Posted on 02/09/2011 10:38:31 PM PST by UncleHambone
A man who fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan and was convicted of a violent attack when he returned to Britain has been moved to an open prison, the Standard can reveal.
Anwar Khan, 34, is believed to be the first prisoner with a background in waging jihad -"holy war" - to be moved to a low security jail where inmates are allowed out into the local community and get part-time jobs.
The disclosure will put pressure on Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke who faces accusations of "soft" policies with plans to reduce the prison population by 3,000. Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan said: "This beggars belief and the public will be rightly alarmed at this development. Public safety, and the safety of prison officers, is being put on the line, while ministers in Whitehall focus obsessively on reducing prison numbers and cutting the department's budget."
Joe Simpson, of the Prison Officers Association, said: "I worked in the Prison Service for 23 years and I have never heard of someone with this background being released into an open jail. It is absolutely unprecedented and is a result of government cutbacks."
Andrew Neilson of the Howard League for Penal Reform said: "This is the first time I have heard of a violent prisoner with jihadi associations being moved into the open prison estate.
"There have been riots in open prisons that we have not seen before and we are aware of the concerns around the inappropriate movement of dangerous prisoners."
Khan, a former crack-cocaine addict sent to Pakistan by his parents to overcome his addiction, spent four years in an Afghan prison after being caught fighting for the Taliban in the Nineties.
After his release he returned to Britain in 2002 but the following year was jailed for five years after attacking a man with a baseball bat in a drugs den in Burnley.
He served his sentence for wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and violent disorder but was returned to prison in 2008 after police officers arrested him in possession of a gun. He was held for two-and-a-half years at Moorlands prison in Doncaster - a category-B jail for inmates considered "dangerous" - until last month when he was moved to an open jail.
A source revealed prison chiefs have emailed warders "highly unusual" instructions telling them to report to police immediately in the event Khan absconds.
The source said: "No one can quite believe it. Khan's documents at the open jail warn he is a very violent man with extremist views and could recruit while in prison."
Critics warn there is pressure across the national prison system. On New Year's Day, 40 inmates rampaged through Ford open prison in Sussex causing £2 million of damage.
Speaking from her home in Burnley, Khan's mother Mariam Bibi said: "He wants to come out of prison and start again and be respectable but we want him to return to Pakistan. It would be better for him there but Pakistan won't let him because of the Taliban things."
A Prison Service spokesman said: "Prisoners are rigorously risk assessed and categorised as being of low risk of escape before being placed in open conditions.."
“
A man who fought for the Taliban in Afghanistan and was convicted of
a violent attack when he returned to Britain has been moved to an open
prison, the Standard can reveal.
“
Let me explain this clearly to our good and loyal allies of The United Kingdom...
This is a situation in which the suspect was shot and killed while
“attempting to escape”.
Or assualting a prison guard.
Y’all need to buy some DVDs of “24”.
Or a copy of Brian DePalma’s “Untouchables” and listen to Sean Connery’s
adive about how civil authorities MUST conduct war on thugs.
E.g., “They send one of your men to the hospital, you send one of their men
to the morgue”.
When Elliot Ness sends one of Capone’s killers off the top of a roof
into the top of a sedan...that is what Taliban or Al-Queda deserve.
You have to play hard-ball with these @$$holes.
Because they d-mn sure played hardball with us first.
I also apologize to our good and loyal allies for the enemy we now
have occupying The Oval Office. Gawd-Awful Mess!!!
“
Anwar Khan, 34, is believed to be the first prisoner with a background in
waging jihad -”holy war” - to be moved to a low security jail where
inmates are allowed out into the local community and get part-time jobs.
“
Parachute him into Gitmo.
So he can serve time “in solidarity” with his Muslim brothers.
Heck, that would make a good movie!
“
Khan’s mother Mariam Bibi said: “He wants to come out of prison and
start again and be respectable but we want him to return to Pakistan.
“
So he can rejoin the Jihad and kill as many infidels as possible
before he collects his virgins in paradise...
Seems like the person who wrote the headline was not the one who wrote the article: There’s not one word about the “hero who died fighting them”.
Yes, that was odd. The second picture on the page is an EOD who died in Afghanistan, but as you stated, he is not mentioned at all.
One wonders why the Brits don’t open up their own version of Club Gitmo at Diego Garcia or on one of the Falkland Islands.
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