Muslim organisations lodge complaint against Chief Constable of Merseyside Police

A Coalition of Muslim organisations including Legal Action for Peace, Muslim Public Affairs Committee, CAGE and Islamic Human Rights Commission submitted a complaint on 8th November against the Chief Constable, Serena Kennedy, following her press conference on 30th October regarding Axel Rudakubana who is accused of the horrific killing of three young girls.

During the press conference, Chief Constable Williams stated that Rudakubana was charged with being in possession of information “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000”. During the press conference, Chief Constable Williams stated that this book was titled “Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants: The Al-Qaeda Training Manual.”

Chief Constable Williams failed to disclose that this book was written by an American Psychiatrist, Jerrold Post, who worked as an analyst for the CIA. She also failed to mention that this book was available widely online including at American Universities and also sold by Waterstones, Blackwells and eBay at the time of her press conference. It is a legal publication.

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The organisations expressed deep concern over the Chief Constable’s omission of key public facts. The Coalition believes that her omission has caused serious harm to the Muslim Community especially so soon after the extremist far-right riots across the country this summer. Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioners responded to the Coalition on 12th November stating that they will consider the complaint.

Statement on behalf of the Coalition:

On behalf of the Coalition, Legal Action for Peace stated: “We are deeply troubled by the Chief Constable’s omission by failing to disclose facts about Jerrold Post’s book as being widely available at the time of her press conference. Her reference to the widely available book, without proper context, has fuelled hatred against Muslims and increases the risk of harm to members of the Muslim Community.

We note that certain far-right personalities and tabloids have been touting this so called ‘AQ Manual’ by using the Chief Constable’s omission to stoke up racial tensions by alleging that this is an example of police protection afforded to the Muslim Community. We strongly urge people to fact check information including mainstream media as we have seen how damaging media propaganda can be as in the case of the recent violent attacks by Israeli fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv.

We urge our police forces to exercise greater caution and responsibility in their public statements to avoid harming the Muslim Community, exacerbating tensions and fostering discrimination.”

The coalition has called for a further public statement from the Chief Constable stating the full facts in order to rectify the damaging omission that was made during her press conference. They are also seeking assurances that measures will be taken to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

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