UK pays $297K to prominent British Muslim leader over false 1971 war-crimes allegation

The British government has issued an unreserved apology and paid £225,000 ($297K) in libel damages to Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, a prominent British Muslim community leader. The settlement follows a 2024 Supreme Court ruling which found that the Home Office had no basis to repeat allegations originating from Bangladesh’s discredited International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

The tribunal, which convicted Mueen-Uddin in absentia in 2013, was widely criticized by human rights organizations for failing to meet international legal standards and for being used as a political tool to suppress opposition.

The ICT had been strictly controlled by the ousted Bangladeshi dictator Sheikh Hasina, who was recently sentenced to death and is currently a fugitive in India.

At the High Court in London, the Home Secretary formally acknowledged that the allegations against Mueen-Uddin were unsubstantiated and defamatory. Officials also admitted that the government’s prolonged refusal to apologize—despite repeated requests since 2019—caused further distress. The government agreed to cover all legal costs associated with the nearly six-year litigation.

Following the hearing, Mueen-Uddin said he was “delighted” with the outcome, noting the difficulty of contesting allegations of war crimes made by his own government. He added that his trust in the UK’s legal system “has been vindicated.”

Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin has made significant contributions to British Muslim community leadership and public service over four decades. He served as Secretary General of the Council of Mosques in the United Kingdom and Eire, helped establish the Muslim Council of Britain, and acted as Director of Muslim Spiritual Care Provision in the National Health Service from 2005 to 2012, advising on spiritual care for patients across faiths.​

He held key roles including vice-chairman of the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre, chairman of Tottenham Mosque and Islamic Community Centre, and trustee of Muslim Aid, focusing on charitable initiatives for the British-Bangladeshi community in East London. As vice-chairman of the East London Mosque, he greeted Prince Charles (then heir to the throne, now King Charles III) during the opening of a mosque extension in 2001, with Mueen-Uddin thanking him as "a patron of Islam in this country".

Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, on the left, pictured with Prince Charles at the Markfield Islamic Foundation in Leicestershire in 2003

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