Waad al-Baghdadi’s evidence played a role in convicting Ali Dizaei, a former commander in Scotland Yard, as the Metropolitan Police Service of London is commonly known. Dizaei, 49, in now in prison serving time for the assault and false arrest of Baghdadi.
Dizaei was sentenced to four years for trying to frame Baghdadi after a clash outside a restaurant. On March 22, the court of appeal began hearing Dizaei’s appeal against his conviction, which focused on whether or not Baghdadi was a reliable witness.
According to a report by The Guardian of the UK, Baghdadi was arrested in London March 6 over allegations of fraud. He was released on bail until May and has not yet been charged. The fraud allegations, which Baghdadi denies, involve thousands of pounds.
He is also suspected of having given false information about himself when he testified under oath before the jury hearing the case against Dizaei in February last year.
Baghdadi allegedly: Did not give his real age or name—which is Maleki—in court; lied about being born and living in Iraq when he was born in Iran; claimed his parents were Iraqi and not Iranian; and failed to tell investigators when and how he really entered the UK.
Supporters of Dizaei say Baghdadi’s false statements make the evidence he testified to unreliable. The prosecution, on the other hand, argues that the alleged false statements do not affect Baghdadi’s statements that Dizaei tried to abuse his police power to frame Baghdadi. The prosecution says it believes the incorrect details Baghdadi gave stem from a time when he was trying to escape from Iran.
An early appeal hearing directed that Baghdadi be re-interviewed by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), which investigated the case. During that interview, Baghdadi admitted he gave “false details” to British embassy officials to enter the UK and also secured fake documents to back up his false account.
Scotland Yard likely does not not want to see Dizaei’s conviction overturned. Dizaei has long been a controversial figure within the force and irritated senior Scotland Yard officers. If he wins his appeal, he could be entitled to backpay of more than £100,000 ($163,000). But appeals court judges rarely overturn jury verdicts.
Dizaei, who was born in Iran and immigrated to the UK in 1973, was the president of the National Black Police Association (NBPA) until September 2009. The term “black” is used in Britain to describe people who are not of European dissent.
Dizaei was an outspoken critic of the police on race and a key figure in a racism dispute that erupted at the top of Scotland Yard in the summer of 2008.
Dizaei worked for the force for 25 years, but his career ended after a clash with Baghdadi in the street outside a London restaurant. The prosecution said on July 18, 2008, Dizaei clashed with 24-year-old Baghdadi, who claimed the police commander owed him £600 ($980) for a website Baghdadi had designed. Baghdadi testified that he confronted Dizaei at a Persian restaurant in Kensington, West London, asking for the money the police commander owed him. Dizaei then arrested him. At the time, Dizaei claimed Baghdadi had assaulted him by poking him in the stomach with the mouthpiece of a shisha water pipe; Dizaei filed official statements and maintained his account in court. Dizaei was convicted of wrongly arresting Baghdadi and then lying in his statements.
The jury was unanimous in finding Dizaei guilty of misconduct in public office and attempting to pervert the course of justice after a four-week trial.
This is not the only time Dizaei has had a run-in with the law. In 2003, Dizaei stood trial at the Old Bailey courthouse on charges that he lied about vandalism to his car—charges he was later cleared of. The case was brought in the wake of a multimillion-pound undercover probe of Dizaei known as Operation Helios. The operation failed to find evidence to substantiate allegations that Dizaei hired prostitutes and spied for Iran in 1999 and 2000. Dizaei was awarded £60,000 ($98,000) in compensation and reinstated to the force.
After the investigation failed to produce any evidence supporting the allegations, Dizaei was promoted twice and, in 2007, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair issued an apology for the prior investigations.
Two other inquiries into Dizaei’s conduct relate to claims he misused a police credit card and allegations he advised a lawyer on how to undermine a prosecution. The credit card inquiry has reportedly found no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Dizaei. It is unclear as to the status of the third inquiry.