LONDON - British police detained four actors who play al-Qaeda suspects in the critically acclaimed film "The Road to Guantanamo." The film, which is based on the real life experiences of three British men who were detained at the now infamous Guantanamo Bay prison, won the Silver Bear award at the recently concluded Berlin Film Festival.
The actors were questioned at the London Luton Airport along with the Tipton Three who form the inspiration for the movie. Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul were dragged away to the US military base in Cuba and jailed for more than two years before being released in March 2004 without being charged.
Rizwan Ahmed and Farhad Harun star in a documentary detailing the experiences of the prisoners there. These two were questioned at the Bedfordshire airport, according to human rights group Reprieve. "This may be a farce, but it is an ugly farce," said Clive Stafford Smith, legal director of the group.
In a statement issued by the group on behalf of Rizwan Ahmed, it is alleged that police repeatedly used abusive words at him and asked him if he had become a professional actor to further the cause of Islam, "She asked me whether I intended to do more documentary films, specifically more political ones like The Road to Guantanamo.
She asked, 'Did you become an actor mainly to do films like this; to publicize the struggles of Muslims'?" Ahmed said of a policewoman who questioned him. But a spokeswoman for Bedfordshire police said that none of the six men were arrested, but were questioned in a routine manner, "Six people were stopped under the Terrorism Act.
This is something that happens all the time and obviously at airports and train stations," she said. "There is a heightened state of security since the London bombings. Public safety is paramount. All were released within the hour. Part of the counter-terrorism act allows us to stop and examine people if something happens that might be suspicious."
