Britain Has Become a Police State for Muslims
Hizb ut-Tahrir, Sunday, 09 December 2007

Recent events in the British criminal justice system provide a compelling case for the existence of a parallel system of justice for Muslims as apposed to non-Muslims. However, the conviction of Samina Malik, aka "the lyrical terrorist," has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that the British anti-terror legislation was not constructed simply to protect the security of Britain but rather to criminalise Muslims who hold and express Islamic political views.

Several additional cases have highlighted the disturbing consequences of this draconian legislation which is being utilised to prosecute Muslims for nothing other than the possession of books or videos: items that represent nothing more sinister than holding certain political views towards the west's war on Islam. By comparison, non-Muslims involved in far more seditious activity have been tried under less severe legislation.

Samina Malik was convicted under section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2006 which outlaws possession of documents "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism" as various books accessible from the internet were found in her possession. These included titles such as "The al Qaeda Manual" and "The Mujahideen's Poison's Handbook" but no evidence was brought connecting these books in anyway to any other persons or terrorist related incidents, yet were used as evidence by the prosecution for her eventual conviction. Similarly, Muhammad Atif Siddique was convicted last October and sentenced to eight years imprisonment for a number of terror-related offences after the police found sound and video files glorifying jihad on his laptop as well as downloaded documents on military strategy. No evidence was brought to indicate his involvement in any act of terrorism or the planning of any violent activity.

Contrast these cases with those of non-Muslims who were involved in much more serious activity yet were not prosecuted under the terror legislation. For example, Robert Cottage and David Jackson, two former members of the BNP, were prosecuted after police discovered in their possession the largest cache of firearms and chemical explosives ever found in the West Midlands region. The two men also possessed a rocket-launcher, documents outlining plans to blow up mosques and Islamic centres all over Britain, planning notes of a potential plot to assassinate of Tony Blair (then prime minister), and notes about an impending civil war against immigrants in Britain. Cottage believed that if there weren't "blood on the streets", the country would be "lost". He received a two-and-a-half-year sentence for his crimes while his co-defendant, Jackson, walked free.

Furthermore, the activities of Miles Cooper, the Cambridge letter bomber who terrorised Britain with seven letter bombs that injured eight people in a two-week campaign, were prosecuted under the 1883 Explosives and Substances Act leading to a lenient sentence with the possibility parole in five years. Cooper planned, prepared and delivered his explosive devices and was motivated by distaste for the surveillance culture of the British state. Additionally, his computer revealed he had extensively researched letter bomb-making websites and his book collection included titles such as "The Shooter's Handbook," "Homemade Guns" and "Homemade Ammo." Cooper also used blogging sites to exchange bomb-making information but was not charged under section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2006 of possessing articles likely to be useful for terrorists!

What these examples illustrate is that Muslims who support the right of Muslims to resist occupation of their lands by western colonial countries like Britain are having the full weight of the anti-terror legislation used against them even though they themselves are not involved in militant activity either in Britain or abroad. With the current anti-Islamic climate created in Britain by the media onslaught upon Islam, the latest example of which was the disproportionate reaction to the conviction of Gillian Gibbons in Sudan, Muslims do not feel they can receive a fair trial anymore. Most sinisterly, the conviction of Samina Malik among others shown below illustrates how the anti-terror legislation is in truth politically motivated with the aim to silence by criminalisation those who oppose Britain's aggressive and disastrous foreign policy in the Muslim world.

Comparison of Recent Muslim and Non-Muslim Criminal Cases

Name	Background	Basis of arrest	Evidence of violent intention	Prosecuting legislation	Outcome
Miles Cooper	Non-Muslim	Explosives Act	Yes	Explosives Act	Guilty-jailed 5yrs
Robert Cottage	Non-Muslim	Explosives Act	Yes	Explosives Act	Guilty-jailed 2.5yrs
David Jackson	Non-Muslim	Explosives Act	Yes	Explosives Act	Acquitted
Gregory Whittam	Non-Muslim	Explosives Act	Yes	Explosives Act	Guilty-2 yrs community service
Samina Malik	Muslim	Terrorism Act	No	Terrorism Act	Guilty-9 months suspended sentence
Muhammed Siddique	Muslim	Terrorism Act	No	Terrorism Act	Guilty-jailed 8yrs
Abdul Patel	Muslim	Terrorism Act	No	Terrorism Act	Guilty-jailed 6 months
Bilal Abdullah	Muslim	Terrorism Act	Yes	Explosives Act	Waiting trial
Aboker Hussein-Younis	Muslim	Terrorism Act	No	Released without charge	N/A

NB: The Chart above does not display properly. Please Click Here to consult the original Chart.