Two Algerian terror suspects who were deported to their homeland last month have been arrested, imprisoned and charged with terrorist activities, despite being assured by Algerian officials in Britain they would face no criminal proceedings. One of them, known as H, withdrew his appeal against deportation after a British official told the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) in a statement: "The British government has absolutely no reason to believe that H will be arrested or otherwise detained for a prolonged period of time if deported to Algeria." But his legal advisers and Amnesty International now say they fear he will have to face an unfair trial using evidence obtained by torture.The development casts doubt on the government's argument that assurances from Algeria can be relied on and suspects can be safely deported, even though the country has refused to enter into a memorandum of understanding guaranteeing their human rights. The news of the Algerians' imprisonment and prosecution comes as the extremist Islamist preacher Abu Qatada awaits a Siac ruling tomorrow on his appeal against deportation to Jordan.
The Algerians are understood to be facing trial for "participating in a terrorist network operating abroad". The second man, Reda Dendani, has been implicated by Mahmoud Meguerba, an intelligence source in the ricin trial, according to information received by Amnesty International. Meguerba, who was not called as a witness because he was considered unreliable, is reported to have been tortured by the DRS, the Algerian military security police.