Former Iranian diplomat to sue British home secretary

TEHRAN,Dec.15(MNA) – Former Iranian diplomat Nosratollah Tajik, who has recently won a High Court battle to avoid extradition to the United States, has said that he intends to take legal action against British Home Secretary Theresa May. “Six years of my life have been destroyed and my health has been damaged. The British home secretary should be held accountable. It is generally accepted in this country that all people should account for their actions,” Iran’s former ambassador to Jordan said in an email. Tajik, who was under house arrest in Britain based on false allegations for six years, was set free on Thursday because the British home secretary did not take the case to the Supreme Court, the highest court in Britain, and will return to Iran next week. He was the target of an American operation in London six years ago and was accused of alleged conspiracy to export U.S. defense night-vision weapons to Iran without a license. There had been long and controversial delays in the extradition process amid fears that sending Tajik to the U.S. for trial could cause further diplomatic problems between Iran and Britain. Tajik issued a statement after his release, in which he called on international human rights organizations to look into the case of his illegal arrest. Following are excerpts of the text of Tajik’s statement: The judgment in my Extradition Appeal which was handed down on Tuesday 27th November after six years of house arrest showed that the Secretary of State for Home Department’s decision on 7th November 2011 for my extradition order was unfair and inappropriate. Magistrate Court should have dismissed my extradition order in March 2012 when I applied for section 118 for discharge and this is happened today 13th December 2012 with a long delay which had an adverse effect on my health. “Sting oppression” by U.S. officials of the Department of Homeland Security took place illegally in London in mid 2006 and no evidence was provided by U.S. authorities. Consequent house arrest, health deterioration, severe confinement, and social isolation are the real meaning of my humiliation by UK and U.S. governments. This is a decision of two brave and unprejudiced judges who believe that Home Secretary couldn’t show reasonable cause for her nearly forty months delay to make her decision about my medical evidence and health deterioration, but still my concerns are the impacts and consequences of this long time delay. These imposed conditions were against human rights commitments of U.S. and UK governments and I invite all Human Rights organizations and ECHR to consider this matter urgently.