On Friday evening, family campaigns will gather in London to mark the seventh anniversary of Talha Ahsan’s detention without trial.
The event curated by Hamja Ahsan, brother of Talha will be held at London’s Rich Mix in Bethnal Green (19 July 2013, from 6.30pm). The event entitled, ‘Long Walk: Family Campaigns for Justice in the UK’, will feature the London premiere of Dinnertime (a short film on the trauma suffered by the family as a result of Talha’s extradition) which was recently awarded the Channel 4 first pitch award at Sheffield Documentary Film Festival.
Guests include Sheila Coleman (Hillsborough Justice Campaign), Janet Alder (campaigning sister of British paratrooper Christopher Alder killed in police custody) and comedian Ava Vidal.
The date marks the seventh anniversary of Talha Ahsan’s detention without trial after he was arrested on an extradition request from the United States, on allegations relating to a website. The event has been held annually and previous guests have included Gareth Peirce, Bruce Kent and Noam Chomsky (by video). Talha was extradited to the USA on 5 October 2012 with his co-defendant Babar Ahmad. They are both in pre-trial solitary confinement in a Connecticut Supermax prison.
Curator Hamja Ahsan told IRR News: ‘Caroline Lucas MP recently paid tribute to our family’s “persistence and courage” in parliament. We would also, in turn, like to pay tribute to the long-term British family and community-led campaigns that have inspired us to fight for justice. We hope to reform our unjust and cruel extradition laws toward fairness, raise awareness about the cruelty of long-term solitary confinement and bring Talha Home. So, in future, no family has to go through the same nightmare as we are going through now.’