Elham Asaad Buaras
The Chief Executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), Nazir Afzal, has resigned from his post in order to appear on BBC’s Question Time.
Afzal, who brought the prosecution against the Rochdale grooming gang as former Chief Crown Prosecutor, announced the resignation on his Twitter account. Afzal tweeted: “I confirm that I’ve resigned as Chief Executive of country’s police & crime commissioners. I’m not saying anything publicly.”
The BBC reported Afzal resigned in order to appear on the Question Time on May 25 following the Manchester attack. Afzal was advised against appearing on the show by APCC board due to the potentially controversial policing issues that could have been raised on the show.
A spokesman for the APCC said: “Nazir told the board that he intended to go on Question Time to discuss the recent events in Manchester. The board made up of all parties, advised that it would be inappropriate for him to do so, given the number of contentious issues relating to policing which could be raised especially in discussion with politicians who were appearing and during purdah.”
“He resigned from his post in order to make this appearance. We thank him for his service during his year at the APCC.”
On the day of Manchester terror attack on May 22, Afzal, 55, tweeted: “Manchester is my home now & my heart breaks for those who lives were taken These deluded narcissistic criminals never divide or defeat us. (sic).”
A day after the terror attack, Afzal tweeted: “I prosecuted terrorists of all motivations. They’re not soldiers. They’re sad narcissists – thinking the world owes them. We owe them nothing.”
And posting a photo of Manchester city centre, he added: “Terrorists want us to change our lives because of them. They lose when we don’t.”
Afzal became the first Muslim to be appointed as Chief Crown Prosecutor making him Britain’s most senior lawyer within the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
Afzal had joined the CPS in 1991 and was the operational and policy lead for child abuse, hate crime including disability, violence against women and honour-based violence. He was awarded an OBE in 2004 for his services to the law and the local community.
