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Defend Sister Muddassar Arani FAIR (Forum Against Islamophobia & Racism) was the first to send out an alert and they gave some background saying: “On 9th February 2004, The Sun Newspaper published an Islamophobic and xenophobic article on Muslim professional, Ms Muddassar Arani. In the article concerned, The Sun implied that Arani & Co had been paid £200,000 for representing Abu Hamza. This is entirely false and inaccurate. Miss Arani and Arani & Co. have not received any money regarding the case concerning action taken to deprive Abu Hamza of his nationality. Furthermore, neither Miss Arani nor Arani & Co. are at present representing Abu Hamza – these facts were made known to The Sun prior to the publication of the article. “ FAIR has urged campaigners to contact the Press Complaints Commission asking them to order The Sun to publish Ms Arani’s Press Release, correct the breaches of the Code of Practice that they have made, and to ensure that such intimation does not take place. While most Muslims, particularly men, sit and do nothing or fight over Fiqh matters, we have a brave sister who is striving to protect oppressed Muslims. Muddassar Arani is probably the best Muslim human rights lawyer around. She is well known for defending the rights of Muslims and has on many occasions taken on cases without charging her Muslim clients a single penny. The Sun’s smear campaign has resulted in sister Muddassar receiving death threats, hate mail and abusive telephone calls. Why is it that Muddassar Arani is targeted and demonised for defending Abu Hamza’s human rights when other non-Muslim lawyers who represent terror suspects, paedophiles, child-killers and rapists are not portrayed in the same manner? Such blatant Islamophobia is unacceptable. Course of Action Below is a sample letter by FAIR. We suggest that you E-mail it (or compose your own letter if possible) to the following addresses: As always please send a BCC of your E-mails to info@iacn.org.uk ------------------------------------------------------------- Complaint Regarding The Sun’s Demonisation of Muslim Professionals I am writing to you in reference to articles published in The Sun on 9 February 2004, where The Sun sought to demonise Muslim professional, Ms Muddassar Arani. The two offending articles breached Parts 1-4 and 13 of the Press Code of Practice, as detailed below. Breach of Parts 1 and 2 – Accuracy and Opportunity to Reply The articles gave the impression that Ms Muddassar Arani received £200,000 in legal aid last year for representing Abu Hamza. This is inaccurate as Ms Arani has not received any legal aid for representing Abu Hamza. Furthermore, Ms Arani wrote a letter to The Sun and issued a Press Release on 11 February 2004 stating the inaccuracies in these articles, but to date, The Sun has not published any of these, denying Ms Arani the opportunity to reply. Breach of Parts 3 and 4– Privacy and Harassment The Sun published details of the area and type of house that Ms Arani lives in and the car that she drives. This is in breach of Part 3 of the Press Code of Practice. The Sun’s photographers have stalked both the home and office of Ms Arani, taking photographs of her against her will, and published them. This is harassment and in breach of Part 4 of the Press Code of Practice. Breach of Part 13 – Discrimination The articles referred to the headscarf that Ms Arani was wearing when witnessed by The Sun’s journalists. References to Ms Arani’s religious clothing were made to project her as a lawyer who shares the views of her client, Abu Hamza. Ms Arani’s headscarf has no relevance to the ‘story’ in question and was published in a prejudical manner, thereby breaching Part 13 of the Press Code of Practice. In conclusion, The Sun has sought to demonise a Muslim professional, who subsequently has received death threats, hate mail and abusive telephone calls as a result of these articles. Far from publishing Ms Arani’s concerns or her press release, The Sun published readers letters two days later calling for her to be struck off and deported from the UK. The Sun has acted in a manner that inflames racial and religious hatred through these articles, since other non-Muslim lawyers who represent terror suspects, paedophiles, child-killers and rapists are not portrayed in the same manner. I hope that The Sun will publish Ms Arani’s Press Release and correct the breaches of the Code of Practice that they have made, so that an end can be put to the harassment that she and her family is receiving as a result of The Sun’s inflammatory articles. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you. Yours faithfully ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Below are links to The Sun's inflammatory articles: http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004061765,00.html http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2004061768,00.html Click here to view sister Muddassar Arani's subsequent press release
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