A. AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
27
There are a large number of allegations made. We see no point in dealing with them
seriatim. We have indicated why we have formed the view that the case made against
the Appellant is established. Indeed, were the standard higher than reasonable
suspicion, we would have had no doubt that it was established. The Appellant was
heavily involved, indeed was at the centre in the United Kingdom of terrorist activities
associated with al-Qaeda. He is a truly dangerous individual and these appeals are
dismissed.”
9. The ninth applicant
57. The ninth applicant is Algerian, born in 1972. In 1991 he left Algeria
for Afghanistan, where he taught Arabic in a refugee camp. He claimed
asylum in the United Kingdom in 1993. In 1994 he was granted leave to
remain for four years and in 2000 he was granted indefinite leave to remain,
on the basis that he was to be regarded as a refugee. On four occasions, the
last in May 1998, the applicant was arrested and released without charge.
The first three arrests related to credit card fraud. The arrest in May 1998
related to alleged terrorist activities and the applicant was subsequently paid
compensation by the police for false arrest.
58. The ninth applicant was certified by the Secretary of State and made
the subject of a deportation order on 22 April 2002. He was detained on the
same day. According to the evidence of one of the witnesses for the
Secretary of State, he was not certified, with the other applicants, in
December 2001 because one of his files had been lost.
59. In its judgment of 29 October 2003, SIAC noted that the allegations
against the ninth applicant were that he was an active supporter of GSPC
and had raised considerable sums of money for it through fraud. There was
evidence that the applicant had in the past been found, by customs officers,
attempting to enter the United Kingdom by ferry with large amounts of cash
and that he had close links with others who had been convicted of credit
card fraud. SIAC held that evidence of involvement in fraud did not
establish involvement in terrorism. However, it noted that the applicant had
been present at a camp in Dorset in the company of the fifth applicant and a
number of others suspected of being GSPC supporters and that a telephone
bill had been found at his house at the time of his arrest in the name of
Yarkas, who had been arrested in Spain in November 2001 due to his
alleged links with al-Qaeda. The applicant had given evidence but had not
been a convincing witness and had not given a credible explanation for the
foregoing. The closed evidence supported the Secretary of State’s
allegations and SIAC therefore dismissed the applicant’s appeal against
certification.
60. In its review judgments of 2 July 2004 and 15 December 2004,
SIAC held that the certificate was properly maintained.