Family of Indian jailed in Spain to move European court

Mumbai, March 29 (IANS) The family of Mumbai businessman Roshan Jamal Khan is set to move the European Court of Human Rights against a Spanish court for wrongly convicting him of being part of a terror group that plotted a terror attack in Barcelona, Spain, his lawyer said here Thursday.

"Roshan Jamal Khan was convicted in December 2009 along with 10 Pakistani men by an anti-terrorism court in Spain for belonging to a group that planned a bomb blast in the Barcelona Metro. He was sentenced to eight-and-half years in prison and later the sentence was reduced to six years. But what we don't understand is that in spite of being cleared of charges of conspiracy and planting the explosive, he still has to be in prison," Khan's lawyer Parvez Ubhre told IANS.

Ubhre said that they will soon lodge the appeal in the European Court of Human Rights to clear Khan of all charges and bring him home.

The Spanish court, in its 2009 ruling, had said that the group was inspired by Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and cited an online video interview with the spokesperson of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claiming the outfit had planned the Barcelona attacks in retaliation to Spanish troops being deployed in Afghanistan.

According to Mehboob, Roshan's brother, he went to Spain in Sept 2007 to explore business opportunities in olives.

Mumbai-born Roshan, 51, is a father of six young children aged between 10 and 19, who are being supported by Mehboob. The family has also urged the prime minister, the external affairs ministry and the Spanish consulate-general to intervene in the case.