On Thursday 5th of March, Cambridge PEN society welcomed Hamja Ahsan, Lib Dem MP Julian Huppert and Kate Honey from the Green Party for a discussion on the current extradition process in the UK. The conference took place in a fully-packed room in the Alison Richard Building at the Sidgwick Site.

The aims of the conference were to raise awareness of the extreme punishments imposed on Muslims accused of terrorism and of the flaws in the current British extradition system.

“All of you here could be subject to US persecution even if you never left your bedroom in the UK”. With this chilling statement, Hamja Ahsan first introduced the nightmare his family has faced since the incarceration of his brother Talha.

In 2006, Talha was arrested at his London family home in relation to alleged terrorism-related offences. His arrest came in response to a request from the USA under the US-UK Extradition Act of 2003. After being detained without trial or charge for over 6 years, he was extradited to the United States in 2012. Under the 2003 Act, for over a year, Talha was held in solidary confinement in a US “supermax” death-row prison, without being formally charged.

After providing a brief outline of his brother’s life, Hamja stood up and solemnly read extracts from Talha’s poems written during his incarceration. Talha’s poems won the Arthur Koestler prize in 2012. They range from a love declaration to Theresa May, to “This be the answer”; an internal meditation on the condition of prisoners. As Hamja said, “poetry was a survival mechanism in what was a terrifying and uncertain future. Poetry was a way to start a conversation with the government from another point of view”.

After Hamja’s account of his brother’s ordeal, MP Julian Huppert used Talha’s case to condemn the current extradition process as a “disgrace” for UK citizens. “It is a tool for the Americans to request anyone from us”, Huppert concluded.

The discussion ended on a sombre note. Talha’s ordeal is over; he is back in London with his family after accepting a plea-bargain with US prosecutors. However, Hamja remains sceptical of his brother’s newfound freedom. “Sure, he has come home now”, Hamja said, but he asked, “what is the Britain he’s returning home to?”

Hamja cited atrocities in British prisons, secret trials and the rise of UKIP to paint a dramatic picture of the country’s political scene. “Even though Talha is free”, Hamja said, “the state of civil liberties in this country is worse than it has ever been”.

The conference concluded with the general agreement that a dramatic and urgent reform of the extradition process is needed. Writing on the Facebook page after the event, Cambridge PEN stated, “There was consensus among the speakers that awareness needs to be raised about cases like Talha Ahsan's”.

Since its founding last January, PEN has welcomed students from all colleges and subjects who believe in freedom of expression and promoting exchange of ideas in translation to participate in a range of protest and solidarity movements. Recent PEN events have included reading of prison poetry by an incarcerated Iranian human rights activist, and a demonstration for the release of Saudi blogger Raif Badawi.