Free Hicham Yezza!

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Free Hicham Yezza!

Hicham Yezza, a 30-year-old employee at the University of Nottingham and anti-war activist, is currently being held in detention while a judicial review of a decision to deport him is being carried out, following his arrest under the Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent release without charge. As the website freehichamyezza.wordpress.com, set up to publicise the campaign to prevent his deportation, explains:

"Hicham has lived in Nottingham for 13 years while he studied for undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and worked at the university, where he has built up a large network of close friends. The huge campaign to prevent his deportation is a testament to this. He served as a member of the University Senate for two terms (2004-5) and on the Student's Union Executive Committee, was President of the Arabic Society, was the editor of the influential Voice magazine for international students, and is the long-time editor of Ceasefire magazine, a political journal [magazine of the Nottingham Student Peace Movement]. He was a prominent member of the artistic group 'Al-Zaytouna', and weeks before his arrest performed the leading role in a feature play at Nottingham Arts Theatre. Numerous references have been collected from reputable professors and prominent members of the local and national community that testify to his integrity and strong roots in the city. He lives and works in Nottingham and has shown every intention of fighting his case, as he thinks he has excellent grounds to remain in the UK.

"His deportation follows his arrest under the Terrorism Act 2000. This occurred after Rizawaan Sabir, a student acquaintance who was studying political Islam emailed a copy of an Al Qaeda training manual he was using for his research to Hich as Rizwaan couldn't afford to print it. After the document was seen, the police were called. They arrested Hich and Rizwaan, searched their homes, seized their computers and interrogated friends and family. Both were released without charge and the university has subsequently been forced to admit that the documents were legitimate research material.

"Despite his innocence, Hich was immediately re-arrested under immigration legislation on charges which he sought legal advice and representation over. However, on Friday, May 23, his solicitor was told that Hich was being deported and he was moved to a detention centre. It is clear from Hicham's legal documentation that there could be no reason to disallow him bail and push for his removal before his set trial date, except that the immigration services are determined to remove him without allowing him due process.

"The circumstances of Hich's initial arrest sparked widespread protest from students and academics, and extensive critical media coverage. Many people have drawn a link between this and the authorities' hurried attempts to remove him from the country. Regardless of whether this is a politically motivated action or not, it is clear that he has not been given the chance to argue his case in court, which he his perfectly happy to do."

In a statement on May 24, Hicham said, "The Home Office operates with a Gestapo mentality. They have no respect for human dignity and human life. They treat foreign nationals as disposable goods – their recklessness and cavalier attitude belongs to a cavalier state." He contrasted the massive support he received with "the faceless, brutal, draconian tactics of the Home Office".

At a march of some 500 university employees and students in Nottingham For Academic Freedom and Against Deportation on May 28, Alan Simpson, Labour MP for Nottingham South, said to the university authorities, "How ashamed you should be of yourselves. How ashamed that you cannot come to the defence of one of your staff." On the terror legislation, he said, "We would live in a society where we fear each other and that is what the treatment of Hicham and Rizawaan actually demonstrates."

On May 30, an application to the High Court was issued seeking a judicial review of the decision to deport Hicham. The removal directions were cancelled by the Home Office and an application was made for his release while his case is reconsidered. However, following this cancellation order on his deportation, he remains unjustly incarcerated, and has since been transported between five different detention centres in the two-and-a-half weeks since his re-arrest.

In the last such relocation, he was forcibly moved. The website explained at the time: "Hicham had been categorically refusing to be hauled around the country from detention centre to detention centre like a piece of luggage. In the early afternoon of Monday, June 2, Hicham told supporters who are in contact with him that the authorities were threatening to forcefully move him. We have since lost contact with Hicham, which suggests that he has in fact been forcefully relocated to the detention centre at Dover. This is obviously quite a worrying development in terms of Hicham's well-being and supporters now hope that they will be able to re-establish contact soon and determine the exact nature of the situation."

This arrest and re-arrest is a serious development in the ongoing state-organised attack on Muslims. It is both a warning to Muslims and to academics engaged in research: researching subjects like political Islam, or investigating the facts and circumstances of the "war on terror" is to tread a fine line, while to be a Muslim and a leading figure in the people's movements is to come under the utmost suspicion. As the website points out, "Hich's case has attracted an unusual amount of attention due to the nature of his original arrest, but, in a political climate increasingly hostile to migrants, the horrific way he has been treated by the immigration authorities is all too common. This week alone, two asylum seekers living in Nottingham, Mary-Jane Mutetsi and Amdani Juma have been detained." Amdani is a supporter of the Free Hich campaign. For more information, see friendsofamdani.wordpress.com.

The singling-out of Hicham Yezza is also to be seen in the context of what is being pushed in universities in terms of isolating "extremism", bringing universities into the "war on terror" and even attempting to control what research can be done towards this aim. The response can only be that our security lies in defending the rights of all. The response of the staff, students and wider community has been admirable. They have been organising meetings, talks, marches, cultural events and other actions. Youth, students and all progressive people must continue to organise to put a stop to the state terror against Muslims. No "war on terror" in the universities!