Appeal court frees Afghan hijackers
The Court of Appeal has quashed the prison sentences of nine men who hijacked a passenger plane from Kabul airport and forced it to land in the UK.
The Law Lords ruled that conviction of the group was “unsafe” and that the judge who jailed the group two years ago had misdirected the jury.
Imran Khan, who defended the men in court, stated today that the group had already apologised for the distress caused to passengers on board the Afghan Ariana flight, and that the group had felt they had no choice but to take radical action if they were to prevent their own arrest by the Taliban.
Speaking on the Channel Four News, Mr Khan stated that the group had been part of an anti-Taliban organisation.
“These people came from a country in which people were being stoned to death. They were being killed, tortured.”
“The organisation that exists was opposed to the Taliban and they were in imminent danger of capture, torture and being killed,” he added.
In December 2001, the nine men were found guilty of hijacking a plane on an internal Afghan flight and diverting it to Stansted airport. The aircraft stood on the Essex runway for three days during a tense standoff before the group were arrested.
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