28
A. AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
10. The tenth applicant
61. The tenth applicant is an Algerian national. Following a bomb
explosion in Algeria, his left hand was amputated at the wrist and his right
arm was amputated below the elbow. In 1999 he travelled to the United
Kingdom, via Abu Dhabi and Afghanistan, and claimed asylum. His claim
was refused on 27 February 2001. He was then in custody, having been
arrested on 15 February 2001 and charged with possession of articles for
suspected terrorist purposes, conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to make
false instruments. At the time of his arrest he was found to have in his
possession approximately forty blank French driving licences, identity cards
and passports, a credit card reader, laminators and an embossing machine.
The charges were not, however, proceeded with and he was released on
17 May 2001.
62. On 14 January 2003 the Secretary of State issued a certificate against
him under section 21 of the 2001 Act and he was taken into detention. A
deportation order was made against him on the same day.
63. In its judgment of 27 January 2004, SIAC noted that the essence of
the case against the tenth applicant was that since his arrival in the United
Kingdom he had been closely associated with a network of extremists
formerly led by Abu Doha (see paragraph 26 above). In particular, it was
alleged that he had provided logistical support in the form of false
documentation and money raised through credit card fraud. He had spent a
lot of time at the Finsbury Park Mosque, a known centre of Islamist
extremism, and was alleged to have attended a meeting there in June 2001 at
which threats were made against the G8 summit in Genoa.
The applicant submitted a written statement on 28 June 2003 in which he
denied the allegations against him. He did not, however, participate in the
hearing of his appeal, as SIAC explained in its judgment:
“He was, said [his counsel], a genuine refugee, a member of no organisation or
group and not involved in terrorism or in advocating terrorism. He had no knowledge
of any planned terrorist attacks and could not understand why the accusations had
been made against him. He had seen none of the underlying material and had no
means of challenging it. In effect, he could do no more than assert that it could not
justify the conclusion that he was an international terrorist within the meaning of the
Act since he was not. He had had read to him the decisions of [SIAC] in the previous
appeals. Given the relevance which was placed on the closed material and the
statutory test applicable, he felt that the result was a foregone conclusion. He did not
wish in participating in the appeal to give an impression which was false that he could
deal with the matters which were being relied on against him. He had no confidence in
the proceedings. Accordingly he would take no active part in them beyond the
statement which [his counsel] made on his behalf.
He did not withdraw his appeal. While we appreciate the handicap under which he
and indeed all the Appellants labour, we wish to make it clear that no appeal is a
foregone conclusion. We have to and we do consider the evidence put before us,
whether open or closed, with care because we recognise that the result is detention for