Living Costs for UK Terror Suspects Top $1M

House arrest program for dangerous extremists under fire
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 17, 2009 2:30 AM CST
Living Costs for UK Terror Suspects Top $1M
Two British police officers stand outside the Finsbury Park Mosque in London after a counter-terrorism raid in which 7 people were arrested.   (Getty Images)

Terror suspects have been paid over $1 million in living expenses in the last two years under a controversial British program that keeps them under virtual house arrest. The suspects—who security services say pose a threat, but who can't be prosecuted because evidence against them is too sensitive to disclose in court—have received funds for accommodations, phone bills, and other expenses on top of welfare payments, the Telegraph reports.

Opposition lawmakers say the sums paid out for living expenses are one of many reasons why the program, which currently includes 13 suspects, should be scrapped. The system "denies due process to the defendant, does not provide a reliable remedy to the security problem posed by terrorist suspects, and on top of all that costs hundreds of thousands of pounds," complained a Conservative politician said. (More house arrest stories.)

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