advocate depute was Brian McConnachie, who characterized the material stating "It's clear from that material that the whole idea was to glorify martyrdom operations..."[14]
In June, Evan Kohlmann was given access to the contents of Siddique's laptop by the Central Scotland Police, and he submit an 18-page summary stating that the images, documents and videos that Siddique had downloaded comprised "a formidable archive of authentic Al-Qaida recruitment and technical material that is designed and likely to be used for purposes relating to the commission, perpetration, or instigation of an act of terrorism—most specifically, a suicide or 'martyrdom' operation".[15] Forensic analyst Michael Dickson also argued that because the majority of files were kept in the c:\windows\options folder, it showed a clear intent to "hide" his interest.[16]
The trial concluded with nine hours of deliberation by the jury of nine women and six men,[12] resulting in a Guilty verdict on September 27, 2007.[2]
After the conviction, Kohlmann said that Siddique "apparently lacked in the skills, sophistication, lengthy credentials, and cold-blooded professionalism" associated with actual terrorists and described him as "undoubtedly naive".[15]
After the trial ended, the prosecution alleged that it had been his intention to disappear once in Pakistan to join a Toronto-based group arrested on allegations of wanting to bomb Canadian targets, though his counsel pointed out that no evidence was ever produced to support the allegation, and referred to it as a "smear".[3][4]
Following the trial, Lord Carloway announced he intended to seek contempt of court charges against Siddique's solicitor Aamer Anwar for making "disparaging remarks" about the outcome of the trial, referring to an "atmosphere of hostility".[17] Siddique's leading counsel was Donald Findlay.[7]
Appeal
On the 29th of January, 2010, one of the charges against Siddique was overturned on appeal.[18] The appeal judge, Lord Osborne, stated that some directions given to the jury by the trial judge, Lord Carloway, were a "material misdirection" and amounted to a "miscarriage of justice".
The Crown Office issued a statement on 9 February 2010 [19] indicating that it had decided not to seek a retrial of Mohammed Atif Siddique on terrorism charges following the Criminal Appeal Court's decision two weeks ago to quash a conviction under section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000, on the basis that the trial judge misdirected the jury as to the relevant law.
The statement continues as follows:
“The law in relation to section 57 of Terrorism Act 2000 has, since the trial judge charged the jury, further developed through a number of decisions in the English courts.
“After careful consideration of the Appeal Court’s judgment, the Crown has decided not to seek authority for a retrial. The fact that Mr Siddique has already served the majority of his sentence for charge 1, and has de facto served his sentence in full for the other terrorist offences, of which he remains convicted, means that a retrial would have little practical effect. Accordingly, the Crown has concluded that a retrial would not be in the public interest.
"Mohammed Atif Siddique remains convicted of the other charges on the indictment which were:
section 54 of the Terrorism Act 2000: setting up websites providing links to documents providing instructions on how to operate weaponry and make explosives
section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006: circulating terrorist publications by means of websites to encourage, induce or assist the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism)
breach of the peace: showing images of suicide bombers, murders and beheadings to fellow students, threatening to be a suicide bomber and to carry out terrorism in Glasgow or elsewhere."
Related Research Articles
Double jeopardy is a procedural defence that prevents an accused person from being tried again on the same charges following an acquittal and in rare cases prosecutorial and/or judge misconduct in the same jurisdiction. A variation in common law countries is the peremptory plea, which may take the specific forms of autrefois acquit or autrefois convict. These doctrines appear to have originated in ancient Roman law, in the broader principle non bis in idem.
Mustafa Kamel Mustafa, also known as Abu Hamza al-Masri, or simply Abu Hamza, is an Egyptian cleric who was the imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in London, England, where he preached Islamic fundamentalist views. In 2004, Hamza was arrested by British police after the United States requested he be extradited to face charges. He was later charged by British authorities with sixteen offences for inciting violence and racial hatred. In 2006, a British court found him guilty of inciting violence, and sentenced him to seven years' imprisonment. On 5 October 2012, after an eight-year legal battle, he was extradited from the UK to the United States to face terrorism charges and on 14 April 2014 his trial began in New York. On 19 May 2014, Hamza was found guilty of eleven terrorism charges by a jury in Manhattan. On 9 January 2015, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The Special Criminal Court is a juryless criminal court in Ireland which tries terrorism and serious organised crime cases.
David Harold Eastman is a former public servant from Canberra, Australia. In 1995, he was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. A 2014 judicial inquiry recommended the sentence be quashed and he should be pardoned. On 22 August of the same year, the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory quashed the conviction, released Eastman from prison, and ordered a retrial.
Abdul Nacer Benbrika, also known as Abu Bakr, is a convicted criminal, currently serving an Australian custodial sentence of fifteen years, with a non-parole period of twelve years for intentionally being the leader and a member of a terrorist organisation. Benbrika was one of 17 men arrested in the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne in November 2005, charged with being members of a terrorist organisation and of planning terrorist attacks on targets within Australia. Benbrika is alleged to be the spiritual leader of the group. All 17 men pleaded not guilty. On 15 September 2008 Benbrika was found guilty as charged and subsequently sentenced.
Sheik Mohammed Ali Hassan Al-Moayad is a Yemeni cleric who was convicted in 2005 on U.S. federal charges of conspiring to provide material support and resources to Hamas and Al-Qaeda. His conviction was overturned in the Court of Appeals in 2008. He then pleaded guilty to conspiring to raise money for Hamas, was sentenced to time served, and deported to Yemen. Prior to his arrest, he was the imam of the main mosque in Sana'a and a high-ranking member of Yemen's opposition Al-Islah party.
Joseph "Jihad Jack" Terrence Thomas is an Australian citizen who undertook pistol, light firearm and demolition training with Al-Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden visited his training camp three times while he was in attendance and he shook hands with him. He was convicted for received funds from Al-Qaeda which was later overturned on appeal. Thomas, commonly referred to in Australian media as "Jihad Jack", was acquitted of providing resources that would assist in a terrorist act before becoming the first Australian to be placed under a control order under the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005.
Syed Haris Ahmed is a naturalized American citizen born in Pakistan who was convicted on June 9, 2009 of conspiring to provide material support to terrorism in the United States and abroad. His trial was a bench trial. He was sentenced in 2009 to 13 years in prison, to be followed by 30 years of supervised release. At the time of his arrest, he was an undergraduate at the Georgia Institute of Technology, majoring in mechanical engineering.
R v Thomas was an Australian court case decided in the Victorian Court of Appeal on 18 August 2006. It concerned the conviction in February 2006 of Joseph Thomas on terrorism-related charges, specifically receiving funds from Al Qaeda. The appeal revolved around the admissibility of a confession Thomas made during an interrogation in Pakistan in 2003. The court found that the evidence, which was crucial to Thomas' convictions, was inadmissible because it had not been given voluntarily. The court accordingly quashed his convictions, but after further hearings ordered on 20 December 2006 that he be retried rather than acquitted.
Hamid Hayat is a United States citizen of Pakistani descent from Lodi, California. His father, Umer Hayat, was born in Pakistan and immigrated to the United States in 1976; he is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Together, they were the subjects of the first terrorism trial in the state of California. Both were alleged to be part of, or associated with, a terrorist sleeper cell.
Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul is a Yemeni citizen who has been held as an enemy combatant since 2002 in the United States Guantanamo Bay detention camp. He boycotted the Guantanamo Military Commissions, arguing that there was no legal basis for the military tribunals to judge him.
Mohammad Momin Khawaja is a Canadian found guilty of involvement in a plot to plant fertilizer bombs in the United Kingdom; while working as a software engineer under contract to the Foreign Affairs department in 2004 became the first person charged and found guilty under the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act following the proof that he communicated with British Islamists plotting a bomb attack. On March 12, 2009, Khawaja was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison and was eligible for parole five years into the prison term. On December 17, 2010, Khawaja's sentence was increased to life imprisonment by the Ontario Court of Appeals.
Aamer Anwar is a Scottish political activist and lawyer of Pakistani background. He was an active participant in the Stop the War Coalition, and campaigned against the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles. He has been a longstanding critic of the Dungavel Detention Centre for failed asylum seekers, and is a trustee of the Time for Inclusive Education charity for LGBT-inclusive education in Scottish schools.
Mohammed Hamid is a Muslim British national most known for his ties with the 21 July 2005 London Bombings and as a disciple of the radical preacher Abdullah el-Faisel. Mohammed Hamid had been convicted with having relations and training terrorists involved with the unsuccessful 21 July 2005 London Bombing attack. Also known as “Osama Bin London,” he has lived a life of crime throughout his life. From petty crimes and drug addiction in his early age, he later became a radical Islamic preacher/tutor of terrorism.
The Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides: "[N]or shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb..." The four essential protections included are prohibitions against, for the same offense:
Aabid Khan is a British man from Bradford, England who was convicted in August 2008 of being a "terrorist propagandist".
The 2005 Sydney terrorism plot concerned a group of five men arrested in 2005 on charges of planning an act of terrorism targeting Sydney, Australia's most populous city and the capital of New South Wales. The group was found guilty on 16 October 2009 and were sentenced on 15 February 2010 for terms up to 28 years.
This is a list of notable overturned convictions in Canada.
R v Incedal and Rarmoul-Bouhadjar (2014), formerly known as R v AB and CD, is a criminal case brought in the United Kingdom against two people suspected of terrorism offences. It was proposed to make it the first criminal trial in British legal history to be held entirely in secret, but the Court of Appeal of England and Wales ruled in June 2014 that some details of the trial should be made public.
Mohiussunnath Chowdhury is a British Bangladeshi Islamist from Luton, Bedfordshire who was cleared of terrorist charges relating to a 2017 sword attack outside Buckingham palace and later convicted in 2020 of planning terrorist attacks. Prior to his 2020 conviction, he praised the 2013 murder of Lee Rigby.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
