A British Muslim falsely confessed to planning to bomb several high-profile English landmarks after being tortured and subjected to degrading conditions in Pakistan, his defence lawyer said on Tuesday. Salahuddin Amin, 31, was subjected to “inhumane” treatment by Pakistani intelligence during 10 months of incarceration, Patrick O’Connor told a London court. The torture took place with the knowledge of British intelligence agencies although no British agents were actually involved or witnessed it, he said. Amin is one of seven British Muslims accused of planning to make explosives out of ammonium nitrate fertiliser to bomb pubs, clubs, trains, a shopping centre and synagogues. O’Connor said Amin, who also holds Pakistani nationality, had been deprived of all “basic human rights” while in custody in Pakistan in 2004. Such treatment had caused Amin to make confessions, which were not detailed in court, to British police on his arrest in February last year on arriving back in London, he added. He added that the idea that British intelligence did not know the “notorious practices” of Pakistani intelligence and what would happen to Amin in their custody “is regarded as risible”.
Prosecutors accuse Amin of sending emails detailing the plot with a formula on how to make explosives from fertiliser to another of the suspects, Omar Khyam. O’Connor said Amin denied the claim. “No one seems to be able to produce it (the emails) formally,” he told the court.