Five years ago the e-petition set up by my family for me to stand trial in Britain reached the threshhold of 100,000 required for the matter to be debated in Parliament.

The 3 minute video below is the song that made the campaign famous.

In just 11 weeks people all over Britain, but predominantly from the Muslim community, made songs, videos and appeals to reach the target.

They went door to door and waited outside mosques, hospitals and supermarkets as banners saying “Free Babar Ahmad” appeared on high streets around Britain.

Some people even boarded coaches of British Muslim pilgrims on Hajj to get the signatures.

In the end, two Parliamentary debates were held about my case, the first time Parliament has convened to discuss the case of a man detained in prison.

Yet I was still extradited to America in 2012 and those who signed the petition were disappointed that their efforts had been wasted. This was because Allah had another plan…

The level of public outrage over my case, as demonstrated by this e-petition, showed the authorities in both the UK and the US that something was just not right about what was happening to me.

Three years after my extradition to the US I returned home to Britain with my head held high after one of the most senior judges in America ruled that I was not a terrorist.

This petition showed the country, and the world, that the Muslim community in Britain is strong and united because they refused to submissively let the authorities snatch and send one of them away.

Do you remember this campaign? Did you sign this e-petition? Why don’t you share some of your memories from this campaign below?