More than a hundred lawyers, academics, imams, and artists have issued a joint statement in solidarity with the witch-hunted pro-Palestine Irish Muslim solicitor Fahad Ansari.
Human rights lawyer Fahad Ansari had his legal request denied to stop police from examining his phone, which was seized following his detention under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 at the port of Holyhead on August 6, as he returned from a family holiday in Ireland with his wife and four children.
During a High Court hearing on Monday, police refused to explain in open court why Ansari was detained. A closed hearing will now take place where the police will present secret evidence to the judge — evidence that neither Ansari nor his lawyers will be allowed to see.
The following statement with 117 signatories was released today:
“We, the undersigned organisations and individuals, condemn the escalating campaign of harassment by the British authorities against Irish Muslim solicitor, Fahad Ansari, who is being politically targeted solely for carrying out his professional duties.
“On 6th August 2025, police officers at the Welsh port of Holyhead stopped Fahad under the notorious Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, on his return from a family holiday in Ireland with his wife and children. Whilst his family waited in their car, police detained Fahad for almost three hours and seized his work phone, despite his protestations that it contained legally privileged information relating to his clients. Police questioned Fahad about his religious practices, including how regularly he attends mosque, his views on Palestine, the protests he attends, the products he boycotts, Palestine Action and even his clients. The case is believed to be the first time police have used Schedule 7 to target a solicitor in the UK in this way.
“Fahad is a senior solicitor specialising in cases involving national security and has a strong track record of holding the British government to account. In February this year, Fahad persuaded the Supreme Court to rule that the government had no power to deny citizenship to a child of a terror suspect unlawfully stripped of his British citizenship. In April, Fahad submitted the landmark application to the Home Secretary in April for the deproscription of Hamas, under Section 4 of the Terrorism Act. Section 4 enables banned groups to legally challenge their inclusion on the government’s list of terrorist groups. Fahad was immediately subjected to smears by senior politicians and the media, including identifying him with his client, and he received hundreds of abusive calls and messages, including threats of violence and death threats.
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“Schedule 7 has been widely condemned by the UN, successive independent reviewers of counter terrorism legislation, as well as domestic and international human rights organisations, for being overly broad in its application, lacking essential safeguards and being applied in a discriminatory manner, specifically against the Muslim community. As one of the only powers in the UK that allows for a person to be detained and questioned without any need for suspicion, rights groups have documented its use to harass and intimidate activists, journalists and other human rights defenders in order to create an environment of fear as well as to illegitimately access vast amounts of personal data without judicial oversight.
“We stand in solidarity with Fahad and support his claim for a judicial review against the Chief Constable of North Wales Police and the Home Secretary. We call on the British authorities to immediately cease their campaign of harassment against Fahad and allow him to carry out his professional duties as a solicitor without obstruction and intimidation.”
Academics
1. Emeritus Professor Avi Shlaim (University of Oxford)
2. Emeritus Prof Bill Bowring (Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers)
3. Dr Khadijah Elshayyal (University of Edinburgh)
4. Dr Rizwaan Sabir (School of Law & Justice Studies, Liverpool John Moores University)
5. Dr Ruth Marshall (University of Toronto)
6. Dr Tarek Younis
Civil Society Organisations
7. Abdul-Hameed Hassan (Just 4 Youth)
8. Abdullah Faheem (FOSIS)
9. Abdullah Saif (Muslim Engagement & Development – MEND)
10. Ahmed Jeddo (Human Aid & Advocacy)
11. Ali Hassan (MPAC UK)
12. Ali Rocha (Brazil Matters)
13. Amani Hassani (Centre for Muslim Rights in Denmark)
14. Amrit Wilson (South Asia Solidarity Group)
15. Anisa Islam (Safinah Collective)
16. Asif Malik (Personal capacity)
17. Dr Asim Qureshi (CAGE International)
18. Ayub Seedat (Here for Youth)
19. Dave Kirby (Doctors in UNITE)
20. David Cannon (Jewish Network for Palestine)
21. Fatema Dossa (Open Discussions)
22. Faysal Ahmed (Tower Hamlets Palestine Solidarity Network )
23. Ghulamm Haydar (Myriad Foundation)
24. Huda Ammori (Palestine Action co-founder)
25. Dr Ismail Patel (Friends of Al Aqsa)
26. Jenny Hardacre (Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign)
27. Jonathan Cook (Middle East Eye)
28. Jonathon Porritt (Green Futures)
29. Kevin Blowe (Netpol)
30. Kojo Kyerewaa (Black Lives Matter UK)
31. Laura Smith (Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants)
32. Lubia Begum-Rob (Prisoners’ Advice Service)
33. Mahmoood Abu Hamdan (Sama Centre)
34. Majella Dowdican (London Irish Brigade)
35. Marwan Elfallah (Redbridge Community Action Group)
36. Massoud Shadjareh (Islamic Human Rights Commission)
37. Mohammed Sidyot (Lincs Project)
38. Mohamed Mashaal (Masjid Alhikmah and Community Centre)
39. Muhammad Zubair Khan (FOSIS Ireland)
40. Naeem Omarji (The Leicester Massive)
41. Oscar Leyens (International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network)
42. Ridwana Lambada (Leicester Action for Palestine)
43. Dr Rodney Watts (CAMPAIN)
44. Salman Butt (Islam 21C)
45. Sheikh Shaqur Rehman (Muslim Research and Development Foundation)
46. Suzie Webb (Mother’s Little Helpers)
47. Syed Jung (Brighton & Hove Muslim Forum)
48. Taby Khan (Healthworkers and Allies for Palestine)
49. Tanya Manzoor (Campaign Against Anti-Muslim Hate
50. Tim Donnelly (Counterfire)
51. Tony Greenstein (The Brighton Trust)
52. Umar Quraishi (Connecting Hands)
53. Ummar Yousaf (Muslim Futures)
54. Roshan Muhammed Salih (5Pillars)
Lawyers Associations
55. Declan Owens (Socialist Lawyers Association of Ireland)
56. Dr Deepa Govindarajan (Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers)
57. Günay Dağ (International Bureau of the People’s Law Office, Turkey)
58. Prof Louis Lemkow Zetterling (European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights)
59. Micòl Savia (International Association of Democratic Lawyers)
60. Murat Yılmaz (Progressive Lawyers Association, Turkey)
61. Suzanne Adele (National Lawyer’s Guild, USA)
Lawyers
62. Alex Barrett, barrister
63. Alexa Thompson, barrister
64. Alexander McColl (Garden Court North Chambers)
65. Annie Campbell (Anne Campbell Immigration Legal Services)
66. Ceren Uysal (Progressive Lawyers Association, Turkey)
67. Ciara Bartlam, barrister
68. Ellen O’Neill (Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers)
69. Hannah Webb, barrister
70. Haras Ahmed, solicitor
71. Haroon Sarwar, solicitor
72. Jean Demar (Public Interest Law Centre)
73. Katie Nelson (Duncan Lewis Solicitors)
74. Kevin Winters (KRW Law)
75. Margo Munro Kerr, barrister
76. Meghan Curran, barrister
77. Mira Hammad, barrister
78. Mohammad Hussain (Temple Solicitors
79. Nabila Rafique (Ace Law LLP)
80. Poppy Firmin (Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants)
81. Raggi Kotak (One Pump Court Chambers)
82. Rosalind Burgin (Garden Court North Chambers)
83. Rose Bernstein (Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants)
84. Roshni Popli, barrister
85. Russell Fraser (Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers)
86. Ryan Bestford, solicitor
87. Sarah-Jame Ewart (One Pump Court Chambers)
88. Shahreen Khanom, solicitor
89. Taher Gulamhussein (Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants)
90. Wasif Mahmood, solicitor
91. Zillur Rahman, solicitor
Imams and scholars
92. Sheikh Ali Hammuda
93. Imam Amaar Domun
94. Sheikh Ashraf Dabous (Lewisham Islamic Centre)
95. Sheikh Fraz Farhat
96. Sheikh Fuad Abdo (Al Ansar IEC)
97. Imam Hamim-Ul Islam (Cann Hall Mosque)
98. Imam Imran Afzal
99. Sheikh Omid Azizi
100. Imam Shakeel Begg (Lewisham Islamic Centre)
101. Sheikh Sohal Gachi
102. Sheikh Suliman Gani (Al Khaleel Institute)
103. Sheikh Syed Maqsud-E-Elahi Sabir (Lewisham Islamic Centre
Artists
104. Carolyn Hinds, writer
105. Rahim Jung, Broadcaster
Doctors
106. Dr Abid Shoaib
107. Dr Anna Moore (Barts Heath NHS Trust)
108. Dr C Schamberg
109. Dr Chinedu Nwokoro (Barts Heath NHS Trust)
110. Dr Imraana Siddiqui
111. Dr Irshad Hussain
112. Dr Jonathan Fluxman
113. Dr Josephine Shakur
114. Dr Mohammed Khanji (Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust)
115. Dr Rehiana Ali
116. Dr Sohail Ahmed
117. Dr Umer Siddique
