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Syed Talha Ahsan is a British poet and translator. He is winner of the Platinum and Bronze Koestler Awards 2012 for his poetry.〔http://www.irr.org.uk/news/poetry-prize-for-talha-ahsan/〕 He was arrested at his family home in London, UK on 19 July 2006 in response to a request from the USA under the US-UK Extradition Act 2003, and detained without trial or charge over 6 years before his extradition to the United States on 5 October 2012. He was accused of associations with an allegedly terrorism-related Islamic news media website and London-based publishing house from 1997-2004 about Bosnia, the Chechen Independence War and Afghanistan Islamic Emirate government. On December 10, 2013, in U.S. District Court in New Haven, Connecticut he entered into a plea-bargain with the US Government prosecutor to charges of conspiracy to provide and providing material support for militants in Chechnya & Afghanistan. All other charges were dismissed.〔http://socialistworker.co.uk/art/37078/Still+no+justice+as+Babar+Ahmad+and+Talha+Ahsan+change+pleas〕〔http://www.stopisolation.org/blog/babar-ahmad-talha-ahsan-plea-bargain/〕 The length of Talha's detention without trial or charge is among the longest in British legal history. He is also the translator of a tenth-century Arabic poem, Above the Dust, by Syrian Abu Firas Al-Hamdani, on his captivity in Byzantium.〔http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2013/02/impossible-injustice-talha-ahsan%E2%80%99s-extradition-and-detention〕 The Talha Ahsan extradition case raised controversy due to comparison with the treatment of Gary McKinnon, whose extradition - which was expected to be 10 days after Ahsan's - was stalled after a medical diagnosis of Asperger syndrome and associative risks, similar to a diagnosis given to Ahsan. This has led to accusations from mainstream UK media, Human Rights NGOs as well as religious groups of a racist double standard within Conservative Home Secretary Theresa May's application of the law.〔JUST West Yorkshire ("Letter to Theresa May Regarding Double Standards of Extradition Rules" )〕〔SACC ("May Shows Contempt For Human Rights, Justice And Muslims" ) 16 October 2012〕〔MCB ("Muslim Council delighted for McKinnon and his family. Why double standard for Babar Ahmad & Talha Ahsan?" ) 17 October 2012〕〔IHRC ("Gary McKinnon stays in the UK but Muslims are second class citizens" ) 16 October 2012〕〔EMEL Magazine () "Being Faithful Citizens"] Issue 98 November 2012〕〔Aamer Anwar ("The nightmare of extradition is now a reality" ), ''The Sun'' Published: 21 October 2012〕〔Jerome Taylor ("Why do politicians, celebrities and the media flock to Gary McKinnon's cause but stay silent about the likes of Talha Ahsan from Tooting?" ) Independent, 17 October 2012〕 〔Sadiq Khan ("Extradite - Out of Mind" ) Huffington Post, 12 October 2013〕 〔MPACUK ("Theresa May Shows Her True Islamaphobic Colours" ) MPACUK, 17th October 2012〕 After being detained without trial for six years, with appeals to the European Court of Human Rights, the House of Lords and the UK High Court, Ahsan was extradited from the UK to the USA on 5 October 2012, where he initially pleaded not guilty to all charges against him at a federal district court hearing in New Haven, Connecticut. He was held while awaiting trial in solitary confinement at the Northern Correctional Institution, a Supermax state prison in Somers, Connecticut, United States.〔("CT Inmate Information" )〕 His US trial proceedings began in October 2013. On December 10, 2013, he changed his plea to guilty to the charge of providing material support to terrorists. An international campaign led by Talha's brother Hamja Ahsan was formed to halt his extradition to the USA and have him tried in the UK - on the basis that this is where he was present during the period of the allegation. This was supported by a wide coalition of figures including Noam Chomsky, Robert Hillary King (Angola Three), A.L. Kennedy, Stop the War, Bruce Kent, Plaid Cymru, his MP and Labour cabinet member Sadiq Khan, Caroline Lucas MP, Gerry Conlon, Muslim Council of Britain, actor Riz Ahmed and former extradited Britons David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew of the Natwest 3. The family-run campaign continues around issues of solitary confinement and reforming extradition law, with the aim of repatriating Talha to the UK. The campaign also curates events around prison literature, especially poetry. The Free Talha Ahsan family campaign was short-listed for a Liberty (pressure group) Human Rights Award 2013, described as “creative and innovative campaign” and in its use of art, poetry, film and music to bring the issue of summary extradition to wider public and political attention described as “inspiring”.〔https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/media/press/2013/Liberty-honours-human-rights-heroes-in-annual-awards-ceremony.php〕 ==Case background== Ahsan was a co-defendant with another British citizen Babar Ahmad, in a high-profile case at the European Court of Human Rights, appealing their extraditions to the USA. They are accused by the USA of terrorism-related offences arising from alleged involvement with a series of websites from the period of 1997 to 2004. One of the sites was for a short period located on a server within the United States.〔Kermani, Secunder ("Terror suspect Talha Ahsan's family fear US extradition" ), "BBC", London 8 April 2012 retrieved on 15 May 2012〕〔Razzell, Nick ("Battle ends with Hamza heading for US prison" ), "The Independent", London 15 May 2012 retrieved on 15 May 2012〕 As a result of a UK parliamentary petition raising over 140,000 signatures the case sparked a discussion in the House of Commons among Members of Parliament late in 2011.〔Brittain, Victoria ("The terror of Babar Ahmad" ),"The Guardian", 2 Dec 2011, retrieved 16 May 2012〕 In a BBC interview aired on 5 April 2012 Evan Kohlmann an American internet extremism expert, said of the websites to which the men are allegedly linked that '"Even today there are very few websites out there that have the credibility that Azzam publications still has now."'.〔Casciani, Dominic ("The battle to prosecute Babar Ahmad" ), BBC 5 April 2012, retrieved 30 May 2012〕 On 10 April 2012, the European Court of Human Rights published its landmark ruling that both men could be extradited from Britain to the US to face terrorism charges. They had three months from that date to request a referral to the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights.〔European Court of Human Rights Council of Europe ("Case of Babar Ahmad and others versus the United Kingdom" ), Strasbourg,retrieved 25 May 2012〕 Syed Talha Ahsan denied any wrongdoing and asked to be tried in the United Kingdom.〔("The official campaign site for Syed Talha Ahsan" ), London, accessed 31 May 2012〕 A winner of the prestigious Koestler Award for his poem "Grieving",〔Frances Webber http://www.irr.org.uk/news/poetry-prize-for-talha-ahsan/〕 Talha stands accused of charges described by Noam Chomsky as shallow and evasive〔Noam Chomsky http://chomskyvideos.tumblr.com/〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Syed Talha Ahsan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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