‘Govt let us down as we are Muslim’ - Family of Mumbai businessman

“In all honesty, I feel we are being treated in this manner because we are Muslim. The Government’s intentions are not clean,”

 

Express news service

Posted: Wednesday, Dec 30, 2009 at 0335 hrs   Mumbai:

The family of Mumbai businessman Roshan Jamal Khan, convicted by Spain’s anti-terror court earlier this month, on Tuesday alleged that the Government of India had let them down as he was a Muslim.
The family also said it would approach the Supreme Court of
Spain and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague if necessary.
Addressing a press conference, his brother Mehboob alleged that the government was treating the case with indifference as he was a Muslim. “I went to New Delhi several times to meet Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and submitted files to their secretaries. The Ministry of External Affairs has not replied to us once. All we expect from the ministry is to request Spain to make evidence against my brother public. If they are able to produce evidence, we will shut our voices forever,” he said.
“In all honesty, I feel we are being treated in this manner because we are Muslim. The Government’s intentions are not clean,” he alleged. 

Jamal Khan was among the 14 Muslim men picked up by the Spanish authorities from a Barcelona mosque on January 19 last year in connection with a terror plot. Four of them, including another Indian, were released later and a 15th suspect was detained in the Netherlands. Jamal Khan’s family has been maintaining that he had gone to Spain on business.  
He was convicted, along with 10 Pakistanis, by the Spanish court on December 14 for belonging to a terrorist group linked to Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. According to the prosecution, the group intended to bomb the Barcelona Metro transport system. The court acquitted them of a specific conspiracy to strike at the metro.
Jamal Khan’s lawyer has appealed against the conviction and the matter is likely to be heard in January first week. “We will take up the case in Spain’s Supreme Court if the appeal is turned down. If necessary, we will also go to the International Court of Justice. We are also in touch with Amnesty International,” said Mehboob.
Parvez Ubhare, a lawyer working with Khan’s family, said: “There is no evidence against Khan to associate him with a terrorist group. The court’s order is also contradictory since it has given a clean chit with regard to a conspiracy to bomb the Metro. It has relied solely on the statement of a protected witness who has worked for three years with the Taliban. It has also relied on an interview with an associate of Behtullah Mehsud eight months after the accused were arrested.”