LONDON: Lawyers are preparing to challenge the arrest of eight men in Britain on the ground that a new law on terrorism under which they are held is itself illegal.

The arrest of the eight men will be challenged before a special court in London and also before the European Court of Human Rights, lawyers say.

The arrests came even before the Act could be published. Lawyers now working to defend the men do not yet know the precise legalities they seek to challenge.

The orders for the arrest of the men were signed by Home Secretary David Blunkett because they are foreigners in Britain suspected of involvement in international terrorism and so a threat also to national security.

They are being detained now under the highest grade security. A tight watch will be kept over the men in prison. Visits by relatives or lawyers will be restricted.

Under the new Act the men will be held for at least six months in these prisons, unless they can win release from a special tribunal before then.

The basis of their arrest is not evidence “beyond reasonable doubt” but simply “reasonable” ground for suspicion.

“Liberty is taking on the role of fighting the cases of the eight arrested men. John Wadham, director of Liberty says.

“Arrests under these powers stamp all over basic principles of British justice and the European Convention on Human Rights. ”

“By locking people up without clear evidence or access to a proper trial, the Government is violating those traditions,” Wadham added.

Home Secretary Blunkett defended the arrests of the men in Parliament. He said that the men would remain in detention but could be released if they wanted to leave Britain.

“This means that in the eyes of British law the men are dangerous here but the government does not care if they are dangerous in another country or not,” Mohammad Qureshi from the Muslim Parliament, an independent pressure group, said.—Dawn/InterPress Service.