Asylum seeker says life was made hell

AN ALGERIAN man yesterday told a hearing how his life became "hell" after he was accused of being a terrorist.

Although charges against Fouad Lasnami, 29, were dropped he claimed that if he is sent home he could be imprisoned, tortured or executed.

Mr Lasnami, who wants to remain permanently in the UK, told an asylum hearing that he had still been described as a terrorist suspect and a member of al-Qaeda even after the criminal case against him was dropped.

In February last year he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court charged with offences under the Terrorism Act. He was suspected of being part of a plot to blow up Princes Street.

Although the charges were dropped at the end of last year, Mr Lasnami told the hearing in Glasgow that he had since appeared as No 74 in a list of 82 terror suspects which had been submitted to the Algerian government by MI5.

He further claimed that he had also been the subject of much international press coverage, which had continued to describe him as a terrorist suspect even after charges had been dropped.

Mr Lasnami told the hearing that he had never in his life engaged in terrorist activity. Speaking through an interpreter he said: "My life became hell after they charged me under the Terrorism Act.

"They destroyed my life when they charged me with a very serious accusation. Although they dropped the charge they still followed me everywhere."

Mr Lasnami said that he had expected better treatment from the British authorities, adding: "I came here to Britain with the idea that everyone had human rights and was treated equally."

He said that since he was labelled a terrorist suspect he no longer had any future and that members of his family in Algeria had also been affected by the charges.

He said: "This accusation was not a simple thing. It was a serious matter."

Mr Lasnami said he had now been "blacklisted" in his country and that if he went back he would be "killed or he would die under torture".

Mr Lasnami’s solicitor, Aamer Anwar, said: "Mr Lasnami is a victim of David Blunkett’s racist war on terror and today he is fighting for his life."

He also claimed that while he was being held on remand in relation to the terrorism case he was subjected to abuse from other prisoners.

He said he was called "bin Laden" and on one occasion was assaulted by a prisoner with a snooker cue.

The Home Office submitted that Mr Lasnami had no political and terrorist profile and that he was simply an "economic immigrant" who had purchased a legal document in order to obtain work.

The Home Office further said that if Mr Lasnami was fleeing persecution then he should have claimed asylum as soon as he entered the UK.

It is also said that because he had been given a clean bill of health by the security services he had no reason to be in danger if he returned home.

The immigration appellate court will make a decision on the asylum application in a written judgment to be issued at some point over the next several weeks.