Terror suspect in new human rights bid to Strasbourg The British public deserves firm action in this area. The sooner we start to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and challenge the judges in Strasbourg, the better. The British taxpayer should not have to foot the bill for those individuals who are abusing the system. AF was first placed on a control order in 2006 when John Reid was Labour's home secretary. The Home Office told the courts they suspected AF "was or had been involved in terrorism-related activity." He was placed on a home curfew for 18 hours a day and his movements and contact with other people were also restricted. Under the control order regime, suspected terrorists or their lawyers were not allowed to see the evidence against them because it was based on sensitive material from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, the government listening post. Security-vetted lawyers, known as "special advocates," were appointed to represent the suspects during court hearings held in secret. After legal challenges, AF's curfew was reduced to 16 hours a day and later to 14, even though a senior judge, Mr Justice Ouseley, accepted there were "reasonable grounds" for suspecting he had been involved in terror-related activities. AF's challenge went to the House of Lords in 2007, which backed the use of control orders which imposed curfews of up to 16 hours a day. However, AF won a second appeal in the House of Lords in 2009. The Law Lords ruled that - following an earlier ruling by European judges in Strasbourg - ministers were breaching AF's human rights by not giving him sufficient information about the allegations against him. In September 2009, the home secretary of the day, Alan Johnson, revoked the control order rather than be forced to disclose security services material. AF brought another challenge in the High Court against Theresa May, the Home Secretary, in July 2010, "claiming damages for the time he had spent under the control orders." Papers in the latest case say: "The Secretary of State has filed a defence to the applicant's claim and the proceedings remain pending." In his latest application to Strasbourg, AF claims his right to liberty was breached by the control order, and his right to a fair trial had also been breached by the special advocate system. His case has now passed the first hurdle towards a full hearing and British ministers have now been told to justify placing AF on a control order. AF, who lives in a two-bedroom council flat with his father in Old Trafford, Manchester, could be awarded damages by the European court if judges rule against the government in a full hearing, even though control orders no longer exist and have been replaced with a watered-down system.