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BBC NEWS | England | West Midlands | Channel 4 accused of 'distortion'
Channel 4 accused of 'distortion'
Police are reporting Channel 4 to industry regulator Ofcom over the way an undercover programme was edited.
But charges will not be brought against preachers featured in the Dispatches programme which looked at allegations of extremism in mosques.
West Midlands Police carried out an investigation into three speakers in the programme Undercover Mosque.
The Crown Prosecution Service says the programme "completely distorted" what the speakers said.
In a statement Channel 4 spokesman Gavin Dawson said: "We believe the offensive views expressed by the people revealed in the programme speak for themselves.
"We didn't put these words into people's mouths and all extracts were carefully contextualised.
"The West Midlands Police have provided no evidence whatsoever to support their allegations."
The programme investigated a number of mosques, one of which was Green Lane Mosque in Small Heath, Birmingham.
It investigated mosques run by organisations claiming to be dedicated to moderation and dialogue with other faiths.
'Moderate tradition'
A Green Lane Mosque spokesman said he had been shocked by the programme and was thankful the mosque's name had been cleared.
Abu Usamah, one of the preachers featured in the programme, said he was shocked when he saw himself depicted.
"It was the fact that Green Lane Mosque has a 33-year-old tradition of preaching and teaching the moderate version of Islam.
"To try and demonise the efforts of these people by taking their comments out of context was shocking."
Mr Usamah said he had been featured as saying homosexuals should be thrown from a mountain when in fact he was explaining it was an opinion featured in some books, and not one he believed.
An undercover reporter claimed to provide evidence that certain speakers preached messages of religious bigotry and extremism.
The Channel 4 Dispatches website, in a piece about the programme, said the reporter had attended talks at mosques and found preachers "condemning the idea of integration into British society, condemning British democracy as unIslamic and praising the Taliban for killing British soldiers".
Police said they acknowledged some parts of the programme may have been considered offensive, but, when analysed in full context, there was not enough evidence to bring charges.
'Completely distorted'
The investigation was then extended to include looking at issues relating to the editing and portrayal of the programme.
CPS lawyer Bethan David considered 56 hours of media footage of which only a part was used in the programme.
She said: "The splicing together of extracts from longer speeches appears to have completely distorted what the speakers were saying.
"The CPS has demonstrated it will not hesitate to prosecute those responsible for criminal incitement.
"But in this case we have been dealing with a heavily edited television programme, apparently taking out of context aspects of speeches which in their totality could never provide a realistic prospect of any convictions."
Police also asked the CPS to consider a prosecution for including material likely to stir up racial hatred but again were advised there was insufficient evidence.
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Yahya
Channel 4 'Distorted' Dispatches program
