INSANITY!
Taliban warlord whose bombs killed our troops wins millions from UK ... thanks to the Human Rights Act
BRITISH taxpayers could be forced to pay out millions of pounds in compensation to hundreds of suspected Taliban fanatics following a ‘ludicrous’ ruling by Appeal Court judges yesterday.
The judges decided that an Afghan gunman suspected of being a senior commander involved in the large-scale production of roadside bombs used to blow up British troops was detained unlawfully.
Serdar Mohammed was held by UK forces in 2010 and later convicted of being a Taliban member. However, he was held beyond a 96-hour limit because it was believed he could have vital intelligence that could protect UK soldiers and save lives.
The gunman was later tried by the Afghan authorities and sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment but was freed last year in unknown circumstances. It is understood he now lives with his family in his home in the Kajaki district of Helmand Province, where British troops were based from 2006 to 2014.
He sued the Ministry of Defence through law firm Leigh Day using the Human Rights Act on the grounds that he was unlawfully detained by being held by UK forces for 106 days.
In May last year, Mr Justice Leggatt ruled that his detention on UK military bases was unlawful because it lasted more than 96 hours. The MoD appealed against the High Court judgment on the grounds that it was ‘fundamentally flawed’.
But yesterday the Court of Appeal said Defence Secretary Michael Fallon was unable to show a lawful basis for holding him beyond 96 hours.
The case was the first to challenge the legal basis for UK detention operations in Afghanistan.
Armed Forces Minister Penny Mordaunt attacked the latest ruling, vowing to take the case to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land.
She said in a statement: ‘The notion that dangerous insur- gents cannot be detained for more than a few hours is ludicrous. Our armed forces must be able to detain enemies who attempt to maim and kill UK service personnel and civilians. If the law does not allow that then the law must change.’
Miss Mordaunt said Mohammed was believed to be involved in the production of roadside bombs on an ‘industrial scale’. During his capture British forces came under heavy fire and three were wounded, she said.
The Minister said the Conservatives’ planned British Bill of Rights and other measures to be announced later this year would help to address concerns raised by the judgement.
Mohammed is now set to be paid thousands – and possibly more than a million – pounds in damages. His case will also set a precedent for hundreds more fanatics to demand money.
It is thought that Leigh Day have many similar cases yet to come before the courts.
Under Nato guidelines, sus- pects held by international forces in Afghanistan could only be detained for a maximum of 96 hours. After this they must either be released or handed over to the Afghan authorities.
The UK adhered to this policy, but the Government also said that ‘in light of evolving threats to our forces’ it kept its approach under review. In ‘exceptional circumstances’ detaining individuals beyond 96 hours could yield ‘ vital intelligence that
‘Anger the British people’
would help protect our forces and the local population’.
It is understood that hundreds of gunmen were detained by the British for longer than 96 hours during the Afghan campaign. An MoD source said: ‘The vast majority of these people are known or strongly suspected to have been involved in terrorism and the prospect of compensat- ing them would rightly anger the British people. That is one of the reasons why our appeal is so important.’ Mohammed was captured during a Nato operation in which three British servicemen were wounded. He was held from April 7 until July 25, 2010. He claims he was tortured into a false confession after being handed to the Afghan National Directorate of Security facility in Helmand.
His allegations – particularly those of ill-treatment by UK forces – are strongly denied, and Defence Secretary Michael Fallon wanted to contest them at a full trial. But his lawyers applied for preliminary issues, relating to the legality of his detention.
The Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, sitting with Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Lord Justice Beatson, said arrangements made by the Mr Fallon did not allow persons to be held for longer than 96 hours. They gave permission for an appeal to the Supreme Court.