Gearóid Ó Cuinn, who is currently studying for a PhD in human rights at Nottingham University, is a close friend of Hich Yezza.

The guy is an incredible person and we can't understand how this could happen to him. He was actually on campus when the police arrived and asked him to step outside. While both he and Rizwaan were kept for six days, this all could have been sorted out with one phone call to the student's supervisor. Then the police would have found out that this document is freely available online and even on the university's politics reading list! Like people say, there is no smoke without fire, and in this case, the fire is that Hich is a Muslim. If he'd been white there would have been no problem."

Hich gave his account of events from Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, where he is waiting to be deported.

When I was first arrested I tried to explain that this was obviously a huge misunderstanding, not to mention a monumental waste of time. I was treated well by custody officers, especially after they got to know me; the usual reaction was "you don't belong here". Being in custody is a harrowing experience but I managed to get through it by keeping my mind busy with reading and writing.

I love Britain. I have always done my best to combat extremism here. I realize the police have a difficult job to do and I am by no means a conspiracy theorist, but I really feel that my political activism [Hich is a prominent human rights protester] over the past few years has factored as a major reason for the enquiry to take as long as it did. I hope that this isn't an indication of a wider trend that sees political activism as another subversive phenomenon in itself. This would really be a great disservice to the tradition of freedom of speech that the British people have fought so long and hard to achieve."

The original copy of the 1,500 page document in question was originally discovered by Manchester Metropolitan Police in a home raid and later published on a US government website, which Rizwaan downloaded it from. It is also available on Amazon in a book form for £16.95 (€21). Entitled "The al Qaeda Training Manual", it gives guidance on how best to act as a martyr of Jihad. Those suitable for the task are expected to be obedient, free of illness, "unflappable", patient, intelligent and insightful. The orders include making "[the rulers'] women widows and their children orphans" and "to slaughter them like lambs'. The manual rebuffs "peaceful solutions", saying that Islamic governments will be "established by pen and gun, by word and bullet, by tongue and teeth". Instructions include details on the forging of documents, gathering information, transport, currency, the "blasting" of public places and the long term goal of establishing an Islamic state. You can read the file in full here.