Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, has allowed a second terror suspect to be released from virtual house arrest rather than disclose secret evidence against him.
The move is a further blow to the control order regime under which restrictions can be placed on the movements of people suspected of involvement in terrorism.
The suspect, known only as AE, is an Iraqi Kurd who was given the right to settle in the country and was an imam in northern England. He was accused of supporting the jihadist insurgency in Iraq on the basis of secret evidence from the security services.
A Home Office spokesman said that in June the Law Lords ruled that individuals subject to control orders must be given sufficient disclosure about the case against them to enable them to give effective instructions to their legal representatives. The
spokesman added: Where this disclosure cannot be made for the protection of the public interest, including our national security, we may be forced to revoke control orders even where we consider those orders to be necessary to protect the public from
a risk of terrorism. In such circumstances we will take all steps necessary to protect the public. The police and Security Service seek to investigate and monitor the activities of those believed to pose a threat to national security.
Earlier this month Johnson insisted the control order regime remained viable despite the law lords' ruling. He has already been forced to revoke a control order against a British-Libyan man known as AF, as a direct result of the judgement.
|
