In a short statement issued yesterday (28th April, 2023), Greater Manchester Police said:
“Yesterday morning (Thursday 27th April 2023) a 49-year-old [was] arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred outside a place of worship on Featherstall Road North, Oldham.
“The male has been released and no further action has been taken”.
The lines were provided in response to a detailed request made to GMP by the author of this article, Neil Wilby, following social media output from Raja Miah, 49, a notorious, unemployed, Tameside-based conspiracy theorist (read the full request made to GMP here).
Under present College of Policing guidelines suspects are not normally named on arrest but, in this particular case of course, Miah has named himself both on Twitter and YouTube as the nominal detained by GMP – and the alleged offence put to him in interview.
As one might expect, there is a collision on the versions provided by Miah and the police: The latter say it was due to an in-person incident outside a mosque, the former says it was because of a single Twitter post.
Miah’s close friend, Warren Bates, a former Oldham councillor, appears to back up the police version of events:
“He was kept six [it was actually closer to twelve hours] hours in police custody at Newton Heath HQ. For protesting outside his place of worship, Oldham main mosque, against the teachings inside”.
The force, in their response to the press request, did not address the question of ‘death threats’ allegedly received by Miah over the mosque incident. Possibly coloured by the fact this is a routine trope to which he has resorted regularly over the past four years. Very arguably, the most risible being an alleged conspiracy to murder him by journalist Neil Wilby; the MP for Oldham West and Royton, Jim McMahon; and the Oldham Council Leader (as he was then), Sean Fielding.
GMP also declined to comment on the existence of a special police operation set up in Oldham District to target offences related to on-line division, hate and harassment.
The latest arrest of Bradford-born Raja Miah, on 27th April, 2023, was the third ‘dawn raid’ on his Mossley home by GMP since July, 2021. He is currently on both police and court conditional bail over malicious communication and harassment allegations respectively (read more here). He also is embroiled in a potentially life-changing defamation claim where he could face costs and damages approaching £200,000 if the matters in issue proceed to trial (read more here). He admits that he will lose his home if, as seems likely on current pleadings, he fails to successfully defend the court action.
In all cases, he denies wrongdoing. In the matter of his latest arrest he says:
“I am in no doubt whatsoever. This was a politically motivated arrest instigated by an un-named senior officer on behalf of an anonymous victim. The intention was to prevent me campaigning in the lead up to next Thursday’s [Oldham Council] election”
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Page last updated Saturday 29th April, 2023 at 0900hrs
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