Syed Talha Ahsan?is a British poet and translator. He has been imprisoned for seven years without a trial. The family is spending another Eid without him.
Appeals have been made to the?European Court of Human Rights, the?House of Lords?and the?UK High Court, Ahsan was extradited from the UK to the USA on 5th October 2012, where he has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him at a federal district court hearing in New Haven, Connecticut. His US trial proceedings are scheduled to begin in October 2013.
He is currently awaiting trial in?solitary confinement?at the?Northern Correctional Institution, a?Supermax?state prison in Somers, Connecticut, United States.[1]?He is accused of associations with an allegedly terrorism-related Islamic news media website & London-based publishing house from 1997-2004. He was arrested at his family home in London, UK on 19 July 2006 in response to a request from the USA under the US-UK?Extradition Act 2003.
Huffington Post:
The trial of extradited British men Babar Ahmad and Talha Ahsan has been put back until March 2014 due to the size and complexity of trial,?it has been reported.
In November?Hamja Ahsan?revealed how his brother Talha was spending 23 hours a day in solitary confinement and how he was worried for Talha.
Parallels have been drawn between?Gary McKinnon?and Talha, as they both suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome.
Author: Shahidul Alam
Time Magazine Person of the Year 2018. A photographer, writer, curator and activist, Shahidul Alam obtained a PhD in chemistry before switching to photography. His seminal work “The Struggle for Democracy” contributed to the removal of General Ershad. Former president of the Bangladesh Photographic Society, Alam set up the Drik agency, Chobi Mela festival and Pathshala, South Asian Media Institute, considered one of the finest schools of photography in the world.
Shown in MOMA New York, Centre Georges Pompidou, Royal Albert Hall and Tate Modern, Alam has been guest curator of Whitechapel Gallery, Winterthur Gallery and Musee de Quai Branly. His awards include Mother Jones, Shilpakala Award and Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dali International Festival of Photography.
Speaker at Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Oxford and Cambridge universities, TEDx, POPTech and National Geographic, Alam chaired the international jury of the prestigious World Press Photo contest. Honorary Fellow of Royal Photographic Society, Alam is visiting professor of Sunderland University in UK and advisory board member of National Geographic Society.
John Morris, the former picture editor of Life Magazine describes his book “My journey as a witness”, (listed in “Best Photo Books of 2011” by American Photo), as “The most important book ever written by a photographer.”
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