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Muslim minister sues over claim of intimidating voters
by DAN NEWLING - More by this author »



Outraged: MP Shahid Malik claims comments against him were untrue
Britain's first Muslim Government minister yesterday launched a libel battle in the High Court over claims that he organised "gangs of Asian thugs" to intimidate voters in a local election.


International Development Minister Shahid Malik is said to have "overseen and directed" up to 200 Asian Labour activists to help secure victory for a Muslim councillor.


The men are said to have breached electoral rules by escorting voters to the polling station while telling them in Urdu to choose the Muslim Labour candidate.


Mr Malik is also accused of encouraging ethnic division in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, by urging Asians to vote for "their Muslim brother" rather than according to their political opinion.


The allegations were first made by former Conservative councillor Jonathan Scott in a letter to the Dewsbury Press newspaper, after he was unseated as a local councillor.


It describes how "Malik's ethnic entourage behaved no better than BNP thugs" on polling day in the Dewsbury South ward of Kirklees Council.


The letter - and a follow-up news story on the same topic - went on to claim that "Malik convinced local Asian voters to vote for Labour candidates... on the grounds that those candidates were 'Muslim brothers'".


Mr Malik, who denies the allegations, appeared in court in London to give evidence against Mr Scott, the newspaper and the newspaper's editor. He said the letter was "his worst nightmare", adding: "In my line of work, if your integrity is damaged you have nothing left."


Mr Malik's lawyer Adam Wolanksi said the allegations were untrue and caused the 39-year-old MP for Dewsbury to be seen as "a racist and dangerous extremist who is unfit to hold public office".


Defending, Jonathan Crystal claimed Malik had boasted that he ran the May 2006 local council campaign "like a military operation" and that he was therefore responsible for both his actions and those of the Labour activists.


He said the result of the election, a victory for Labour candidate Massood Ahmed, was an aberration, explained by Mr Malik's provocative use of "race-card politics".


"Neither before, nor since, has Labour won there. They did on this occasion when Mr Malik was running the campaign.


"That was because of his involvement and the strategy when a section of the community was mobilised to come out for one candidate."


Mr Malik was the first British-born Muslim MP when he won the Dewsbury seat in 2005. He had previously worked on quangos.


His constituency has experienced significant ethnic tension. It has shown strong support for the British National Party and was the home town of the lead 7/7 bomber Mohammed Siddique Khan.


The independently-owned Dewsbury Press says the issues Mr Malik complains about are true and that the legal action he has brought is an affront to the paper's freedom of speech. Its publisher, editor and Mr Scott deny libel.


The case continues.

Muslim minister sues over claim of intimidating voters | the Daily Mail