Control order collapse continues
By politics.co.uk staff
A terror suspect has been released from a control order because the government was unwilling to reveal the intelligence justifying his virtual house arrest.
Home secretary Alan Johnson chose protecting his sources over being able to keep tabs on the man – a Libyan national – who has been under a control order since 2006.
It follows the law lords’ ruling earlier this year that control orders – there are about 20 imposed on terror suspects at present – are illegal.
The government pledged to fight each case on their own merits. It has now emerged that the case in question – the suspect is referred to only as ‘AF’ – he is to be released following an appeal later this year.
The Home Office refused to comment on the case in question.
But in a statement released this morning a spokesperson said the government would seek to detain and then deport controlees where they are a foreign national and prosecution is not possible.
“For those we cannot either prosecute or deport, control orders are the best available disruptive tool for managing the risk they pose,” the spokesman added.
