30 Facts About Aamer Anwar

Aamer Anwar was born on 30 December 1967 and is a British political activist and lawyer of Pakistani origin.

Aamer Anwar was an active participant in the Stop the War Coalition, and campaigned against the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles.

Aamer Anwar has been a longstanding critic of the Dungavel Detention Centre for failed asylum seekers, and is a trustee of the Time for Inclusive Education charity for LGBT-inclusive education in Scottish schools.

Aamer Anwar became a student activist and led a campaign against alleged racism at the city's Dental Hospital, which helped introduce anonymous marking across all faculties at the university.

Aamer Anwar left engineering to study sociology and politics and was still a student when he was arrested by police officers for illegally flyposting on Ashton Lane in 1991.

Aamer Anwar found himself criticised by the ruling sheriff in regards to the release of "bloated confrontational material" surrounding the case, with the sheriff stating that the allegations of racism did not influence his findings.

Aamer Anwar came to prominence campaigning on behalf of the family of Surjit Singh Chhokar, a waiter who was murdered in November 1998 in Overtown, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.

The Jandoo Inquiry, which the family boycotted and refused to give evidence to, heavily criticised Aamer Anwar and said he took on too many roles and took liberties in interpreting for the family.

Aamer Anwar served on the Stephen Lawrence Steering Group, set up in 2000.

The family along with Aamer Anwar, campaigned tirelessly for improvements in the way allegations of racial crimes were dealt with and the justice system has transformed how it deals with racial crimes as a result.

In 2004 Aamer Anwar was the solicitor for "TC" Campbell and successfully appealed to have Campbell's murder conviction overturned.

In 2010 Aamer Anwar acted as solicitor for Tommy Sheridan in HM Advocate v Sheridan and Sheridan.

In July 2011, Aamer Anwar presented a dossier along with Tom Watson to Strathclyde Police into alleged criminality at the News of the World, allegations of phone hacking and data breaches, and police corruption as part of the wider News International phone hacking scandal.

On 2 October 2012, Aamer Anwar gave evidence to the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee arguing against allowing cameras in criminal trials.

On 5 June 2014, it was announced that Aamer Anwar had lodged an appeal on behalf of the family of Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 over Lockerbie.

Aamer Anwar was instructed by 24 British relatives of passengers who died on the flight, including Jim Swire.

In September 2014, Aamer Anwar represented the family of Jihadi bride Aqsa Mahmood, a 20-year-old woman from Glasgow who travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

In February 2017, Aamer Anwar represented the family of murder victim Emma Caldwell.

Aamer Anwar represented two Scottish National Party MPs: Michelle Thomson and Natalie McGarry.

In 2021, Aamer Anwar represented Rangers FC player Glen Kamara, who claimed that he suffered from racial abuse by Slavia Prague player Ondrej Kudela in a Europa League Last-16 2nd leg game at Ibrox Stadium in March 2021.

In 2008, Aamer Anwar was runner-up in the election for Rector of the University of Glasgow and lost to Charles Kennedy.

Edward Snowden followed Kennedy for a three-year term of office which finished in 2017, when Aamer Anwar was re-nominated for the role.

Aamer Anwar took office on 31 March 2017 and was installed at a ceremony on 19 April 2017.

The Times Scottish edition reported in June 2018 that Aamer Anwar had failed to hold a single surgery for the first 11 months of his rectorship, which was supported by Glasgow University.

In 2008, he faced allegations of contempt of court in light of a complaint by the presiding judge in the case, Colin Sutherland, after Aamer Anwar directly attacked the jury following the trial and conviction of Mohammed Siddique in the High Court of Justiciary.

Sutherland accused Aamer Anwar of making unprofessional, defamatory, and factually inaccurate attacks on the judiciary, the jury, and the wider legal process, stating that Aamer Anwar was "hiding behind the cloak of his client" to make politically motivated attacks on anti-terrorism legislation.

Aamer Anwar was the first lawyer in the UK to be put on trial for contempt of court for comments he made on behalf of his client at the end of a trial.

Aamer Anwar was named Solicitor of the Year in the Herald's Law Awards of Scotland 2018.

Aamer Anwar was named "Lawyer of the Year" at the fourteenth Scottish Legal Awards in March 2017, and "Solicitor of the Year" in the Herald's Law Awards of Scotland in November 2016.

Aamer Anwar's firm picked up "Criminal Law Firm of the Year" at the Law Awards of Scotland in 2006 and 2014.