The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) must drop all charges and must not proceed with the case against Abdul Haroun because the prosecution is not in the public interest and because proceeding with the trial is an abuse of the law and the legal process.

June 20, the day that has been given as the provisional start date of the trial, is also the first day of ‪Refugee Week 2016‬.

Abdul Haroun is to face trial at a court in Canterbury for allegedly causing obstruction to a railway engine or carriage, which is an offence under the Malicious Damage Act 1861, after he walked through the Channel Tunnel for close to 12 hours, in near total darkness, evading high-speed trains, before being arrested by British police close to the end of the tunnel at Folkestone.

The Home Office gave him refugee status on Christmas Eve.

Given that there are no safe or legal routes into Britain for people seeking refuge, in prosecuting Abdul Haroun for walking through the tunnel, the CPS is, in effect, prosecuting him for irregular entry.

Both international and domestic law say Britain must not prosecute refugees for irregular entry.

References:

• “Sudanese refugee who walked length of Channel tunnel faces trial”, The Guardian, 22 January 2016 
• “Channel Tunnel Man: Refugees should not be prosecuted for irregular entry”, Free Movement (Immigration Law blog), 11 August 2015