LONDON: A former Pakistani council worker in London, Khalid Baqa, has appeared in the Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court three weeks after he was escorted by police from a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight between Lahore and the UK.

Baqa was charged with one count of fraud by false representation for failing to disclose a previous conviction to an insurance company.

Baqa, 52 and a father of six, denied committing fraud and was granted unconditional bail until a trial on April 6.

The former Hackney council employee was jailed for two years in 2013 after he was caught watching terrorist propaganda in his office. At that time he pleaded guilty to possessing collections of terrorist publications that contained extreme ideology and material relating to violent jihad.

During the trial Baqa said that he was holding the material for someone else but accepted that it would probably be distributed by his associates. After his conviction he lost his job.

Sentencing Baqa, the judge said of the CDs: “The underlying message was one of encouragement and promotion of extremist violence, beliefs and glorification and encouragement of jihadi activity against those who didn’t share such beliefs or who were opposed to them.”

The Feb 8 PIA flight from Lahore to Heathrow was diverted to Stansted airport after a security alert and escorted to the ground by Quick Reaction Alert Typhoon military aircraft.

According to the UK police, the security alert had nothing to do with Baqa. The police had planned to pick him up in Heathrow but had to change their plan and detained him at Stansted instead.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2017