Before going further I would like to tell you that I am not an experienced public speaker. I am grateful to you for coming here and I want you to know the truth about my son Babar Ahmad.

My son is completely and utterly innocent. He is an average law abiding young man who has never been in any kind of trouble before and has not even received a parking ticket. I want you to know the truth about my son despite everything that has happened and all the lies and ridiculous allegations. I still believe justice will be done. You must all think that my son is a cold-hearted monster who was involved in some kind of evil plot. The reality is that my son, as I have already said, has always been a law abiding citizen of this country. However my family and I are living in a nightmare. You cannot imagine the pain and suffering that we are going through. I ask you as a father not to allow the demonizing of my son to destroy the life of an innocent man. Do you really believe that a young lad from Tooting could possibly be planning an attack against an aircraft carrier of the Navy of the world's super power? The evidence, we are all told, apparently consists of an e-mail in a chat room where he gives his full name and a screen saver of a ship. The same evidence could be brought against thousands of people of South London. Even though my son has done nothing wrong, nobody is prepared to believe him. I thought people were 'innocent until proven guilty'! The allegations made against my son are all wild and ridiculous.

These lies are being planted in order to deceive the world. All Babar has to help him now is his 69 year old father because his wife and mother are too distraught. I don’t know how long his mother is able to cope! Even though I am no match to the enormous resources of the US government, I will do my utmost to save my son.

Babar comes from an ordinary family. I came to this country in 1963 and worked as a civil servant for 22 years until I retired. I have four children. Two boys and two girls. All my children are brought up here. They know no other country. Their schooling was here and they have all been to top universities. Babar was a popular student with lots of friends both Muslims and non-Muslims.

Babar has always been a gentle boy, very well mannered with a friendly nature, kind hearted and who has a love for animals. At times like this you remember the most trivial of things. He would worry more about our family cat when he was ill rather than himself. On most Sundays like today you would find him playing with his nephews and nieces in the local park.

The start of events: 2nd December 2003, all our families houses including Babar's were raided at 5 o'clock in the morning by fully armed anti-terrorist police. Babar was brutally assaulted by police, his wife was hand-cuffed and the houses were searched by forensic teams from top to bottom.

They took away computers and boxes of material. He was kept in custody for 7 days and released without charge. He still has not recovered from the mental and physical pain and neither have charges been brought against the police who assaulted my son. This was the reason why 'Stop Police Terror' was set up in the first place.

He still has hallucinations, cannot sleep and is not the same cheerful person he was. The injuries that he received were extensive. He is pursuing complaints against the police and the doctors who failed to provide him with proper medical treatment when he was in custody. I cannot believe that the anti-terrorist police and the security services could not find evidence against him if he is the monster that he is made out to be. All the information now being selectively disclosed, has been with the police for over 8 months. In this circumstance, I know, as do the police that my son is not guilty of any wrong doing.

As for the ridiculous allegations, relied on for the extradition request from the US government, I am lost for words. If he was engaged in unlawfully raising funds for Afghanistan and Chechnya and if the Americans think it is a terrorist crime in the US, than it must also be the same in the UK. So why doesn't the government put him on trial here so we can all find out what the truth is?

Instead of doing that, he is being handed over to the US government like some kind of fugitive to be put through a Kangaroo court which will rely on evidence gathered by the British police. It does not make sense. If someone living in this country uses their computer to break into a US government computer system, they are charged and tried in this country. No one has ever been extradited. He is a British citizen and should be tried by a British court. I have more faith in British justice than American injustice.

After twenty-two years of loyal service to the Crown, I cannot even get a British jury made up of ordinary people to decide the fate of my son. I never thought the day would come when I would regret my 40 years stay in this country. I could go on and on but I will conclude. My son is being used as a scapegoat for the fact that President Bush wants to boost his election prospects. The fact of the matter is that my son is not an evil computer expert, but a junior IT support worker at a world renowned academic institution. Just as the Birmingham six and the Guildford four were framed by corrupt police officers influenced by hysterical anti-Irish sentiment, I fear that my son is the victim of the anti-Muslim backlash that is growing everyday in this country. No one believed the Irish community and you will probably not believe me either. All I can say to you is that yesterday it was the Irish people, today it is Muslims and tomorrow it could be anyone.

I pray to Allah 'You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help'.

Assallamu alaikum.

Mr Ashfaq Ahmad (Stop Police Terror Conference, Sunday 8th August 2004)