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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Motive For Association

Born and brought up in a cosmopolitan area of cosmopolitan Bombay, Roshan Jamal Khan did his graduation from the prestigious St. Xavier’s College of Bombay. The area where Roshan grew up has Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Parsis in equal numbers. As such, Roshan never faced any sort of discrimination in his life.

Even during the worst ever riot of independent India in the aftermath of the destruction of Babri Mosque, when the rest of India was smoldering, this area remained peaceful. Life went on as usual thereafter, too.

Roshan was largely associated with the travel industry. He has worked for a travel agency in Mumbai and Kuwait. While working for the travel agency in Kuwait, he was given an appreciation letter by the American Embassy for his work. His younger brother has worked for the US consulate in Mumbai as a security officer.

Roshan has six children; all of whom were under 18 and still in school when he was arrested in January 2008. There is nothing that could seemingly influence him to associate with terror groups. Especially, considering his young children – 2 daughters & 4 sons – whose future no father would like to jeopardize by undertaking any illegal or criminal activity leave alone indulging in terror acts.

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).

The Spanish police couldn’t produce any evidence to implicate Roshan for associating with terror except for the word of an unknown, protected witness – may be imaginary. No substance was found on his person or at his residence. He wasn’t under any surveillance. His movements were not suspicious nor were they tracked before he was arrested. He was in Spain to explore trade in olives.

Staying in a 5-star hotel where terrorists are holed up cannot be held as a reason for accusing other guests of the hotel for associating with terror. Similarly, praying in a mosque, or attending a congregation in a church, along side a person of dubious dealings cannot be a rationale for associating any person with terror.

It should be noted that no crime was committed. It was only on the basis of a fantasy of a wannabe James Bond that it was surmised that a terror attack was imminent on the Barcelona Metro. Thus, the police supposedly got into the act to foil it.

So, what did the Spanish authorities – the police, the prosecution and the judiciary – impute as motives for Roshan Jamal Khan to associate with terror and thereby sentence him to 8 and a half years?

Were the Spanish authorities subjected to an overdose of the film “Minority Report”?

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Punished For Praying

Roshan Jamal Khan, after spending nearly two years in a Spanish prison, has been sentenced for 8 and a half years for praying in a mosque located in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona, Spain ( BBC, CNN, El Pais, El Mundo ). There are no specific charges against Roshan Jamal Khan. Just the mere presence of his among unknown worshippers in the mosque has been held as enough evidence to hold him guilty of associating with terror.

The word of just one unknown witness – maybe imaginary – has been held as gospel truth to send Roshan to prison along with 10 people who were praying along side him in the mosque.

The family of Roshan Jamal Khan is shocked to know that the learned judges of the Spanish Court didn’t take the trouble to consider his background or his immediate past activities before sentencing him for associating with terror groups.

Trade with Spain has proved to be a risky venture for Roshan Jamal Khan who had gone there to explore trades in olives.

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(T)error Order

In a pre-trial detention order (Detention Order PDF, pg. 33-40). on 23rd January, 2008, the central court of Spain detained Roshan Jamal Khan on the following grounds (pg. 38) :

a) To ensure his presence during the process of investigation as the risk of flight is rationally inferred;

b) To prevent the concealment, alteration or destruction of sources of relevant evidence for the prosecution;

c) To prevent the risk of the accused committing other criminal acts.

The order further states that in assessing these criteria for detention, the credentials of the accused and his family background has to be taken into consideration.

It can be safely asserted that the above three criteria are not applicable to Roshan Jamal Khan for the following reasons :

a) i. As the 3 month Schengen Visa of Roshan Jamal Khan expired on 1-12-07 before he could complete his work, he applied for extension of it with the concerned authorities to extend his stay in Spain. He had also visited Spain in the year 2005.

ii. He was staying with his brother-in-law, Mr. Amanullah Khan, who is living in Spain since the past 7 years.

iii. The Spanish authorities can impound his passport (which it has not done so far) and he would be happy to stay in Spain as a free man during the process of the investigations.

Considering the above, it can be safely argued that the risk of flight is eliminated.


b) i. The mosque is a public prayer place. Just the mere presence of Roshan Jamal Khan during the raid on the mosque when terror suspects were arrested cannot, by any rationale, associate him with terror organizations.

ii. No explosive material was found on Roshan Jamal Khan or at the place of his residence. Illegal materials found in public places cannot be attributed to any person present at the time of their discovery.

iii. The general charge of being in possession of explosives and associating with terror organizations is simply not sustainable.

In light of the above facts, the fear of destruction of evidence seems farfetched.


c) i. Roshan Jamal Khan is an alumnus of the prestigious St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. The American Embassy in Kuwait appreciated his work while he was a tour officer in Boodai Aviations, Kuwait.

ii. He was born and brought up in one of the most cosmopolitan areas of Mumbai. His father owns a milk dairy, which was established 5 decades ago, in the same area. (Hindustan Times)

iii. 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, 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).

Considering the clean credentials of Roshan Jamal Khan, the apprehension that he may commit other criminal acts is unreasonable.

Despite this the Spanish Government claims that he is associated with terror activities without producing a grain of evidence.

He was kept in custody for 5 months before being presented in the National Court in Madrid. Although, the august court recorded his statement, no charges were leveled against him by the prosecution.

It is feared that Roshan Jamal Khan will be implicated in false cases as his signatures have been taken on several Spanish documents, the contents of which he does not understand. Besides, he has also been given lawyers with whom he cannot communicate.

He is being kept in solitary confinement for nearly a year. The trial of his unspecified crime has still not started. This is a blatant violation of human rights.

No amount of pleading with the Spanish authorities has helped. Roshan Jamal Khan went to Spain for importing olive oil. But, the authorities in Spain converted the symbolic peace plant into an icon of terror.

The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of God

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Crime & Punishment - Spanish Style

Presumed guilty until proved innocent. That is what one understands seems to be the law in Spain after going through the letter of its consul-general, Mr. Cesar Alba.

Roshan Jamal Khan, who was detained by the Spanish Police in Barcelona on January 19, 2008 on charges of associating with terror organisations, will be completing a year in jail without trial. (USA Today)

On 30th March, 2008, Roshan’s wife, Mrs. Farida Jamal Khan, along with her brother-in-law, Mr. Mehboob Khan, presented a memo along with a flower bouquet to Mr. Cesar Alba seeking her husband’s release. Mr. Cesar Alba replied on 29th May stating the reasons for the detention of Roshan and assured that the Spanish laws will allow him to present “all the necessary evidence” to prove his innocence.

Outrageous! That’s what one would exclaim. First, Roshan is presumed guilty without being tried. Next, he is expected to present evidences to prove his innocence while being in prison.

Isn’t it a rule of justice all over the world that a person is presumed innocent until proved guilty? Isn’t it the duty of prosecuting authorities to gather evidences to prove a person guilty of a crime?

After his arrest in Barcelona, Spain, the top, two investigating agencies of the Government of India, viz. Central Bureau of Investigation & Anti-Terrorism Squad, 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). What could be a more valid proof of Roshan's innocence than the clearance of his name by the investigating agencies of the Government of India? What more evidence does the Government of Spain require to release Roshan?

A recent report in the media regarding an Australian probe claimed that the Australian authorities regret charging Dr. Mohammad Haneef for terrorism. The probe recommends “sweeping changes to the Australian Federal Police, immigration intelligence and the nation’s anti-terrorism laws”.

Compare the Australian attitude with the Spanish authorities’ act of dancing to the tune of some lousy French crooner whose very credibility is doubtful. The Australian authorities regret the arrest of Dr. Haneef despite an incident of terror taking place. On the contrary, the Spanish authorities arrested Roshan on the basis of fantasy of some self-styled James Bond who wanted his 15 minutes of fame.

The imprisonment of Roshan without being proved guilty is a criminal act. It is a crime against humanity. No developed nation would commit such a crime. In fact, the standard of development of a country can be assessed by its treatment of people. And, Spain doesn’t seem to be a developed country. Or else, how can one justify punishment without crime? It’s barbaric, Matador.

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Barcelona Blight

2008 was a difficult year. 2009 looked promising. But, the promise did not last long. On 4th January, after spending the whole of Sunday at a friend’s computer customizing this blog, Talha – the eldest son of Roshan Jamal Khan who was detained in Barcelona, Spain – returned home in the evening to repair his own computer.

Working late till night in the cold weather combined together with the stress of getting his father released soon, took a heavy toll on Talha’s health. He experienced terrible spasms at around midnight. Rushed to a nearby hospital, he was admitted in the intensive coronary care unit. After the mandatory medical tests, the doctors are still not sure what went wrong with him.

Two days later, Talha was shifted from the ICCU to the general ward. Still in the hospital, with family and relatives worried, the focus has shifted from getting his father released to getting Talha recover his health.

Barcelona is such beautiful city that one never imagined that it could bring so much misfortune to anyone. May Allah help Talha to recover from his illness soon and end the streak of adversity facing his family.

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