Muddassar Arani, the solicitor who represented Abu Hamza, leaves the Old Bailey in London, during his trial in 2007.
Posted on 06/06/2008 9:13:43 AM PDT by Stoat
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 12:47 PM on 06th June 2008
Muddassar Arani, the solicitor who represented Abu Hamza, leaves the Old Bailey in London, during his trial in 2007.
A solicitor who specialises in representing terror suspects and tells them not to cooperate with police was paid almost £1 million in legal aid last year.
Muddassar Arani's firm represented Abu Hamza, dirty bomb plotter Dhirin Barot and three of the 21/7 bombers in recent years.
She has raked in £3.5 million in taxpayer-funded support to help defend extremist suspects in recent years, according to new figures.
In the seven years documented in figures released under the Freedom of Information Act payments from the Legal Services Commission have almost quadrupled.
In one month alone - May last year - the firm billed almost £400,000 for legal services.
The 44-year-old mum of two once boasted in a magazine that those accused of terrorism come to her first.
In the same interview just 10 months before London's July 7 suicide bombs, she claimed the terror threat in the UK was 'deliberately hyped' and said the Government were 'probably guilty of promoting Islamaphobia'.
Despite the zealous religious beliefs of many of her clients Mrs Arani has claimed she is 'not a very religious person" and only started wearing a headscarf in the late 1990's after she went on Hajj to Mecca.
As a representative of some of the world's most infamous terror suspects Mrs Arani's firm have printed leaflets encouraging anyone contacted by anti-terrorist branch police to remain silent.
Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza and the dirty bomber Dhiren Barot were both represented by Arani's firm, which made nearly £1m this year
It reads: 'Do not talk to them regarding any matter.'
Her advice flies in the face of a plea by the Muslim Council of Britain for the community to give police 'the fullest co-operation' to catch terrorists.
Mrs Arani, who styles herself a human rights expert, said in a recent lecture: 'The rule of thumb in a terrorist case is: Do not answer any questions put to you.'
Directing her remarks at suspects arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 she added: 'You have a right to silence. Use it. Use that right to protect yourself and others who may be arrested with you.'
Mrs Arani, who speaks four languages, Hindu, Urdu, Punjabi and English, arrived in the UK aged eight in 1972 from her home country of Uganda after dictator Idi Amin expelled the Asian population.
A spokesman for the Legal Services Commission responsible for funding legal aid said: 'Arani & Co will have to pay wages for solicitors, caseworkers, support staff and overheads, such as offices costs or management out of these payments.
‘In addition payments from the LSC will also cover disbursements paid to barristers, interpreters and expert witnesses for work carried out in relation to cases being handled by the firm.
'Arani & Co primarily carry out publicly funded work in the areas of family and criminal law.
By providing initial advice and, when required, assistance at court in family disputes, the firm helps to ensure access to justice to some of the most vulnerable and socially excluded members of our society.
'The criminal defence work the firm undertakes underpins one of the key principles of our criminal justice system."
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Please say a prayer for the people of Great Britain
“arrived in the UK aged eight in 1972 from her home country of Uganda after dictator Idi Amin expelled the Asian population.”
Better to be expelled then eaten by old Idi, and then expelled in a different manner! England is sooooo screwed!
Probably the rest of Europe as well.
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