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Sexual exploitation: Pakistani-origin Lord Ahmed retires from House of Lords days before expulsion

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 17 Nov 2020, 10:01 pm Print

Sexual exploitation: Pakistani-origin Lord Ahmed retires from House of Lords days before expulsion Lord Nazir Ahmed

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London: Pakistani-origin Lord Nazir Ahmed, who in 1998 made history by becoming the first Muslim to be appointed a peer in Britain's House of Lords, has retired from Parliament after seeing a conduct report which has recommended his expulsion for sexually exploiting a vulnerable woman.

The victim was identified as Tahira Zaman.

"Lord Ahmed resigned from the House of Lords on 14 November but the report, which was agreed by the Committee and seen by Lord Ahmed before that date, recommends that he should have been expelled," read an official statement.

"Following an appeal by Lord Ahmed, the Committee upheld the findings of the independent House of Lords Commissioner for Standards that Lord Ahmed breached the Code of Conduct by failing to act on his personal honour in the discharge of his parliamentary activities by agreeing to use his position as a member of the House to help a member of the public but then; sexually assaulting the complainant, lying to the complainant about his intentions to help her with a complaint to the Metropolitan Police regarding exploitation by a faith healer, exploiting the complainant emotionally and sexually despite knowing she was vulnerable," it said.

"The Conduct Committee, which is Chaired by Lord Mance and includes four external members, dismissed Lord Ahmed’s appeal against both the finding of breaches of the Code of Conduct and the recommend sanction of expulsion from the House," read the statement.

The report will now have to be put to the House for approval by the House on Nov 19.

Meanwhile, Lord Nazir Ahmed has expressed his disappointment at the Report of the Conduct Committee.

In a statement to Geo.tv, Lord Ahmed said: “I am extremely disappointed by the Report of the Conduct Committee which is based on a flawed and unfair investigation process."

"I have always said, and maintain, that the allegations contained in the Report are not true," he said.

"Given this, I am now going to continue pursuing my appeal to the European Court of Human Rights to remedy this injustice," he said.

Nazir Ahmed, who was born in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, later migrated to the UK.

Nazir Ahmed has been a consistent critic of the Indian government's policies, particularly with reference to Jammu and Kashmir. He has also been a supporter of Khalistani groups, reports The Week magazine.

The charges against Lord Ahmed of Rotherham and two of his brothers, Mohamed Farouq and Mohammed Tariq, date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s. All three were due to face a trial in the summer, reports BBC.

BBC Newsnight investigation:

The inquiry into his behaviour followed a BBC Newsnight investigation.

Newsnight began to investigate the Lords' decision not to accept Ms Zaman's complaint, for a film broadcast in February last year.

Interviewed by Newsnight, Lord Carlile QC, a former deputy high court judge, said the Commissioner for Standards had "got it wrong", adding: "If someone comes to you for help, particularly if they're vulnerable and you form a sexual relationship, actually that's disgraceful."

The Commissioner for Standards denied this, telling Newsnight that was a misunderstanding of the code of conduct.

Ten weeks after the film was broadcast, the House of Lords changed the wording of the code to cover parliamentary "activities", rather than just "duties", reports BBC.

It was retrospective and so covered Lord Ahmed's behaviour.

Zaman re-submitted her complaint, which led to a detailed investigation by the Commissioner for Standards.

Zaman said the entire episode was traumatising for her.

Responding to the report, Zaman told BBC: "I feel elated and relieved because the whole experience for me was quite traumatising. I'm still digesting, digesting it.

"I keep on telling myself that I've got what I wanted - I wanted justice," she said.

Lord Nazir Ahmed was involved in controversies earlier as well.

He was convicted and jailed in 2009 for a reckless driving accident. He had sent text messages while driving, which hit a driver of a stationary car stranded on the M1 highway, reports Asianlite.

In 2013, Lord Nazir Ahmed blamed his conviction in the driving accident on a “Jewish conspiracy”. The comment led to the Labour Party suspending him; he resigned from the party later that year, reported the media.