Ahmed J Versi and Elham Asaad Buaras
The family of a Muslim teenager arrested and held in custody for almost five hours for being in possession of a pinky-sized Zulfiqar [sword] shaped pendant has said they are considering taking legal action against Greater Manchester Police (GMP) for an “unlawful arrest.”
In a statement to The Muslim News, GMP defended the decision to arrest the 16-year-old college student on March 8, citing Bury’s Independent Scrutiny Panel’s conclusion that “the action taken on the day was lawful, proportionate and necessary.”
Ryme Zaidi, of Stretford, Manchester, and his 17-year-old friend were returning home from college when they were stopped and searched by the GMP Transport Unit. Ryme was arrested for wearing a religiously symbolic pendant, which is particularly popular among Shia Muslims.
The arrests of the teenagers were announced on the GMP Bury North Facebook page and on the Bury Times website. It read: “Officers from E Relief have been stationed at Bury Interchange this afternoon, deploying plain-clothed and uniformed officers to deter anti-social behaviour and crime.”
“One 16-year-old male has been arrested on suspicion of possession of a bladed article. One 17-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker. The Transport Unit regularly conducts deployments like this to support our Transport for Greater Manchester colleagues and ensure that you can travel safely on public transport.”
However, as details of the teen’s arrest went viral, members of the public left outraged comments under the police’s Facebook notice of the arrests, deriding what many called an unlawful arrest. One commentator asked how the police had the “audacity to post about these unlawful arrests of minors after being proven wrong about their ‘suspicion’.”
Ryme also left a comment explaining his experience.
Speaking exclusively to The Muslim News about his ordeal, Ryme said he and his friends saw “officers at the bottom of the interchange” when he was suddenly “pushed to a wall” by two men, whom he later learned were undercover police.
Terrified that he was being assaulted by members of the public trying to pin him down, Ryme struggled with the men. It was then, said the teen, that the men handcuffed him and identified themselves as police officers, by which time he had sustained a cut to his face.
He said, “Had they announced they were police officers before they grabbed me, we could have avoided what happened.”
Ryme said he did not resist the search that followed but voiced that he did not “permit” it after witnessing his friend struggle on the floor with several officers.
According to Ryme, one officer grabbed his throat, snapping his Zulfiqar necklace to the ground. Ryme placed it in his pocket, and when the officers took it from him, he explained it was a religious necklace. It was then that one of the officers said, “It looks like a knife to me.”
The officers informed him that they would have to verify that the jewellery was of religious significance. After a 10-minute wait, says Ryme, his request that his handcuffs be loosened was denied.
It was at this point that Ryme saw his friend surrounded by officers, with one “kneeing him in the back” before dragging him across the steps to take him away.
It was then that the officers informed him that a Muslim consultant in the station had ruled that his 4-cm-long pendant with religious engraving was considered “a knife.” The teen was then read his rights and informed he was under arrest for “possession of a bladed article.”
As he climbed the stairs handcuffed, Ryme said he repeated his assertion that his pendant was not a knife. “I told them they’re wasting their time and mine, and that when we get to the station, I won’t be charged.”
Once in the police car, “a call came in from a person in the station; I asked if Sikhs are allowed to carry the Kirpan, why am I not allowed to wear a 3 or 4-cm necklace, and they had no answer for that.”
The teen said his rights were re-read to him at Bury Police Station, where he was told calling his father would “harm” his case.
Back at home, Syed Hassan Zaidi, a senior electrical engineer, said he discovered his son had been arrested by a friend. Syed said he frantically called his son’s mobile multiple times before the police telephoned him to inform him his son had been caught in possession of a knife.
Ryme says he was left in his cell for hours before he was informed that his parents had arrived. Upon seeing his dad, Ryme informed him he had been arrested for wearing his Zulfiqar necklace.
Syed said his wife was more “emotional and upset” when she saw scratches and bruises on his hands from the handcuffs. She shouted, “How can you do this to a 16-year-old? He’s just a minor.”
“It was a disaster for all of us, not only for me and my wife but also for my parents in Pakistan and my wife’s parents here. They all asked, ‘How can they do that to a 16-year-old boy?”
Ryme said his solicitor was bemused in the interrogation room when he saw the pendant he had been arrested for. Ryme told his lawyer that police “wouldn’t bring someone in if their crucifix fell to the ground.”
During his interrogation, the teen was asked if the pendant would give him “the upper hand in a fight” and what the public would think if they viewed it. He said, “It was obvious they were trying to get me to admit it was a knife.”
Ryme said he was repeatedly taken in and out of his cell before he was eventually released and informed his case had been filed as an NFA (no further action) and his pendant returned to him.
Syed said he noticed his son had become “very depressed” after his ordeal, and that he had to reassure him that it was “only an experience” and one that was done for “a good cause of wearing something of religious significance”.
Ryea, who is studying Applied Science, said he felt “humiliated” as the public recording of his arrest went viral at his college, with many of his peers pressing him for answers. He was also shocked to learn that the police publicised his arrest for “possession of a bladed article.”
Ryme, believes the officers were “looking” for a reason to arrest them. “My pendant is blunt, 3 or 4 cm long, and tugged inside my hoodie”, he said, adding that many of the white commuters were not stopped, leading him to believe he was racially profiled.
In a statement to The Muslim News, Chief Superintendent Chris Hill, GMP’s Bury Commander, confirmed Ryme was “arrested on suspicion of carrying a bladed article attached to a chain around his neck.”
“However, upon further examination, it was established that this item posed no threat, and the owner was released with no further action. We were made aware of the incident at the Bury Muslim Forum this week, and it was referred by GMP to Bury’s Independent Scrutiny Panel on Thursday (March 16).”
“Independent Scrutiny Panels take place across the force area and are made up of local people from a diverse range of backgrounds who want to help the police monitor the use of force by the police. The panel agreed that the action taken on the day was lawful, proportionate, and necessary.”
Chief Supt. Hill also defended the stop-and-search tactics, insisting they are “never used lightly” and that officers “only exercise their legal right… when they genuinely suspect that doing so will further their investigations into criminal activity—whether that means looking for weapons, drugs, or stolen property.”
Photo: Ryme Zaidi’s bruised hands as a result of handcuffing. Inset the pendant for which he was arrested. (Photo by Ryme Zaidi)
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