Press Release: IHRC calls upon Sir Ian Blair to Resign

18 August 2005

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Islamic Human Rights Commission
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The Islamic Human Rights Commission is calling upon Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair to resign from his position following leaked information that he had asked the Independent Police Complaints Commission to delay its inquiry into the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.

The leaked documents reveal enormous contradictions between the official police version of events as presented by Ian Blair and eye-witness accounts. The misinformation regarding the killing has been allowed to circulate by the Police without correction for almost one month now.

IHRC is most concerned by the fact that Ian Blair has constantly defended the shoot to kill policy stating that although Mr de Menezes death was regrettable, the policy was necessary and would be implemented again. Mr Blair recently admitted that police came extremely close to killing innocent people on seven other occasions since the Stockwell shooting.

IHRC Chair Massoud Shadjareh stated:

“This confirms what we have been saying all along – a shoot to kill policy can never be justified in a civilized society. You cannot execute people on mere suspicion and officers’ prejudices alone. Mr Blair’s is untenable because he is either incompetent or has deliberately misled the British public. Either way, its not what we expect from the most senior police officer in the country.”

IHRC calls for the immediate suspension of this brutal policy.

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Note for Editors:

For more information please contact, info@ihrc.org.

Islamic Human Rights Commission
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Wembley
HA9 7XH
United Kingdom

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Email: info@ihrc.org
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