''...my junkie assassins crept up from behind, under the guise of night, in order to 'jug me', dousing me first with boiling water and then with boiling oil."

Eesa (Dhiren) Barot, was arrested in August 2004 and held for over two and a half years in the High Secure Unit at HMP Belmarsh. He was convicted in November 2006 over the Gas Limos Plot and sentenced to 40 years minimum without parole (later reduced on appeal to 30 years). Eesa was subsequently transferred to HMP Frankland where he was brutally burnt with boiling oil by fellow inmates. Al-istiqamah.com is pleased to publish this exclusive letter written by Eesa to us which reveals an alarming picture of institutionalised racism and islamaphobia facing Muslim inmates in UK prisons.

Click here to see a page of the original letter

Assalamu Alaikum w.r. w.b.,

Just over three months have passed since the recent event that encompassed me. Unfortunately, I still have a long way to go; my injuries are quite debilitating. Though my grading on paper is officially AA High Risk, I could tell you grim stories of how in reality it is more reflective of AAA Exceptional Risk. My point here is not to suggest 'pity me' — God forbid. But it is with a view to educate other Muslims and let them know that my world is greatly different from other inmates since arguably I have been transformed/considered to be the UK's most ill-reputed prisoner — a modern-day Freddy Krueger — even more so than Ian Huntley and others.

Oppressive Conditions as Compared to Other "AA" High Risk Inmates

Miss Arani who has a small handful of other AA Cat clients has commented on the heightened security that surrounds me. For instance, a snapshot day or week in my life even before coming to the hospital Unit would have read as follows:

- 3 intensive cell searches, including a strip-search over a period of only two weeks. 'A' Category inmates might only receive one over a three month duration and other 'High Risk' Category inmates would normally get one in two weeks - if that.

- 2 visits to the segregation block (solitary confinement) in one week under the guise of 'suspicion of having a mobile phone'.

- Being given an 'official' warning for allegedly failing to submit myself for a urine test under the assumption that I may have been guilty of drug usage! All under false pretexts.

- Being denied suitable Islamic literature/ CDs for several years under some excuse or another, save for the most elementary of titles. These are mostly from the Indo/Pak subcontinent, paralysed and jaundiced due to Government influence.

I am being kept in a state of semi-incommunicado - unjustified.

 

1 2 3 4