Brilliant Legal Directors

Though this post has been delayed, it should not mean that it was not thought of before. Since quite a few months, we had wanted to acknowledge the help provided by the legal fraternity in our fight for justice. Through this post, we wish to express our gratitude to all those men & women of law who provided their assistance and are still lending us their legal expertise in getting Roshan Jamal Khan acquitted with dignity.

The advice provided by Mumbai High Court advocates – Adv. N. U. Khan, Adv. Sharad Jani, Adv. Usman Chishti & Adv. Chandra Naik – was very important. We wish to thank all of them.

Special thanks go to famous criminal advocate Majeed Memon and advocate Mihir Desai for their legal analysis of the case that was published in The Times of India. The legal dissection of the case by these two stalwarts of law redeemed our dignity in the society. Many thanks to both the advocates once again.

We would also like to express our gratitude to well-known advocate Parvez Ubhare of Mumbai High Court who was instrumental in arranging two press conferences and providing all the legal aspects of the case to the media which were very important to clear all doubts about the case. We thank advocate Ubhare and look forward to his continued support as we believe that a much bigger role is to be played by him in this case.

A note of regret would seem to be out of place in this post. But, things would have been quite different if we had taken the advice of prominent advocate Ms. Nandita Rao of Delhi High Court. The verdict would have been favourable to us if we had acted upon her advice. But, our fear due to some compelling reasons stopped her midway in her noble intentions of helping us. We apologize to Ms. Nandita Rao for our impropriety and thank her and all her Mumbai colleagues including advocate Mr. Sethi of Delhi High Court. Insha Allah, Ms. Nandita Rao’s brave efforts will be detailed if ever we publish a book on this case after the acquittal of Roshan Jamal Khan.

Finally, the men on the front who put up a brave defence – our Spanish advocates. We appreciate the hard work that Mr. Benet Salellas Vilar, Mr. Jacobo Teijolo Casanova & their team put in to demolish the case of the prosecution. We also appreciate their quick appeal in the Spanish Supreme Court after the decision of the High Court. We would like to express our gratitude to all of them and expect the august Supreme Court of Spain will undo the injustice that has been perpetuated on us.

Before concluding, we would like to pay our respects to the soul of advocate late Mr. Sabatillan Salellas Vilar who not only took up our case but also offered his services for much lower fees than he usually charges as he believed that all the accused are innocent. May his soul rest in peace.

Although, we were dejected after the High Court decision but we never lost hope. We will continue our fight for justice under the brilliant direction and guidance of all the above mentioned experts of law. Insha Allah, truth shall prevail.

P. S. : We welcome the President of United States of America, Hon’ble Barack Obama, to India. It would have been better if Mr. Barack Obama had released one of our innocent Indian students, Mr. Vikram Buddhi, as a Diwali gift to 1 billion Indians. Never mind the lapse, we request the kind President to release him now as a Christmas gift. Hope Uncle Sam will not disappoint us.

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Freedom To Celebrate

Time flies by. Days pass. Age increases and the remaining period of life decreases. But, still people say “many happy returns of the day” to wish a person on a birthday. This may be as people want birthdays to be celebrated every year forever & ever without any end to it. Though, the stark reality is that with each return of this celebrated day, the end also comes nearer. People should become aware that the deadline is fast approaching and they have less time to fulfill their wishes, ambitions etc. It should be a day for contemplation. People should worry about completing tasks rather than celebrating the depletion of their lifetime.

Roshan Jamal Khan completes 52 years of his life today out of which 2 ½ have been wasted in a Spanish jail. Celebrating a birthday in jail is not what any person would like to do – not even a jailor, who would rather celebrate with family & friends than with inmates in his charge. With six young children still studying, Roshan Jamal Khan has an enormous task at hand to complete. And, with two birthdays being spent in jail, we would not like to wish him "many happy returns of the day" today. Instead, we pray to Allah that he provides us an opportunity to celebrate his freedom very soon. Amen!

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Testimony Tamasha

Will the testimony of a person be admitted in the court of law if he forgets the name of the person whom he claims to be his leader in masterminding a terror plot?

Will a person be sentenced if the only witness does not even take his name or implicate him?

Will any person be implicated if some faceless voice gives contradictory statements?

One may reply with a resounding NO to all the 3 questions, but a Spanish court thinks otherwise. Accepting the evidence of a voice that never utters Roshan Jamal Khan’s name or deposes against him, the Spanish court has disgraced law & justice by convicting him.

Throughout his testimony the sole witness, F-1, makes a statement first and alters it later. In the beginning, when asked for the name of the organisation that he was working for, he replies that it is the same organisation that sent him to Waziristan & Afghanistan for training. He doesn't name the organisation (Testimony Video-1, 13:55). Around 10 minutes later, he is once again asked the name of the organisation. He replies that it is Al-Qaida (TV-1, 24:05).

During the later parts of the testimony (TV-3, 19:15), F-1 says that he informed his French police friend by calling from his mobile phone. Later (TV-3, 1:07:45), he clarifies that he made the call using a calling card that was provided to him earlier and which can be used with his SIM card.

This changing of statements gives rise to the suspicion of F-1 being tutored by the Spanish police before the testimony and being prompted or deliberately being asked the same questions to correct the wrong replies given earlier. The correction of the name of Baitullah Mehsud from Abdullah Mehsud, the remembering of the name of Maulana Maroof and clarifying that Maulana Ashraf is the same person as Maulana Maroof, are some instances of such lapses or rather the truth being blurted out instead of the lie being recited.

When asked of the relationship of Baitullah Mehsud with the organisation that he was working for, F-1 says that the organisation was working under the instructions of Baitullah Mehsud (TV-1, 18:40). A little later, when he is asked the name of the organisation, F-1 says that it is Al-Qaida. This claim flies in the face of NEFA’s video interview of the spokesperson of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, in which Maulvi Omar says that Baitullah Mehsud leads Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and that Al-Qaida has its own administrators & decision makers. The conviction order of the court also mentions this (pg. 10).

The testimony of F-1 is a blatant lie riddled with contradictions and is wholly unbelievable. Never once does Hashim Iqbal alias Ahmad (the protected witness, F-1) mentions Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan nor does he utters the name of Roshan Jamal Khan. So, which terror group has Roshan Jamal Khan been convicted for associating with?

Points to Ponder

1. At the very beginning of the testimony, F-1 says that he arrived in Barcelona from France on 15th January and has the train ticket with him. At another point, he narrates the day-to-day activity from 15th January till the last day (18th January) when the arrests were made. But, narrates incidents of only 15th January, the next day i.e. 16th and the last day, i.e. 18th. What happened on 17th? As usual, he is given a chance to correct his date of arrival later.

2. F-1 claims throughout his testimony that Maulana Maroof knows all the details of the terror plan even as he himself reveals the plan gradually. Whenever asked how he knows about it, he replies that Maulana Maroof told him.

3. At one point, F-1 says that he was aware that his bar acquaintance in France was a policeman whose job involved gleaning information. So, could a member of the biggest terror group of the world be so naïve as to give his mobile phone number to a policeman?

4. F-1 reveals that in the group he was called by his false name while his real name was used in public by his associates. Scratch, scratch! Scratch your head till you become bald.

5. F-1 feared that his family in Pakistan would be killed if he did anything to prevent the terror attack. So, finally, what made him to spill the beans by calling the police? Was the threat to his family over?

6. The threat perception seems to have been felt by F-1 after calling his wife in the evening and the phone call to the French policeman was made a few hours later at night. What factors were responsible during these few hours to lessen the fear of threat felt by F-1?

7. F-1 claims that he worked for his organisation for 3 years – first 1 ½ years delivering money to associates, the next 1 ½ years training in the use of arms and bomb making. At another points, he says that 3 years does not mean 36 months, but could also mean 30 months. How can such type of loose statements be admitted by any court as evidence?

Many, many more anomalies are there in the testimony. All cannot be listed over here. Suffice to say that the trial was a farce.

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NEFA's Nefarious Nexus

NEFA Foundation is an American non-profit organisation founded in the aftermath of 9/11 to assist governmental authorities with information in its war against terror.

NEFA did an analysis of the detention order on February 22, 2008 and concluded that there was little or no evidence to convict the detained group doubting even the authenticity of the little evidence. This analysis was done by Mr. Douglas Farah who had earlier worked as a correspondent of Washington Post.

NEFA being a reputed organization doing a highly responsible work, it, therefore, comes as a big surprise that they would upload a video interview conducted by a tribal hack as its exclusive interview. This dubious, exclusive video interview is that of Maulvi Omar that was considered as major evidence to convict Roshan Jamal Khan.

As mentioned in the conviction order of the Spanish court, this video interview was conducted on behalf of NEFA’s senior investigator, Claudio Franco, ( nationality not mentioned) by his unnamed friend (nationality not mentioned again ) on August 1, 2008. The video quality, as can be seen, is bad. A mobile phone camera seems to have been used for the recording. Audio-video synchronization is not clear. The format of the video is .flv . The language in which the interview is conducted is Pashto. English sub-titles are provided.

As this was a criminal trial, every minute detail had to be taken into consideration. We have known of criminal cases where, to implicate people for murder, blood of A group is mixed with blood of group B to get blood of group AB ( TOI ). So, let’s examine the authenticity of the video which the judgment order has conveniently relied upon to convict Roshan Jamal Khan.

Claudio Franco is a writer as well as a documentary producer. That means he has enough knowledge to easily manipulate videos or even create them on computers (desktop production).

The video format is .flv. This means that the video is in Flash format. I wonder if any camera in the world records in Flash format. Now, we have to know what camera was used to shoot the video. The model number of the camera. Whether the camera allows shooting in the .flv format? If not, then, in what format the recording was done? What software was used to convert from the recorded format to .flv format? Whether the camera was digital or analog? If analog, then, .flv format is simply not possible. If digital, then what was the recording storage media – whether memory card or CD or digital tape?

The conviction order says that the video is not doctored. So, does the camera has a feature by which the audio is translated into another language and display sub-titles? All these questions are from a layman like me. They may sound silly, but are very crucial in cases of such magnitude and should be thoroughly investigated before holding anyone guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

Now, assuming the video was not doctored, what are the other factors that should be investigated to prove its authenticity?

The interview was conducted on 1st August, 2008 in Bajaur that is located on the north side border of Afpak. On 6th August, US & Pakistani forces launched an attack on Bajaur. Besides, not mentioning the name of the tribal journalist who, supposedly, did the interview, the judgment order is also silent on the exact time of the interview and the process by which it reached NEFA considering that Bajaur was depopulated by heavy shelling from 6th August onwards. The video was uploaded on August 29, 2008 on NEFA’s website.

The tribal journalist who did the interview was not summoned and questioned by the court. How can a trial prove conclusively that the interview is authentic without examining the person who did the interview? How can this video become admissible evidence without questioning the actual interviewer? In a civilized and advanced system of jurisprudence, convictions should not be based on media reports or faceless voices. All evidence should be examined and proved in the court of law.

One question that agitates the mind is whether Spain funded NEFA’s video in question? This question arises because NEFA seeks funds from one & all and there is no way of knowing about an American organisation’s income & expenses. It claims to work with many US agencies and ‘ “Connect the Dots” by delivering timely and highly sensitive information to government agencies to aid in their anti-terrorism efforts’. It isn’t just an independent agency working for the elimination of terror from the world. It seems to be a front for US intelligence concerned only with protecting America from terror.

The reputation of not just NEFA but, the credibility of all the three players – Claudio Franco, the tribal hack & the tribal chief - connected with the video is also questionable. There’s reason to suspect the credibility of these three persons as there is no mention of the Barcelona terror plot in a video of May, 2008. Was the tribal chief paid to make the statement about the Barcelona terror plot? Or, was he returning the favour for getting free publicity through a western agency that would make him notorious and increase his clout?

We all know how heads of states invent lies and raise spectre of WMD to attack oil-rich countries. One of them admitted recently about the false excuse and said that they would have invented some other lie to launch an attack. So, what stops Spain from inventing a terror plot to win elections? Or, from producing a video to convict a few persons?

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Reality Show

With the explosion of the electronic media, the attention span of viewers has reduced a lot. In part, the remote control is also to be blamed. 15 minutes of fame has been reduced to 15 seconds. But, who would like even 15 seconds of fame in times of tragedy? No one would like it and certainly not the victim or his family.

No person would like any misfortune to visit him just to seek his 15 seconds of fame. But, the electronic media is not just a channel to fame through reality shows. It is also a channel for reality shows of a different kind. It helps victims of tragedies to air their grievances and highlights the injustices done to them. It is a watchdog of the society.

In our time of distress, the electronic media did not provide us with 15 seconds of fame but, gave us more than 15 minutes of respect & dignity that the Spanish authorities tried deprive. I respectfully acknowledge my gratitude to the following TV channels for upholding our honour :

CNN-IBN

• Prachi Jatania


• Toral Varia

NDTV

• Prerna Thakur Desai


• Rashmi Rajput

Times Now

• Puja Jurmania

Rediff.com

• Prasanna D. Zore


• Firdos S. Ashraf

News X INX News

• Rana S. Shaikh

India TV

• Prakash Tiwari

Sahara News

• Rahul Asthana

BBC (Urdu)

• Rehana Bastiwala

ETV-Urdu

• Aasim Khan

ETV-Marathi

• Urmila Dethe

Live India

• Sanjay Prasad

News 9

• Suresh Shintre


• Vinod Kamble

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Mockery of Amnesty

Amnesty International did not even try to raise anything similar to a whimper, even though assistance was sought from them (see correspondence on right side), when Roshan Jamal Khan was sentenced by a Spanish Court in a case where no crime was committed, no human life was lost nor any conspiracy proved. But, it issued a statement when 17 bootleggers, indulging in an illegal trade who had destroyed a human life, were sentenced by the UAE. By employing such double standards, the Amnesty International has made a mockery of itself and amnesty also.

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A Few Good Men

At the outset, I would like to apologise for the delay in publishing this post containing the names of the journalists who helped us a lot by making the public as well as all concerned authorities aware of the injustice meted out to my brother, Roshan Jamal Khan, in Spain.

The sympathetic reporting by these journalists is a debt that cannot be repaid by us. Besides, highlighting the injustice of the Spanish Government, these journalists have also highlighted the indifference of the Indian Government in securing the release of its law-abiding citizen.

Nevertheless, the continued support of these men & women, who are truly the custodians of righteousness in this age, may, Insha Allah, succeed in securing the release of my brother.

It’s not just Tom Cruise and Demi Moore who can claim to be “A Few Good Men”, but the following journos can also lay claim to be A Few Good Men and Women also :

Indian Express

• Parnab Dhal Samanta


• Sagnik Chowdhury


• Neeraj Priyadarshi


• Amitabh Sinha


• Anubhuti Vishnoi


• Aishwarya Iyer


• Swatee Kher


• Pradip Dal

The Times of India

• Mateen Hafeez


• Anahita Mukherjee


• Archana Sharma


• Mohammad Wajihuddin


• Manju V


• Tejal Pandey

Hindustan Times

• Stavan Desai


• Vignesh Iyer


• Alifiya Khan


• Hemant Padalkar


• Kunal Patil


• Ritesh Uttam Chandani

Mumbai Mirror

• Anand Holla


• Deeptiman Tiwary

Mid-day

• Vinod Kumar Menon


• Ketan Ranga

Loksatta

• Ashwini Shende

Navbharat Times

• Sachin Tripathi

Press Trust of India

• Sunanda Parmeshwar


• Sunil Shivdasani

Inquilab

• Shahid Lateef


• Kazim Shaikh


• Abdulhai Ansari

Urdu Times

• Farooq Ansari


• Shakil Rashid

Rashtriya Sahara

• Aziz Barhi


• Wasim Sanjar

Hindustan

• Sarfaraz Arzoo

ANI

• Raziq Khan

IANS

• Quaid Najmi

List of electronic media will be published next followed by a list of its journalists.

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Press For Justice

Media has always had the good sense to distinguish right from wrong. Be it a small skirmish, fake encounter or big terror acts, the media has always distinguished the wrong from the wronged. Indian media, being free and independent, has always presented facts in the right perspective and highlighted injustices wherever it is being perpetuated. As such, Indians know what button to press to seek justice if it has not been properly dispensed. Therefore, Indians should be grateful that they have an independent media unlike some of its neighbouring countries.

After my brother, Roshan Jamal Khan, was arrested in Spain, the Indian fourth estate stood like a pillar of moral support for us. It gave wide coverage to the wrongful arrest of my brother by the Spanish police. It highlighted his detention for nearly 2 years without trial. I, therefore, wish to express my gratitude to the following newspapers through this post :

• Indian Express


• The Times of India


• Hindustan Times


• Mumbai Mirror


• Mid-day


• Press Trust of India (PTI)


• United News of India (UNI)


• Loksatta


• Navbharat Times


• Inquilab


• Urdu Times


• Rashtriya Sahara


• Daily Hindustan


• Nai Duniya


• Dainik Jagran


• Amar Ujala

List of journalists and TV channels will follow in next post.

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My Name Is Khan

“My name is Khan. Shahrukh Khan!”
“Detain him!”

That brief conversation is what must have taken place before Shahrukh Khan was detained at an American airport a few years ago. It seems that my husband, Roshan Jamal Khan, must have got caught in a similar situation.

The surname “Khan” was the decisive factor for the detention of Shahrukh Khan in the US. It seems to have been so even in my husband’s case in Barcelona.

A person with a Muslim name is suspect. But, one with a surname as Khan is more suspect. If a surname can make people of the materially developed world so prejudiced, then it comes as no surprise that they are so biased against our traditions & cultures of which they have little or no knowledge at all.

Though the West has explored the moon & space, it still has to explore the traditions & cultures of the East on this Earth. Though developed in materials, its mind has got stunted due to the cobwebs of barbaric Dark Ages that has still not cleared. The West has not yet come out of the Dark Ages of its mind.

A rose by any other name can smell as good and a bush by any other name can be as sinister.

Despite the prejudices of the materially developed world, my husband proudly proclaims: My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist, a non-Mumbaikar, or an unpatriotic Indian.


P.S.: A press conference will be held before the publication of the next post containing startling new facts on the case.

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Government of Terror

My husband, Roshan Jamal Khan, completes 2 years of incarceration in a Spanish jail after being arrested from a mosque in Barcelona on January 18, 2008. He was convicted on December 11, 2009, on the charge of associating with terrorist groups.

It’s hard for a middle-class family to survive in times of recession. But, it’s even harder if it loses the sole bread-winner. And, it’s hardest if that sole bread-winner is jailed on a false and fabricated charge. The war against terror has perpetuated terror on innocent people rather than on terrorists.

Love is blind. When you are in love, you lose your capability to think logically. You lose your mind and your heart takes precedent over it causing you to become emotional. The same effect takes place when you are blinded by hatred. Your heart takes precedent over your mind making it lose its capability to think logically. But, the eventual effects are different. Love spreads happiness, while hatred spreads sorrow. But, as love became obscene, the engulfing of the world by hatred was inevitable.

Governments, with all resources at its disposal, can easily create situations beneficial to their scheme of things. They can engineer riots in election year to polarize voters on communal basis. They can also sensationalize terror threats to divert the minds of people from their deficiencies in governance and as such not lose elections. To achieve this purpose, they can easily frame innocents. And, this is what has happened with my husband.

Spain was going to election in March 2008. The ruling party, sensing its defeat due to the anti-incumbency mood of the electorate, raised the specter of terror attacks on its beautiful city of Barcelona. It achieved its purpose of winning the elections by flaunting the arrest of my husband as its efficiency in safeguarding the lives of Spaniards. Great governance! Rah-rah matador!

Howsoever mighty the Goliaths of governments maybe, with the meagre resources at our disposal, we shall, Insha Allah, demolish it by exposing the fabricated video evidence used to implicate my husband. Empires built on the ruins of people’s lives will surely rot and crumble one day. I pray to Allah for the early release of my husband and invoke his ire on the tormentors of Muslims.

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Paranoid Decision

Roshan Jamal Khan, after spending 22 months in a Spanish prison, has been sentenced for 8 and half years for praying in a mosque located in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona, Spain.

Roshan Jamal Khan has no criminal past. After his arrest in Spain, the top, two investigative agencies of the Government of India, viz. Central Bureau of Investigation & Anti-Terrorism Squad (Maharashtra), investigated his credentials right from his college days till his travel to Spain. When these agencies did not find anything incriminatory against him, the Government of India cleared his name. ( Indian Express )

Roshan Jamal Khan was arrested from the Tariq bin Ziyad mosque on January 18, 2008. He was convicted on the charge of associating with terrorist groups on December 11, 2009. A copy of the court order in Spanish & English is provided for all to read while the rebuttal of the decisive factors leading to the conviction of Roshan follows :

• The word of just one witness (F-1) has been held as gospel truth against that of 11 others to send Roshan Jamal Khan to prison.
  


• No incriminating material was found on his person or at his residence in Spain.
  


• Roshan wasn’t under any surveillance. His movements were not suspicious nor were they tracked before he was arrested.
  


• His phone was not tapped nor are there any records of his conversations, either telephonic or otherwise, with the terrorist group that he has been associated with.
  


• The miniscule amount of pyrotechnic, explosive materials allegedly thrown in a trash can by another accused does not contain the fingerprints & genetic traces of the person accused of throwing it nor of Roshan Jamal Khan.
  


• The sole witness, F-1, had arrived from France just 2 days before the raid.
  


• The explosive materials were made in France.
  


• The fingerprints on the explosive materials were not compared with those of F-1.
  


• The miniscule amount of pyrotechnic, explosive material allegedly discovered during the raid on the mosque was the only incriminating material that the prosecution could produce even after 22 months of investigations. This gives rise to the doubt of the evidence being planted by F-1 so that it could be discovered during the raid.
  


• The telephonic conversation record of F-1 to his French friend informing him of the terror plan is not provided.
  


• The process of how F-1’s friend informed the Spanish authorities about the terror plans is not detailed.
  


• The video interview available on the internet and relied upon by the learned judges to implicate Roshan Jamal Khan has been conducted by an unknown person.
  


• Studios of Hollywood, Bollywood, Tollywood or even Mollywood, i.e. the Malegaon film industry, can produce such videos.
  


• Two persons, present during the raid, were not charged because, according to F-1, they were not present when the terror plans were discussed. But, that doesn’t rule out that they were not present when the plans were discussed in his absence.
  


• No particular motive has been imputed to Roshan Jamal Khan for associating with terror groups. It seems the fact that he is a devout Muslim and follows the basic tenets of Islam has been held as enough proof to associate him with terror groups.
  


• Roshan Jamal Khan was acquitted and absolved of the charge of possession of explosive materials that was attributed to another person.
  


• Roshan was also acquitted and absolved of the charge of conspiring to indulge in terror acts along with all other accused.
  


• He was convicted only on the charge of associating with terror groups the substantiation of which can be said to be invalid and erroneous.
  

The case lacks strength and should have collapsed on its own even without any defence. The learned judges should have dismissed it as a case of paranoia due to the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

One of the major rules of jurisprudence is that a charge should be proved beyond reasonable doubt. If that cannot be done, then the benefit of doubt should be given to the accused. In Roshan Jamal Khan’s case, this wasn’t done.

Justice should not only be done but also seen to be done. In Spain, it has been subverted.

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