London, Feb 10, IRNA — A Scottish student has criticised Britain’s anti-terrorism legislation after serving more than four years in prison before successfully appealing against his conviction for possessing suspicious material.
“Our laws should bring to account those who plan acts of terror and not criminalise young Muslims for thought crime and possession of propaganda,” said Mohammed Atif Siddique.
“I have always maintained my innocence but they took my liberty, destroyed my family’s reputation and labelled me a terrorist, but I never had any bombs or plans to hurt anyone,” Siddique said.
“In court it was said I was a wannabe suicide bomber, but I have always said I was simply looking for answers on the internet,” he said in a statement issued by his lawyer, Aamer Anwar.
The 23-year old student was released from jail on Tuesday when is prosecutors decided he should not face retrial for an overturned terrorism conviction.
Last month, Appeal Court judges in Edinburgh ruled that he had suffered a “miscarriage of justice” on the main charge and quashed the conviction for the possession of articles that gave rise to “reasonable suspicion” they were connected to terrorism.
Following his conviction in October 2007, his lawyer was also charged with contempt of court after describing the jury’s guilty verdict as a “tragedy for justice” but was eventually cleared after a short trial.