The Court of Appeal was giving its reasons today for overturning the convictions of nine Afghan men jailed for hijacking a plane from Kabul to Stansted.
Their convictions were quashed last month as "unsafe" after three judges in London heard arguments that the law relating to whether they acted under "duress" because of their fear of the brutal Taliban regime had been wrongly applied at their Old Bailey trial.
Brothers Ali and Mohammed Safi - who led the hijack and were jailed for five years - were the only men still in jail at the time of the court's ruling.
Seven others, jailed for between 27 and 30 months, had already served their sentences.
The nine Afghan Muslims were jailed at the Old Bailey in December 2001 for hijacking the plane, false imprisonment, possessing firearms with intent to cause fear of violence and possessing explosives.
The hijack, in February 2000, resulted in a three-day stand-off at Stansted and their trial was told the men threatened to murder passengers and crew following detours to Kazakhstan and Moscow.
After the convictions were quashed on May 22, solicitor Imran Khan said the men were "incredibly happy" with the outcome of the Court of Appeal proceedings.
It is understood that the Crown Prosecution Service plans to seek leave to appeal to the House of Lords once it has heard the full reasons for the decision by Court of Appeal judges Lord Justice Longmore, Mr Justice Hooper and Mrs Justice Cox.
Published Friday, June 6, 2003
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