London, UK, December 6 2007 – On the day the government proposed a further increase to the period of pre-charge detention, Samina Malik has been given a 9 month suspended sentence having been convicted and branded a ‘terrorist’ for expressing her ideas in writing and possessing books which are freely available on the internet. She was not found guilty of inciting or engaging in violence, essentially proving that she has been convicted of thought crimes. The conviction of Abdul Patel, given a 6 month custodial sentence on similar charges illustrates that hers is not an isolated case.

The targeting of Muslims who possess scraps of paper, books or DVDS with anti-terror laws which require lower levels of evidence to prosecute and convict is in contrast to the prosecution of non-Muslims like Miles Cooper who actually planned explosions, sent letter bombs and injured people to make a political statement. This illustrates the evolution of a parallel system of justice in Britain for Muslims.

Commenting on the verdict, Dr Imran Waheed, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, said, "For all the talk of justice and the rule of law, the sentence handed down today to Samina Malik is a manifest injustice. She has not been sentenced for what she has done or even planned to do – rather she has been sentenced for her thoughts. It is as if juries are now convicting on the ‘state of mind’ of the accused. When such sentences are passed under totalitarian regimes like those in Burma or Zimbabwe, we hear a clamour of voices denouncing these regimes. Yet, Britain has criminalised thoughts under terror laws and detains suspects for 28 days without charge. We would suggest that it is in no position to lecture others about their system of justice."
 

"This serial injustice will only strengthen the determination of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain and the Muslim community to continue to speak out against oppression – in Britain or in the Muslim world – carried out in the name of the ‘war on terror’. "

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