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08 Feb 10
12:37
Joined:
Date Joined:
05 Apr 06
Not on BBC website yet...
Got the F****r.........
On London local tv...
Got the F****r.........
On London local tv...
Show More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8503891.stm
last site up...
last site up...
The jury in the case of Metropolitan Police Commander Ali Dizaei, accused of assaulting and falsely arresting a man, has retired to consider its verdict.
Southwark Crown Court heard he attacked Iraqi Waab al-Baghdadi, 24, in July 2008 before arresting and attempting to frame him in a row over money.
The officer said he was doing his duty when he saw a man breaking the law.
Mr Dizaei, 47, is also charged with misconduct and perverting the course of justice. He denies all the charges.
The court heard the two men met by chance in the Persian Yas restaurant, run by Mr Dizaei's friend Sohrab Eshragi, in Hammersmith Road, west London.
'Urgent assistance'
Mr al-Baghdadi approached Mr Dizaei and asked for £600 he believed he was owed for building a personal website.
There was a confrontation and Mr Dizaei arrested Mr al-Baghdadi in a side street.
The jury heard two 999 calls, one by the younger man complaining about his treatment, the other by Mr Dizaei asking for "urgent assistance".
Peter Wright QC told the court when colleagues arrived the officer falsely claimed he had been threatened and stabbed with the metal mouthpiece of a shisha pipe.
'Abuse of power'
The prosecutor said the officer was guilty of a "wholesale abuse of power" motivated by self-interest and pride.
A police doctor concluded two red marks on the officer's torso were probably self-inflicted but a forensic scientist representing Mr Dizaei disagreed.
Mr al-Baghdadi was held overnight but no charges were brought against him.
He later made a formal complaint which sparked an independent inquiry into Mr Dizaei's actions.
In his defence, Mr Dizaei said he was a frontline officer simply doing his duty when he saw a man breaking the law.
He fiercely denied impropriety and dismissed claims he challenged the man to a fist fight as "complete and utter nonsense".
Mr Dizaei said he feared he was being targeted by his own colleagues because of his championing of ethnic minority officers.
Southwark Crown Court heard he attacked Iraqi Waab al-Baghdadi, 24, in July 2008 before arresting and attempting to frame him in a row over money.
The officer said he was doing his duty when he saw a man breaking the law.
Mr Dizaei, 47, is also charged with misconduct and perverting the course of justice. He denies all the charges.
The court heard the two men met by chance in the Persian Yas restaurant, run by Mr Dizaei's friend Sohrab Eshragi, in Hammersmith Road, west London.
'Urgent assistance'
Mr al-Baghdadi approached Mr Dizaei and asked for £600 he believed he was owed for building a personal website.
There was a confrontation and Mr Dizaei arrested Mr al-Baghdadi in a side street.
The jury heard two 999 calls, one by the younger man complaining about his treatment, the other by Mr Dizaei asking for "urgent assistance".
Peter Wright QC told the court when colleagues arrived the officer falsely claimed he had been threatened and stabbed with the metal mouthpiece of a shisha pipe.
'Abuse of power'
The prosecutor said the officer was guilty of a "wholesale abuse of power" motivated by self-interest and pride.
A police doctor concluded two red marks on the officer's torso were probably self-inflicted but a forensic scientist representing Mr Dizaei disagreed.
Mr al-Baghdadi was held overnight but no charges were brought against him.
He later made a formal complaint which sparked an independent inquiry into Mr Dizaei's actions.
In his defence, Mr Dizaei said he was a frontline officer simply doing his duty when he saw a man breaking the law.
He fiercely denied impropriety and dismissed claims he challenged the man to a fist fight as "complete and utter nonsense".
Mr Dizaei said he feared he was being targeted by his own colleagues because of his championing of ethnic minority officers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8457842.stm
Police commander Ali Dizaei 'like Al Pacino's Scarface'
Ali Dizaei leaving court
Commander Dizaei denies four separate charges
A police commander on trial for attacking a web designer in London has been compared to a movie gangster.
Southwark Crown Court has heard Ali Dizaei, 47, fell out with Waad Al-Baghdadi after he demanded £600 for work on Mr Dizaei's personal website.
Mr Al-Baghdadi, 24, called him an "Iranian gangster" and likened him to Tony Montana, from the film Scarface.
Mr Dizaei denies assault, false arrest, misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice.
The court heard that the dispute came to a head in July 2008 when Mr Al-Baghdadi demanded payment from Britain's most senior Asian officer for work on his personal website, alidizaei.com.
Mr Al-Baghdadi called 999 after Commander Dizaei, former president of the National Black Police Association, challenged him to a fight in the street outside a restaurant in Kensington, west London, the court has heard.
This man is an Iranian gangster. People are scared of him, they don't want to give evidence against him.
Waad Al-Baghdadi
At that point Mr Al-Baghdadi was handcuffed and arrested by Mr Dizaei, a Metropolitan Police officer.
The court has heard Commander Dizaei told lies and may have faked injuries on himself in an attempt to have the web designer prosecuted.
Asked by defence counsel Michael Mansfield QC why he did not leave the scene, Mr Al-Baghdadi said: "I didn't want to go - everyone there is scared. This man is an Iranian gangster.
"People are scared of him, they don't want to give evidence against him."
'The biggest man'
Under further cross-examination, Mr Al-Baghdadi likened Commander Dizaei to Tony Montana, the ruthless gangster played by Al Pacino in the 1983 film Scarface.
Imitating Commander Dizaei, he said: "No-one can talk to me, I am the biggest man, I am Tony Montana."
But Mr Mansfield suggested Mr Al-Baghdadi had "lied" to police and "embellished" aspects of his account.
Mr Mansfield said: "This whole case - from beginning to end - is about you and your reputation and your face.
"You're not going to be put down by anyone."
Mr Mansfield also rebutted a claim by Mr Al-Baghdadi that Commander Dizaei was drunk when the pair met.
He said: "Are you seriously suggesting he was drunk?
"I suggest very clearly he is not someone who imbibes quantities of alcohol. Certainly not when on call."
Police commander Ali Dizaei 'like Al Pacino's Scarface'
Ali Dizaei leaving court
Commander Dizaei denies four separate charges
A police commander on trial for attacking a web designer in London has been compared to a movie gangster.
Southwark Crown Court has heard Ali Dizaei, 47, fell out with Waad Al-Baghdadi after he demanded £600 for work on Mr Dizaei's personal website.
Mr Al-Baghdadi, 24, called him an "Iranian gangster" and likened him to Tony Montana, from the film Scarface.
Mr Dizaei denies assault, false arrest, misconduct in public office and perverting the course of justice.
The court heard that the dispute came to a head in July 2008 when Mr Al-Baghdadi demanded payment from Britain's most senior Asian officer for work on his personal website, alidizaei.com.
Mr Al-Baghdadi called 999 after Commander Dizaei, former president of the National Black Police Association, challenged him to a fight in the street outside a restaurant in Kensington, west London, the court has heard.
This man is an Iranian gangster. People are scared of him, they don't want to give evidence against him.
Waad Al-Baghdadi
At that point Mr Al-Baghdadi was handcuffed and arrested by Mr Dizaei, a Metropolitan Police officer.
The court has heard Commander Dizaei told lies and may have faked injuries on himself in an attempt to have the web designer prosecuted.
Asked by defence counsel Michael Mansfield QC why he did not leave the scene, Mr Al-Baghdadi said: "I didn't want to go - everyone there is scared. This man is an Iranian gangster.
"People are scared of him, they don't want to give evidence against him."
'The biggest man'
Under further cross-examination, Mr Al-Baghdadi likened Commander Dizaei to Tony Montana, the ruthless gangster played by Al Pacino in the 1983 film Scarface.
Imitating Commander Dizaei, he said: "No-one can talk to me, I am the biggest man, I am Tony Montana."
But Mr Mansfield suggested Mr Al-Baghdadi had "lied" to police and "embellished" aspects of his account.
Mr Mansfield said: "This whole case - from beginning to end - is about you and your reputation and your face.
"You're not going to be put down by anyone."
Mr Mansfield also rebutted a claim by Mr Al-Baghdadi that Commander Dizaei was drunk when the pair met.
He said: "Are you seriously suggesting he was drunk?
"I suggest very clearly he is not someone who imbibes quantities of alcohol. Certainly not when on call."
About time Justice caught up with this slimy ****.
Hope he gets jail.
Hope he gets jail.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/08/ali-dizaei-guilty-metropolitan-politce
BBC still nothing....
BBC still nothing....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8504308.stm
BBC .....where were you...?
BBC .....where were you...?
He will appeal on £1,000,000 legal aid and get £6,000,000 for
all of his "pain and suffering" and violation of his "uman wights"
all of his "pain and suffering" and violation of his "uman wights"
There are too many officers of this type who like to abuse their authority and power in the police service. This type of bully will always be attracted to such professions.
Odious man, likes to play the race card. Deserves everything coming to him
I can't wait to see what the Black Police Association says...
"He is not affiliated with us, he's not actually all that black, really."
Leopard, STOP READING THE DAILY MAIL FFS!
Why would the BPA(sic) believe they are untouchable?
Why would the BPA(sic) believe they are untouchable?
I read the Guardian.........I'll have you know.......
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/08/ali-dizaei-investigated-scotland-yard
Ali Dizaei 'was investigated as though he was an enemy of state'
How Scotland Yard pursued one of its own officers, involved in a race row, after MI5 said it suspected him of being an Iranian spy
* Buzz up!
* Digg it
* Vikram Dodd
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 12.47 GMT
* Article history
Metropolitan police commander, Ali Dizaei, leaves Southwark crown court
Ali Dizaei: MI5 suspected him of being an Iranian spy. Photograph: Sang Tan/AP
Today's guilty verdict will do little to quell suspicions among black and Asian police officers that Ali Dizaei has been the subject of a racist witch hunt.
There are two main reasons. The first is that, from 1999 to 2003, police put huge effort into pursuing Dizaei one of their most outspoken critics on race investigating him as though he was an enemy of the state, only to produce no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
The second is that Dizaei's suspension from duty in September 2008 came at a at a time when he was fighting a very bitter and public battle against his bosses.
In summer that year, Scotland Yard was hit by a high-profile race dispute.
After years of seething at his treatment, the assistant commissioner, Tarique Ghaffur the Met's third most senior officer sued the force for discrimination and described his boss, the commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, as a racist. The claim was withdrawn when Ghaffur accepted an out of court settlement.
The Met was used to accusations of discrimination from junior officers but this row was at the very top.
Dizaei, the force's commander, was at the centre of it as both Ghaffur's main adviser and the president of the National Black Police Association.
It was a dirty fight and, for both sides, much was at stake. Damaging allegations about Ghaffur's private life found their way into newspapers to which elements in Scotland Yard were known to be close.
Dizaei was falsely accused by one paper of being a bigamist a criminal offence. The newspaper later withdrew the story, apologised and paid him damages.
Then, in September, he was suspended from duty over allegations that he had falsely arrested Waad al-Baghdadi, a web designer to whom it was claimed he owed money a claim he denied.
Dizaei was also suspended because of claims that he had given advice to a solicitor whose client was being prosecuted after a case brought by the Met, and allegations about his use of a police credit card. He was exonerated on both.
Testifying in his own defence, he told jurors at Southwark crown court that, during the Ghaffur race row, he believed supporters of the officer were being hunted by their own force.
"We feared our telephones were being tapped and feared that we were being followed," he said.
Scotland Yard insiders insisted there was nothing untoward about the criminal investigation into Dizaei.
Senior sources pointed to the fact that, although the Met started the investigation, it was handed over to the Independent Police Complaints Commission which they argue is no friend of the force.
They also pointed out that the decision to prosecute was taken by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Dizaei's suspension came only months after he had been promoted to commander one of the highest ranks in British policing.
That promotion marked a stunning rise following Scotland Yard's earlier pursuit of him.
He had previously been suspended in 2001, with the force alleging that he was a danger to national security, had consorted with prostitutes and had taken illegal drugs. It was nonsense.
When Dizaei eventually stood trial, none of these headline-grabbing allegations ever made the indictment.
Instead, he was accused of a minor offence and, in 2003, was unanimously cleared by an Old Bailey jury.
The charge followed a £4m inquiry involving covert surveillance of Dizaei and undercover surveillance teams tracking him. The investigation, conducted by a unit led by Blair, was pursued as thought it was a major murder case.
The first criminal investigation into Dizaei had started in July 1999. By October, he was the subject of wiretaps and covert surveillance into his alleged drug use, which would prove baseless.
When he was suspended in January 2001, he was the legal adviser to the National Black Police Association and helped officers sue forces for discrimination.But it was only in 2007 that a key reason for the Yard's pursuit of him eventually emerged.
He was treated "as an enemy of the state", because MI5, Britain's domestic security service, believed he might be one.
In mid-2000, the security service told Scotland Yard it suspected him of being an Iranian spy.
The Guardian has learned that the MI5 warning about Dizaei was one of the principal reasons the force pursued him for four years.
The Met's anti-corruption squad bugged his phones, investigated his bank accounts, tracked him to the US and set him several integrity tests which he passed.
A key reason why it was so determined to pursue him was the claim by MI5 .
Informed sources said MI5 had based its warning on Dizaei's association with people from the Iranian embassy and Iranian nationals, his visits to the embassy, and an intercept by the eavesdropping station at GCHQ.
Dizaei who holds dual UK and Iranian citizenship did not know that the potentially career-destroying allegation had come from MI5.
He later said: "MI5 should be ashamed of themselves, as should the police service.
"I have always told Special Branch when I'm visiting the Iranian embassy in London to get a visa for my son. Are these the actions of an Iranian spy?"
After his acquittal in 2003, the force paid him £80,000 in compensation. In return, he dropped a racial discrimination case against it.
In a deal reached after pressure from David Blunkett, the home secretary at the time, he returned to work with the Met, declaring that his integrity was intact.
But, despite his acquittal in 2003 and rise to the rank of commander, there were still elements at the Yard who remained suspicious of him.
How Scotland Yard pursued one of its own officers, involved in a race row, after MI5 said it suspected him of being an Iranian spy
* Buzz up!
* Digg it
* Vikram Dodd
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 February 2010 12.47 GMT
* Article history
Metropolitan police commander, Ali Dizaei, leaves Southwark crown court
Ali Dizaei: MI5 suspected him of being an Iranian spy. Photograph: Sang Tan/AP
Today's guilty verdict will do little to quell suspicions among black and Asian police officers that Ali Dizaei has been the subject of a racist witch hunt.
There are two main reasons. The first is that, from 1999 to 2003, police put huge effort into pursuing Dizaei one of their most outspoken critics on race investigating him as though he was an enemy of the state, only to produce no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
The second is that Dizaei's suspension from duty in September 2008 came at a at a time when he was fighting a very bitter and public battle against his bosses.
In summer that year, Scotland Yard was hit by a high-profile race dispute.
After years of seething at his treatment, the assistant commissioner, Tarique Ghaffur the Met's third most senior officer sued the force for discrimination and described his boss, the commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, as a racist. The claim was withdrawn when Ghaffur accepted an out of court settlement.
The Met was used to accusations of discrimination from junior officers but this row was at the very top.
Dizaei, the force's commander, was at the centre of it as both Ghaffur's main adviser and the president of the National Black Police Association.
It was a dirty fight and, for both sides, much was at stake. Damaging allegations about Ghaffur's private life found their way into newspapers to which elements in Scotland Yard were known to be close.
Dizaei was falsely accused by one paper of being a bigamist a criminal offence. The newspaper later withdrew the story, apologised and paid him damages.
Then, in September, he was suspended from duty over allegations that he had falsely arrested Waad al-Baghdadi, a web designer to whom it was claimed he owed money a claim he denied.
Dizaei was also suspended because of claims that he had given advice to a solicitor whose client was being prosecuted after a case brought by the Met, and allegations about his use of a police credit card. He was exonerated on both.
Testifying in his own defence, he told jurors at Southwark crown court that, during the Ghaffur race row, he believed supporters of the officer were being hunted by their own force.
"We feared our telephones were being tapped and feared that we were being followed," he said.
Scotland Yard insiders insisted there was nothing untoward about the criminal investigation into Dizaei.
Senior sources pointed to the fact that, although the Met started the investigation, it was handed over to the Independent Police Complaints Commission which they argue is no friend of the force.
They also pointed out that the decision to prosecute was taken by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Dizaei's suspension came only months after he had been promoted to commander one of the highest ranks in British policing.
That promotion marked a stunning rise following Scotland Yard's earlier pursuit of him.
He had previously been suspended in 2001, with the force alleging that he was a danger to national security, had consorted with prostitutes and had taken illegal drugs. It was nonsense.
When Dizaei eventually stood trial, none of these headline-grabbing allegations ever made the indictment.
Instead, he was accused of a minor offence and, in 2003, was unanimously cleared by an Old Bailey jury.
The charge followed a £4m inquiry involving covert surveillance of Dizaei and undercover surveillance teams tracking him. The investigation, conducted by a unit led by Blair, was pursued as thought it was a major murder case.
The first criminal investigation into Dizaei had started in July 1999. By October, he was the subject of wiretaps and covert surveillance into his alleged drug use, which would prove baseless.
When he was suspended in January 2001, he was the legal adviser to the National Black Police Association and helped officers sue forces for discrimination.But it was only in 2007 that a key reason for the Yard's pursuit of him eventually emerged.
He was treated "as an enemy of the state", because MI5, Britain's domestic security service, believed he might be one.
In mid-2000, the security service told Scotland Yard it suspected him of being an Iranian spy.
The Guardian has learned that the MI5 warning about Dizaei was one of the principal reasons the force pursued him for four years.
The Met's anti-corruption squad bugged his phones, investigated his bank accounts, tracked him to the US and set him several integrity tests which he passed.
A key reason why it was so determined to pursue him was the claim by MI5 .
Informed sources said MI5 had based its warning on Dizaei's association with people from the Iranian embassy and Iranian nationals, his visits to the embassy, and an intercept by the eavesdropping station at GCHQ.
Dizaei who holds dual UK and Iranian citizenship did not know that the potentially career-destroying allegation had come from MI5.
He later said: "MI5 should be ashamed of themselves, as should the police service.
"I have always told Special Branch when I'm visiting the Iranian embassy in London to get a visa for my son. Are these the actions of an Iranian spy?"
After his acquittal in 2003, the force paid him £80,000 in compensation. In return, he dropped a racial discrimination case against it.
In a deal reached after pressure from David Blunkett, the home secretary at the time, he returned to work with the Met, declaring that his integrity was intact.
But, despite his acquittal in 2003 and rise to the rank of commander, there were still elements at the Yard who remained suspicious of him.
no
even a black member of the BPA said dezaei had been using the association for his own ends
even a black member of the BPA said dezaei had been using the association for his own ends
Ahhhh.......he's a muslim.......so much for those beliefs...
a) why does a serving police officer need a personal website?
b) when did this guy ever find time to do any proper police work?
b) when did this guy ever find time to do any proper police work?
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