Al-Istiqamah: HMP Frankland has been in the news recently due to the horrific burning of Dhiren (Eesa) Barot there on 13th July 2007. I want to ask when threats were first made towards your husband Omar Khyam?

Mrs Khyam: Well, he was moved to Frankland on 30th June 2007 and this was the day of the car bomb attack in Glasgow, Scotland. I don’t know if that triggered things off, but I wasn’t in touch with him until he rang me on the Tuesday. The first thing he said to me was that they (all) hate him. He said that they’ve made it known that they’re very racist and he’s fearful for his life. He said that the majority are against him.

Al-Istiqamah: He never felt like this at any other prison, even though, in an unusual step, his picture was in the papers, throughout the trial?

Mrs Khyam: No he hasn't. He told the solicitors to move him as soon as possible. I was shocked to hear him speak like this and so I asked for some details. We were speaking in our own language, in Urdu, and suddenly the phone was cut off. He rang back about fifteen minutes later. I said to him, “Why did you cut the phone off?” He told me, “They cut it off”. In convicted prisons, they don’t usually cut the phone off, so I was worried. They said to him that he can’t speak in Urdu on the phone. They said that he has to fill in an application form to be granted permission to speak in Urdu, and once that’s approved, then you can speak.

Al-Istiqamah: And how were his phone calls at this time? Did he mention specific threats or hint at them?

Mrs Khyam: Every day they were getting shorter and shorter and he was sounding more reserved. He kept repeating “It’s gonna kick off. It’s just a matter of time before something happens. Please get the solicitors to get me out of here.” There was a sense of urgency in his voice.

Al-Istiqamah: So specific threats had been made? It wasn’t just that he was getting hostile looks?

Mrs Khyam: Something had happened, but he was unwilling to tell me over the phone. I urged him, “Write to me, and explain to me what’s happened. I need to know what’s going on.”

At this point the guards weren’t allowing us visits. They were playing up. They’d lie and say that they didn’t have our paperwork, when they did. They wouldn’t allow us to book visits. So I got the solicitor to go and see Omar. He saw him on Tuesday 10th July, and that was when we found out about the specific threats.

Al-Istiqamah: Were the threats made directly to Omar?

Mrs Khyam: No. He told his solicitor that other Muslims had come and told him, “We’ve heard inmates talking and saying that they’re going to get you. They’re saying that they’re going to burn you alive, to stab you.” The Muslim brothers told him to be on his guard. Nobody threatened him directly as that would put them in trouble and he would be able to identify them to his solicitor. They have a wing called Mississippi wing and it has Combat 18 (a British neo-Nazi organization) slogans all over the prison walls.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10