Freed Muslim terror suspect says Britain is "police state"
A British terrorism suspect released following his arrest over an alleged kidnap and murder plot has criticized the police investigations and charged that `Britain is a police state for Muslims.`
Abu Bakr, who was working in an Islamist book shop and is studying for a PhD in Political Islam at Birmingham university, said the arrest and seven days of detention `will affect me for the rest of my life.`
He gave an interview to BBC news late Wednesday after his release, along with one other suspect, earlier that day.
Altogether nine men were arrested in dawn raids in Birmingham last week on suspicion of terrorism. Media reports said the men had been planning to kidnap and behead a Muslim British soldier in an `Iraq-style execution.`
The raids have caused unease among the large Muslim community in Birmingham, in the British Midlands, but police have said it was `normal` in such a complex investigation to free some suspects and continue to hold others.
Bakr said that after he had been taken into custody and fingerprinted, his solicitor told him of the alleged plot to kidnap and kill a British Muslim soldier.
Asked how he felt about the arrest, he said: `It`s a police state for Muslims. It`s not a police state for everybody else because these terror laws are designed specifically for Muslims and that`s quite an open fact.`
He had been released by police on Wednesday morning and told to `go back to things how they were.`
`But they don`t realise that, after seven days of virtual torture for my family, it`s going to be hard to readjust,` he added. `This is going to affect me for the rest of my life.` - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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