Legislation around crucial public inquiry witnesses could be strengthened to 'restrict their movements' after the elder brother of the Manchester Arena mass murderers skipped the country despite having 'highly relevant information to give'.
The Government and the Ministry of Justice is facing a call from Sir John Saunders, the chairman of the public inquiry into the bombing, to make a change to an Act of Parliament after the case of Ismail Abedi, who was found with 'a significant volume of extremist material' two years before the atrocity.
The elder brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi and now jailed Hashem Abedi, a warrant for Ismail Abedi's arrest remains in place after he was convicted in his absence of failing to comply with a legal requirement to attend the inquiry and give evidence.
READ MORE: The Arena bombing happened after the security services let us down. Why won't they tell us why?
Sir John said in his view, there should be 'statutory powers available to the High Court capable of applying short-term restrictions on the movements of a citizen who is a material witness to an inquiry', if there are fears they wouldn't co-operate.
He made a series of recommendations around the Inquiries Act 2005 in his third and final report arising from the inquiry, which found missed opportunities on the part of security service MI5 to stop the terror attack and delved into the circumstances behind the bomber's radicalisation.
An expert told the inquiry Ismail Abedi's 'influence' on his brothers was 'critical', and Sir John said he found 'his views did influence Salman Abedi's and Hashem Abedi's worldviews to a significant extent'. Sir John said it wasn't possible for him to secure the evidence 'of a person who had highly relevant information to give'.
He said in the report: "One of the areas in which I make recommendations relates to the enforcement regime under the Inquiries Act 2005. By 'enforcement regime', I mean the legal powers available to a chairman, which are aimed at ensuring that all relevant information is before him/her.
"In my view, there should be statutory powers available to the High Court capable of applying short-term restrictions on the movements of a citizen who is a material witness to an inquiry. Such powers should only be available when they are justified by the importance of the witness's evidence and an objectively determined risk of that person's non‑co-operation."
Sir John said he would recommend the Ministry of Justice and the Law Commission 'give consideration' to amending a section of the Act to 'make provision for issuing pre-emptive enforcement proceedings for witnesses in relation to whom there are reasonable grounds to believe that they will not co-operate'.
He also called for new statutory powers 'to prevent a material witness to an inquiry putting themselves beyond the reach of the existing powers to compel a witness's attendance'.
Sir John said: "An inquiry is a search for the truth. The absence of evidence from a material witness is capable of significantly undermining this search. Ismail Abedi was one of the very few witnesses who had first-hand knowledge of the home in which Salman Abedi and Hashem Abedi grew up. Given his parents' departure to Libya prior to the attack, he was uniquely placed to assist the inquiry."
Parents Ramadan Abedi and Samia Tabbal haven't cooperated with the inquiry either.
Ismail Abedi - also known as Ben Romdhan - was stopped under the Terrorism Act at Heathrow Airport in September 2015 and his electronic devices were found to contain 'a significant volume of extremist material', revealed the report.
His Facebook account had 'numerous images of men in camouflage clothing holding weapons' as well as an image of a Jordanian pilot being burned alive. The account also contained images of him posing with guns and of his younger brothers with guns.
His mobile phone, added the report, also contained 'numerous violent jihadi nasheeds' - songs in praise of Islamic State - as well as Islamic State recruitment videos and a download of a 268-page booklet supporting Islamic State.
The expert described the material at the inquiry as being 'a sort of toolkit of Islamic State propaganda and material'. Everything found was examined by police, but 'it was concluded that it did not meet the evidential threshold for submission to the Crown Prosecution Service' for any potential criminal charge.
Ismail Abedi was arrested the day after the bombing - and electronic devices seized from him were again found to contain 'material supportive of Islamic State'.
"The totality of the material from both 2015 and 2017 was reviewed again in January 2021 and on this occasion was submitted to the CPS for a charging decision in June 2021. The CPS advised that there was insufficient evidence for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction for any terrorist offence," said Sir John in the report, adding it was a matter for the CPS and making no comment.
"Ismail Abedi appears to have assumed the role of guardian for his brothers at the same time as they became most radicalised.
"Ismail Abedi and friends of Salman Abedi's and Hashem Abedi's accessed Islamic State material online, and it is inevitable that Salman Abedi and Hashem Abedi did as well. This material would have fuelled their radicalisation by glorifying the actions of Islamic State."
Ismail Abedi's DNA was also discovered on an item recovered by detectives from the car in Rusholme were the bomb was kept.
He was notified in April 2021 that he would be required to give evidence to the inquiry, but said maintained his 'blanket assertion of the privilege against self incrimination'. Sir John refused Abedi's request to apply to the Attorney General for an undertaking he wouldn't be prosecuted for any answer he gave.
It emerged he was stopped by Greater Manchester Police at Manchester Airport on August 28 2021, where he told officers he was only leaving the country for three weeks, but released and managed to board a flight to Istanbul the next day. It is believed his family has followed, but his current whereabouts are unknown. The Arena families accused him of 'laughing in the face of the process'.
Sir John said in his report: "I was not aware of Ismail Abedi’s attempt to leave the country or his successful departure a day later, until August 31 2021, after he had left the UK. Once Ismail Abedi was out of the country, I had no powers to compel his return.
"At the time of publishing this report, Ismail Abedi has not been sentenced. So far as I am aware, he is still out of the country."
Sir John said there was 'no reliable basis on which to conclude' Ismail Abedi was involved in the planning or preparation for the attack.
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