EXCLUSIVE The man who ordered the kidnap and murder of his niece in Britain's most notorious honour killing now claims HE is the victim. Here, her family have their say

Daily Mail​

a day ago

The harrowing kidnap, rape and murder of Banaz Mahmod made for one of Britain's most infamous so-called 'honour killings'.
And loved ones grieving her loss are now suffering fresh trauma after an uncle who was among those plotting her death launched a sick new court battle.
Family members and campaigners honouring tragic Banaz have hit back at the convict's latest claims, describing the case as 'appalling' - while also calling for changes to sentencing on 'honour killings'.
Banaz, 20, was killed on the orders of her father Mahmod Mahmod and her uncle Ari Mahmod after she left an abusive arranged marriage and fell in love with another man.
Other family members and friends were recruited to carry out the murder and she was raped by three of her cousins before being strangled.
Now her uncle Ali Mahmod, 69, is suing ITV in London 's High Court over a 2020 drama called Honour, starring Keeley Hawes, and a 2012 documentary on the killing.
Representing himself in court, Mahmod insisted that in his Iraqi Muslim culture such supposed 'honour' murders were acceptable - and he complained it was the accusation of rape that would damage his reputation.
Ali Mahmod, speaking via videolink from HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, told the High Court he had been attacked in prison and his family were victims of reprisals.
While representing himself in the court hearing last month, Ali Mahmod told judges he been attacked in jail and that his family were victims of reprisals.
Speaking through an interpreter, he said: 'In my country murder is normal - after served time you have a new opportunity.
'In my culture the main things they react against me was the rape allegation.'
Talking about himself in the third person, he added: 'Almost all statements left no doubts the allegation of rape was with Ari's blessing. In the Islamic community rape is taboo - it is the highest level of crime.'
But now campaigners who have been backing Banaz's surviving family members and other victims of violence and abuse have condemned his latest pleas.
A family member, who did not want to be identified, told MailOnline: 'The fact he's bringing this case is quite unbelievable.
'We knew but didn't realise it was actually happening. It's appalling, the whole thing.'
Dr Hannana Siddiqui, head of policy for campaign group Southall Black Sisters, told MailOnline of disbelief at the tragedy being brought back to court by Ali Mahmod.
She said: 'I find it strange. Rape is used as a tool of abuse of women. I don't understand his logic.
'Whoever gives permission for murder must understand all the implications.
'We know he was justifying the killing – it was justified in his community and he therefore he didn't see it as wrong.
'Now he's trying to retain his honour by saying he's being accused of rape – why he'd have a problem with that, with what he's done, I don't know.
'Generally, the community feel rape is acceptable with someone who's exiled from the community and family.
'Maybe he's trying to get money. I find it baffling that there wasn't a prosecution for rape as well as the murder – that may be why he claims it's libel.
'But he ordered the killing – and all the implications of the rape could be involved. I don't think his case is very strong.'
The organisation is calling for what they suggest be named 'Banaz's Law', which would recognised 'honour'-based abuse as a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing.
The campaign has previously been backed by one of Banaz's sisters, Bektal Mahmod, who has been living in hiding under witness protection after giving evidence during the 2007 criminal trial.
Dr Siddiqui, who co-authored Bekhal's 2022 book No Safe Place: Murdered By Our Father, added: 'Honour killings are using as a triggering factor but instead the issue should be treated as an aggravating factor in sentencing guidelines.'
Banaz had fled an abusive arranged marriage that began when was 17 after being continuously raped and beaten by her husband, who was ten years older.
She returned to live in the family home in south London and then fell in love with a Kurdish man, Rahmat Suleimani, who later took his own life in 2016.
In the months leading up to her disappearance, Banaz reported to police five times that her family wanted her dead, but no action was taken.
She was deemed to have brought 'shame' on the family with her father and uncle hatching a plan to have her killed in the most savage way possible to restore their 'honour' and 'reputation' within the community.
Banaz suffered horrific sexual violence prior to being strangled to death at the family home in January 2006.
Her body was then stuffed into a suitcase and taken to Birmingham, where it was buried in the garden of an abandoned home.
Following the discovery of her body, Banaz's father, uncle and other relatives and family associates were charged with her murder or for conspiring in it.
In 2007, following a three-month trial at the Old Bailey, her father Mahmod Mahmod was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years in prison.
Her uncle Ari Mahmod was also found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in jail with at least 23 years behind bars.
Her cousin Mohamad Hama also admitted murder and was ordered to serve at least 17 years in prison.
Three years later, Banaz's cousins Omar Hussain and Mohamad Saleh Ali, who were the ones carrying out the killing, were extradited from Iraq and handed life sentences of 22 years and 21 years respectively after being found guilty of murder.
The acclaimed ITV docudrama Honour tells the story of lead investigator DCI Caroline Goode's efforts to bring Banaz's killers to justice, after the victim was reported missing from her home by Mr Suleimani.
Award-winning actress Hawes portrayed DCI Goode, who worked for 33 years in the Metropolitan Police and wrote a book published in 2020 called Honour: Achieving Justice for Banaz Mahmod.
Speaking to MailOnline last August, DCI Goode recalled: 'This was the most complex and difficult investigation I have ever been involved in.
'From the outset we were met by a conspiracy of silence from the Iraqi-Kurdish community in the UK and had very little evidence to go on.
'The case was unusual because normally when you investigate a murder you are trying to get justice for the family.
'But in this instance, the family weren't interested in getting justice as they were the ones who ordered her killing.'
It remains unclear why Ari Mahmod has been allowed to sue ITV as convicted murderers usually have no reputation to defend.
Representing ITV, barrister Ben Gallop told the High Court last month: 'The claimant is a convicted murderer.
'This is rare for a claim of libel as the possibility of any damage to his reputation is limited due to his pre-existing bad reputation.'
A judgment in the case is expected later in June.
Banaz, an Iraqi Kurd living in Mitcham, south London, was murdered in January 2006 after she fell in love with a man of whom some of her family disapproved.
She was raped, tortured and strangled to death with the bootlace after she walked out of a marriage she had been forced to enter just three years earlier at 17.
Between December 2005 and January 2006, Banaz had told police four times that relatives wanted her dead and described the litany of sexual violence she had been forced to endure at the hands of her abusive husband.
In a recorded interview with police prior to her death, she told of being followed by members of the Iraqi-Kurdish community.
Banaz said: 'People following me - still now they follow me.
'That's the main reason that I came to the police station. In the future at any time if anything happens to me, it's them.'
The terrified young woman left her husband after two and a half years, a decision that angered her family who had arrived in the UK when Banaz was 12.
After returning to her family home, she met and fell in love with Rahmat Sulemani, a family friend.
He would later give evidence at the trial, revealing that he and Banaz had been threatened with death if they carried on seeing each other.
While the lovers continued to meet in secret they were spotted together outside Morden tube station in south London in December 2005.
Banaz's father was informed and arranged the horrific killing of his own daughter.
During an Old Bailey trial it later emerged that on New Year's Eve 2005 a bleeding and terrified Banaz had told PC Angela Cornes that her father had just tried to kill her.
The police officer dismissed her as 'dramatic and calculating' and instead considered charging her with criminal damage for breaking a window during her escape.
Banaz was murdered three weeks later.
Sentencing her father and uncle to life in prison at the Old Bailey in 2007, Judge Brian Barker said: 'This offence was designed to carry a wider message to the community to discourage legal behaviour of girls and women in this country.
'Having endured a short and unhappy marriage, she made the mistake of falling in love with a Kurdish man that you and your community thought was unsuitable.
'So, to restore your so-called family honour you decided she should die and her memory be erased. This was a barbaric and a callous crime.'
The ITV docudrama about the case, Honour, was first broadcast in 2020 before winning a new audience when put on Netflix last year - reducing viewers to tears.
Banaz's boyfriend Rahmet, who gave evidence at the trial of her father and uncle, went into witness protection before taking his own life in 2016.
One of her sisters, Bekhal, also gave evidence and is currently in witness protection and has little contact with anyone that could potentially put her at risk of reprisals.
In an extract from her book about Banaz, published in the Mail On Sunday in 2022, Bekhal recalled how they referred to their abusive father as 'the Evil Punisher'.
She wrote: 'Before I testified against the Evil Punisher and Ari, in a private witness room at the Old Bailey, I worked myself up into a panic.'
She told of 'pacing nervous circles as I said to myself, "Oh my God, they're going to kill me, they're going to kill me, they're going to kill me…"
Bekhal added: 'Giving evidence for the prosecution would mean testifying against my family - and, by extension, the entire Kurdish community.
'My head was a tumble dryer. What if Dad and Ari get off? What if one of them leaps from the dock while I'm giving my evidence?
'What if there's a Kurdish man in the public gallery, armed with a knife, ready to storm the witness stand and slit my throat? Will the jury believe me?
'The risks involved were insurmountable. By now, I had a baby daughter and the police had moved us to a secret location amid death threats.
'The thought of facing Dad and Ari in court terrified me to the core. But securing justice for Banaz outweighed all the risks.'
She gave evidence at the Old Bailey trial behind a screen, and remembered: 'There was no way I could let Dad or Ari see my face, so I decided to wear a hijab, niqab and abaya.
'A hijab is a head covering, a niqab is the traditional Muslim face veil, while the abaya is a square of fabric that drapes from your shoulders to your feet.
As I advanced with two security guards into the courtroom, the first people I noticed were the defendants, both in grey suits and, as always, watching my every step.
'Ari gave me one of his smug smiles. I'll never forget that look.
'It said: "I'm going to win this case – then kill you." Dad crossed his brows, his hatred for me palpable in his menacing stare.
'I quickly averted my gaze to the blue screen around the witness stand ahead, aware that every pair of eyes in that packed courtroom was on me.
'I wanted to do this for Banaz. I swallowed hard, looked at the jury, and said: "I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.'
She also told how Banaz was given the fond nickname of Nazca, meaning 'beautiful' and 'delicate' in Kurdish.
And she shared the message: 'Oh, Nazca, if you were here, the whole world would be orange and yellow. I love you, my darling sister. Sleep tight, my angel.'