UK police arrest stars of award-winning film "The Road to Guantanomo" under the
.. | 18.02.2006 10:55 | Anti-militarism | Indymedia | Repression | Birmingham | World
Citing the "Prevention of Terrorism" act, British Police have arrested and interrogated three of the stars of the award-winning film "The Road to Guantanamo", together with the three ex-Guantanomo detainees on whose story the film is based.
Acclaimed director Michael Winterbottom ("A Cock and Bull Story", "24 Hour Party People", "Welcome to Sarajevo") had been showing the film at the Berlin Film Festival, where it has won a number of top awards.
"The Road to Guantanomo" traces the true story of Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal and Ruhal Ahmed, three Muslim friends from Birmingham who were picked up as aliens in Afghanistan by US forces and ended up in Guantanamo for three years, where they suffered brutal and humiliating treatment.
Extensive interrogation established that they had no connection with al-Qaida, and despite their plight being ignored by British authorities, eventually they were returned home. The UK media covered live the return of these "Suspected terrorists" and the massive police convoy that brought them in to Ventral London for questioning. Their release after the UK police also found they had no connection with terrorism was, naturally, hardly mentioned.
Last week the three ex-detainees travelled to the Berlin Festival with the Winterbottom party, and were arrested yesterday under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as they returned with the Winterbottom Party. They were held by Special Branch and questioned for several hours about where they had been and who they had met. They were also questioned on Michael Winterbottom's politics.
Even more worrying, the three actors who portrayed them in the film were also arrested and questioned. The actors have no particular political or religious affiliation and were also arrested apparently purely on the basis that they were Asian. None of the white members of the group were arrested.
Following legal intervention by Gareth Peirce, the group were eventually released. Special Branch claimed they had not been arrested, merely detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
On Saturday the party will be returning to Berlin again to accept the film's awards. We wait to see what will happen when they come home this time.
"The Road to Guantanamo" will premiere on Channel 4 on 9 March.
If you are concerned about this latest abuse of "anti-terrorism" powers, please write to your MP free of charge via the website www.writetothem.com.
"The Road to Guantanomo" traces the true story of Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal and Ruhal Ahmed, three Muslim friends from Birmingham who were picked up as aliens in Afghanistan by US forces and ended up in Guantanamo for three years, where they suffered brutal and humiliating treatment.
Extensive interrogation established that they had no connection with al-Qaida, and despite their plight being ignored by British authorities, eventually they were returned home. The UK media covered live the return of these "Suspected terrorists" and the massive police convoy that brought them in to Ventral London for questioning. Their release after the UK police also found they had no connection with terrorism was, naturally, hardly mentioned.
Last week the three ex-detainees travelled to the Berlin Festival with the Winterbottom party, and were arrested yesterday under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as they returned with the Winterbottom Party. They were held by Special Branch and questioned for several hours about where they had been and who they had met. They were also questioned on Michael Winterbottom's politics.
Even more worrying, the three actors who portrayed them in the film were also arrested and questioned. The actors have no particular political or religious affiliation and were also arrested apparently purely on the basis that they were Asian. None of the white members of the group were arrested.
Following legal intervention by Gareth Peirce, the group were eventually released. Special Branch claimed they had not been arrested, merely detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
On Saturday the party will be returning to Berlin again to accept the film's awards. We wait to see what will happen when they come home this time.
"The Road to Guantanamo" will premiere on Channel 4 on 9 March.
If you are concerned about this latest abuse of "anti-terrorism" powers, please write to your MP free of charge via the website www.writetothem.com.
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This article made me CRY- our remaining time is just about up
18.02.2006 18:56
If this story is true, we are f*cked. Everything that Blair does can be placed on a timeline to WW3, and the beginning of the genocide of the muslim peoples of the Earth. An event like this CAN ONLY BE PLACED RIGHT AT THE END OF THAT TIMELINE, immediately (and I mean immediately) before everything kicks off. That is to say, time has ran out for all of us.
Combine this with what you have been hearing recently. The French have publically said "strike Iran with nuclear weapons". The Germans have publically said "strike Iran with nuclear weapons". The American military planners are now fully satisfied, not because they lacked the ability to strike Iran on their own, but because they could only greenlight the attack to their masters when they were CERTAIN that the aftermath could be happily factored in. This aftermath situation DEMANDED the full support of Europe (NOT Russia, or China- their support is assured provided the oil keeps flowing, and ANYTHING required is done to ensure this), and Blair can now say that the whole of Europe will stand behind the genocide of Iran.
You can watch many, many films about WW2. Sometimes, these focused on the fate of European jews. In these films, scenes like the one described in the article (the arrests i mean) were frequently depicted to show how Hitler was now within grasp of his 'final solution'.
Forget protest- it's too late now. Forget any possibility of preventing Blair from seeing his plans reach fruition- his people have (mostly) unwillingly empowered him enough and now he is unstoppable. Instead, look towards those acts that will allow as many muslims as possible to survive Blairs coming holocaust. This means secret places of safety, and hiding people. This means...means...for the first time I wish there was an opposite to all caps, I wish to have access to a forced tiny font because no part of me can be anything other than vanishing quiet at a moment like this.
Blair had the people that worked to make a film about his torture/rape/murder camp in guantanamo arrested as terrorists. PLEASE say this isn't true. No f*cking words come if this is true. I have never cried at my keyboard before. What the hell did we do to deserve this? Were we all monsters in some previous life? Is our beautiful blue/green Earth really just hell. Tears- I haven't cried in such a long time. Still, I guess I had better get used to it. All those people in our past weeping over various periods of mankind's insanity. Now its my turn.
In the real world, I almost feel ashamed about talking politics. Why? Because I am aware that more and more people are living their lives under growing clouds of depression, and such talk really reinforces to them that the depression is warranted. A state of depression is a state of hurt, and who wants to add to the hurt of even acquaintances, let alone friends and family. It's how it goes, isn't it. The worse it gets, the greater the dilemma. I couldn't bare to make others cry over issues that seemingly have no solution for them. They do cry though, but have the 'decency' to do so when alone, so that others will not be concerned or troubled. If I wasn't such a coward, I would want others to see MY tears, but I just won't do that- not yet.
twilight
website
19.02.2006 02:00
Brian B
website comment
19.02.2006 02:12
UPDATE - Craig Murray says:
"On both www.craigmurray.co.uk and Blairwatch people have been questioning my source for this, and particularly querying why it is not in the mainstream media if it is true.
Well, I was in Winterbottom’s office yesterday, and heard it first hand, from people who were there when it happened. Nowadays the real news isn’t in the mainstream media, I am afraid. Leave them to their celebrity stories, and if you want to know what’s important, come to the web."
Luckily the internet still exists... for now.
Brian B