We republish below a joint statement from organisations addressed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission demanding the release of the Birmingham 4.
We, the undersigned, call for urgent action in the case of Naweed Ali, Khobaib Hussain, Mohibur Rahman and Tahir Aziz, known as the Birmingham 4.
We demand:
- The immediate review and re-opening of this case by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) under the exceptional circumstances provision, which allows a new appeal even if there is no new evidence.
- A full and independent investigation into the conduct of West Midlands Police in this case
- That the convictions be quashed and the men immediately released
In 2017, the Birmingham 4 were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment following a counter-terrorism investigation by West Midlands Police. Serious concerns have been raised by their lawyers making these convictions unsafe.
These concerns include allegations of evidence being improperly introduced, police being in contempt of court during the trial, and the absence of clear forensic or video evidence linking the defendants to the items in question. Taken together, these issues raise significant questions about whether the men received a fair trial.
This case bears troubling similarities to previous miscarriages of justice in Britain. One such example would be the Birmingham Six trial, when six Irish men – Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Joseph Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker – were each sentenced to life in 1975, only to have their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal in 1991 which led to the CCRC being established.
It has now been over two years since an application was submitted to the CCRC. Given the gravity of the concerns raised, continued delays risk undermining confidence in the justice system.
We urge the CCRC and relevant authorities to act swiftly to ensure that justice is both done and seen to be done.
Signed:
- CAGE International
- APPEAL
- Justice Gap
- JENGbA
- Black Lives Matter UK
- Healing Justice London
- Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers
- Maslaha
- Muslim Engagement and Development
- Deen1fied
- Islam21c
- Kids of Colour
- Northern Police Monitoring Project
- Filton25
- Association of Student Activism for Palestine (ASAP)
- Hoque Community
- Defend Our Juries
- The Future Justice Project
- Lighthouse Advocacy
- Nakheel Women’s Group
- Safinah Collective
- Free the Brize Norton 6
- Documenting Oppression Against Muslims
- Active Muslims Leicester
- Bromley By Bow Ikhwah
- Trident Ploughshares
- XR Peace UK
- Partisan Defence Committee
- Revolutionary Communist Group
- Muslim Social Justice Initiative
- The Muslim Collab
- Friends of Palestine Society University of Birmingham
- Leicester Massive
- London Irish Brigade
- Activist Independent Movement
- Chorley for Palestine
- Ikhwa
- Anticarceral Solidarity
- Muslim Youth Network
- Queen Mary Action for Palestine
- Stop the War Coalition Birmingham
