Look who's wearing a No Snitch t-shirt at the BBC
BBC knew of link to failed 7/21 bombers, but felt under "NO OBLIGATION" to notify police.
(Is this the same BBC as the home of paid sources and "disappeared" content, BBC?)
A BBC producer failed to give police information that would have helped track down the July 21 bombers, the trial was told.
Don't Panic, I'm Islamic (ed. note: Still trying to find a copy of this video which is now "no longer available"), which featured the group paintballing and an interview with Mohammed Hamid, was shown on BBC2 on June 12, 2005.
Nasreen Suleaman, the producer, told the court that Hamid said he would use his £300 fee to settle the fine he had been given by magistrates for racially abusing two policemen at his Oxford.
Called as a defence witness, Miss Suleaman admitted that she had spoken to Hamid in the days following the July 21 attacks and found out he knew the wanted men.
She said she thought he was scared the fugitives might try to call him but did not contact the police because she felt under "no obligation" to do so.
Miss Suleaman claimed she told BBC managers of the situation but no one passed on the information to the authorities.
Who was the "authority" in question is a good question and Harry's Place is asking it.
I don't know about the BBC management structure. Did she report what she had been told to the producer of the programme, Phil Rees?
Phil Rees, who produced the show, told the court that he was impressed by Mr Hamid’s sense of humour while looking for someone to appear in the documentary. He said: “I think he had a comic touch and he represented a strand within British Muslims. I took it as more like a rather Steptoe and Son figure rather than seriously persuasive. I saw him as a kind of Cockney comic.” Mr Rees, who now works for the Arabic TV station al-Jazeera, gave Mr Hamid a signed copy of his book Dining With Terrorists.
More about al Qaeda sympathizer Phil Rees can be found here. Oh and Phil? You can take your"media have a responsibility to show both sides of the debate" and stick it in your ear. There's no debating a man with a bomb, you fool.
What SHOULD have happened. BBC: Editorial Guidelines in Full: War, Terror and Emergencies.
preventing the commission of an act of terrorism anywhere in the world.
securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of a person in the UK, for an offence involving the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.
It is a criminal offence not to disclose such information, punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Any situation where BBC staff may be in potential breach of the Terrorism Act must be referred to Controller Editorial Policy and Programme Legal Advice.
|