A Bangladeshi migrant has won an asylum case because he might have been jailed for 20 years on bomb charges if deported back to his country of origin.
The man, who was granted anonymity, argued he should not be sent back to his home country because he had been sentenced in absentia to 20 years in jail for “bogus” explosives offences.
He insisted the allegations were false and politically motivated, and said the previous regime in Bangladesh had persecuted him because he supported its opposition.
The Home Office had accepted the bomb charges were probably untrue, but claimed the man could now be deported without any risk, since the regime had now changed.
An immigration court ruled last month, however, that he would still be at risk of being sent to jail and allowed him to remain in the UK.
Described as a “political leader” of the student wing of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party, the man said the false criminal charges had been made against him by the Awami League-majority regime.
While he was away from Bangladesh in 2015 on a visit to Cyprus, he was prosecuted, tried and sentenced to 20 years in jail, with warrants issued for his arrest.
He provided documents to the British immigration court, which were verified, to support his case.
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Lawyers argued it was “difficult to follow” the Home Office’s position, given it had accepted the documents were genuine and that he was the victim of a politically motivated prosecution.
The Home Office lawyers argued the Awami League no longer held power and the man had failed to demonstrate the new authorities had any interest in him.
Judge Madeleine Reeds ruled in an upper tribunal that risk was sustained, as the Awami League had not been completely “wiped out”.
In a decision dated January 23, she wrote: “State bureaucracy and law enforcement agencies also still contain vast pro-Awami League elements appointed by the previous regime, and the reforms will take years to consolidate”.
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Judge Reeds said that a report from the Bangladeshi government suggested that there was still instability that could lead to the man’s arrest.
“I therefore conclude that there is a reasonable likelihood on these particular facts of him being detained for what both parties accept are politically motivated charges and conviction, and which are not legitimate and do not reflect any wrongdoing.
“Whilst they relate to events from the previous regime, the conviction remains, and the sentence is a long one, and on the evidence as it stands, there is a real risk that he will not be released on bail, unlike those who have outstanding charges which may be reviewed.”