Binyam Mohamed ‘press gagging attempt fails’

Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed yesterday lost a legal bid to prevent the press from revealing he had been granted permanent residency in the UK, according to reports this morning.

The Daily Mail reported today that Mohamed had failed with a High Court bid to stop the Mail on Sunday from revealing the outcome of his application to stay in the UK.

It reported:

Last night lawyers acting for Ethiopian-born Mr Mohamed, 32, failed to win a High Court injunction preventing the public from knowing that he had been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

The extraordinary case was brought under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which covers torture.

Mr Mohamed’s lawyers claimed that publicising his right to remain in Britain would amount to inhumane and degrading treatment.

The case comes amid increasing disquiet about the growing practice of allowing asylum seekers to remain anonymous when they argue that they should be allowed to make the UK their permanent home.

Earlier this year the Supreme Court warned against the now ‘widespread phenomenon’ that had allowed many foreign applicants anonymity in immigration cases, including those involving alleged terrorist activities.

The Mail reported Mohamed’s application had been rejected by Justice Cooke who also ordered him to pay the costs for the application.

The Mail reported Cooke saying:

“It is plainly a matter of public interest. The fact is the very identity of this applicant is of importance.

“The history of the circumstances in which he was taken to Guantanamo Bay, his immigration status, the alleged complicity of Her Majesty’s Government in what happened at Guantanamo Bay, all raise questions of public interest against which the decision to grant the applicant indefinite leave to remain has to be seen.

“I cannot say in the circumstances that the applicant is likely to succeed in preventing publication of that matter.”