Human rights debate ended in punch-up

Human rights debate ended in punch-up

Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent
26 Sep 2011

A human rights conference descended into a brawl within minutes of it being opened by a Labour peer, a court heard.

Baroness Uddin, the first female Muslim peer, had been invited to chair the conference by the International Bangladeshi Foundation in July last year.
But the event was abandoned as supporters of the ruling party in Bangladesh, the Awami League, and opposition Bangladesh National Party, clashed.
A number of delegates were injured.
BNP supporter Sharef Chowdhury, 44, of Bethnal Green, and Awami League subscriber Montor Ali, 37, of East Ham, admitted affray at Inner London crown court.
Judge Austin Issard-Davies sentenced Chowdhury and Ali to a community order with 100 hours' unpaid work.
The judge told them: "It is central to democracy that debate can take place free of violence.
"It is disgraceful that at a meeting chaired by a member of the House of Lords, a fracas like this should take place."
Ahmed Ali, of Canning Town, and Shahreyar Rahman, 34, of Clacton-on-Sea, were cleared of the same charge.