Ashfaq Ahmad's son, Babar, has been arrested twice by anti-terrorist police since 2003. His father told the meeting that Babar Ahmad was beaten so badly the first time that he bled from his ears and his bladder, and that he still had pain in his hands. The second arrest, in August this year, led to a spell in prison that has yet to end.

Babar Ahmad's family is still trying to find out why he was arrested and exactly what will happen next. He is being held as a political prisoner at Woodhill prison, and facing extradition proceedings to the USA, which believes, on the strength of a couple of emails and a tourist brochure about the Empire State building, that he is a terrorist threat.

'I think the image of the nice, friendly policeman is a thing of the past,' Ashfaq Ahmad observed. He said that he thought Babar's reaction to his first arrest had drawn the attention of those who use anti-terrorism legislation as an excuse to make an example of members of the Muslim community.

'[Babar] publicised his case and made a formal complaint. People of my generation were afraid to come out and speak, and I would have been the same if my son had not been involved. Now I tell my wife when I go out, if I'm not back in ten or 12 hours, I've probably been arrested too.'

On Thursday this week, the House of Lords will decide on the legality of a government decision to opt out Article 5 of the European Human Rights Convention, which bans detention of foreign nationals without trial. Human rights lawyer Gareth Pierce told the Whitechapel audience that the practice of detaining people without trial was equivalent to mental torture, and discussed the experiences of detainees she had represented.

'People are trying to to survive in an era of vague allegations and uncertainty. [The government] is trying to tell us that the threat of terrorism is so great that they can destroy their commitment to the European Convention.'

About 150 people attended the meeting. Jahanara Khanom, 26, said she came because she knew that Babar Ahmad's father was going to speak and she wanted to hear his story first-hand. 'You want to know how you can be active,' she said. 'You hear about these meetings not being very well-attended and so I wanted to show support.'

Jahanara is a student and also works as a debt advisor. She lives in the East End. She said people rarely commented about her veil or dress. 'Well, we live here and there's a huge Muslim community here, so everybody's the same,' she said. Luthfa Khanom, who is 22 and an education student, said she also attended the meeting to hear Ashfaq Ahmad and to make sure that he knew people wanted to listen.