Sex allegations case: Lord Nazir hires lawyer for defence in 47-year-old case

LONDON: Lord Nazir Ahmed has instructed a leading human rights lawyer to defend him in relation to the historical sex allegations charges.

This correspondent has learnt that well-known human rights lawyer Imran Khan and Partners Solicitors will represent Lord Nazir in relation to the historical sexual allegations which are said to have taken place some 47 years ago and with which he has been recently charged.

A statement sent to this reporter by the law firm confirmed: “Lord Ahmed wishes to make it clear that he strenuously denies these allegations. He will be doing all that is humanly possible to defend himself against these allegations to show that he is completely innocent.”

Imran Khan made his name when he represented race attack victim Stephen Lawrence. The British Pakistani lawyer has done several high-profile cases. The former Labour peer Nazir has been charged with two counts of attempted rape dating back to the 1970s.

Lord Ahmed, Britain’s first Muslim peer and well-known Kashmir cause campaigner, denies any wrongdoing and people close to him have expressed shock at the kind and timing of allegations and charges which are alleged to have taken place nearly 50 years ago.

Community members have expressed shock that the charges relate to a time period when Lord Nazir was a teenager, around 14 years old, and the alleged victims were also of the same age.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said that Lord Nazir Ahmed, 61, has been charged with one count of indecent assault and that the alleged victims were a girl and a boy aged under 13. He and two other men, Mohammed Farouq, 68, and Mohammed Tariq, 63, both from Rotherham, have been also charged as part of a South Yorkshire police investigation.

Lord Nazir Ahmed has refused to speak to the media but locals in Rotherham, familiar with the case, have said that the accusers of Lord Nazir happen to be his relatives.

A source said: “Those who have made allegations of sexual abuse are relatives of Lord Nazir and they happen to originate from Azad Kashmir, like Lord Nazir and his family.” It’s understood that Lord Nazir and his family have been involved in family dispute with the very people who have now made allegations against him.

“Disputes between these parties are well-known within the local community and these disputes have been running for a long time now. It’s saddening that this has all ended up with allegations against Lord Nazir.”

South Yorkshire police said that Ahmed, Farouq and Tariq were due to appear at Sheffield magistrates court on 19 March. Lord Nazir Ahmed, a married father of three, was born in Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, and moved with his family to the UK in 1969.

He joined the Labour party in 1975 aged 18 and became Rotherham’s first Asian councilor in 1990, later becoming the town’s youngest magistrate. Labour Party made him a peer in 1998. He became the first Muslim to be appointed to the Lords.

He has been involved in controversies many times before and that earned him a high profile in British politics. He is known for raising the issue of Kashmir in the Lords with consistency. He has been openly speaking in favour of Pakistan at available forums in Britain.