Taliban bombmaker suing Britain over ‘illegal’ detention was ‘covered in bomb dust’
Serdar Mohammed is suing the MoD, claiming that his 110 day detention breached human rights laws as the permitted length of detention is just four days
A TALIBAN bombmaker who claims he was illegally detained had dust from explosives “all over him”, a court heard yesterday.
Serdar Mohammed is suing the MoD, saying his human rights were breached after he was held for 110 days instead of the permitted four.
If he wins his landmark case, hundreds of Afghans and Iraqis seized in both conflicts could also seek damages.
But the MoD says he was held for so long to protect British troops and Afghan civilians.
Serdar, who ran a terror training base camp in 2009, was seized after a ten-hour battle in Helmand in 2010.
The MoD’s lawyer James Eadie QC said yesterday: “It became clear terribly early from intelligence that this person was or might be the deputy commander of the Taliban in the area.”
Further investigation found he was a prolific manufacturer of bombs which maimed and killed scores across Helmand where British troops fought valiantly - confirmed by forensic evidence which proved he had handled explosives.
Eadie stated: “He had IED dust all over him.”
The IED evidence was uncovered two months after his arrest.
Serdar was handed to Afghan authorities and jailed for 16 years. He was released in 2014 and maintains his innocence.
UK law firm Leigh Day took up his case and the High Court ruled it was illegal to detain him beyond 96 hours under European Human Rights laws. They say he was held without charge and had no access to a lawyer.
His case yesterday reached the Supreme Court as the MoD battled to have it thrown out.
MoD lawyers told nine Supreme Court judges that it was proper to detain Serdar but his case was upheld.
A final decision is not due for months.
Serdar is the first to challenge the legal basis for UK detention.
Under Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to liberty, detainees should not be held for longer than 96 hours.
If troops had followed the ECHR they would have been forced to release him even though he was deemed a threat to security.
Last month Theresa May announced Britain would derogate from the ECHR in future conflicts to prevent cases like this going to court.