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| Ashraf Miah had taught at the East London Mosque in Whitechapel (Photo: PAUL GROVER) |
UK - Here’s the full version of a story which appeared in the print edition of the paper: A MAN has been jailed for a series of sex attacks on children committed while he was leader of a Muslim extremist group and a teacher at a hardline London mosque. Ashraf Miah, 38, from Mile End, a former teacher at the East London Mosque, repeatedly molested the girls whilst they recited religious texts. The youngest victim was five and the oldest only seven. Miah was at the time the East End leader of the notorious extremist group Hizb ut Tahrir, which believes that voting and democracy is forbidden in Islam and wants to turn Britain into a sharia state. He is listed as its contact for a number of events. “He was a bit of a loner in the Hizb and did not have many friends, but he was a senior figure,” said one former member of the group. During his trial, Miah claimed that the prosecution was a “conspiracy” against him because of his political views. Senior members of Hizb ut Tahrir gave evidence in Miah’s defence. However, the jury rejected his claims.
The assaults took place over a four-year period, from 2003 to 2007, during lessons at Miah’s flat and other houses in east London. Some of the girls complained to their parents about the abuse, but were not believed. Snaresbrook Crown Court heard that the offences came to light after one of the girls’ fathers had a change of heart and reported her case to police. More victims were traced and Miah was convicted of a total of 13 sexual assaults against five different youngsters. Sentencing him to three years and three months, Judge William Kennedy told Miah: “The children in this case came from three entirely separate and different families. “Your suggestion at trial, and apparently still now, was and is that somehow the parents of those children have conspired to destroy your reputation. The suggestion that any parent would willingly encourage his or her daughter to lie about events in these circumstances was one which the jury considered and rejected. “The possibility of coincidence of similar complaints by unconnected children is simply impossible.” Full Story>>
