In what could be regarded as the height of whining, a Bangladeshi terrorist, who plotted to blow up a passenger jet, has complained that he is not allowed to use Skype to make low-cost phone calls from a high-security UK jail.
Rajib Karim, 32, wants to use the system, which offers cheap international calls from phones as well as free video link-ups, to contact friends and family in Bangladesh. But officials at maximum security HMP Frankland in Durham barred the move saying it would pose a serious security risk. “This guy planned on killing hundreds of people. He is a former British Airways software engineer who knows a lot about computers and telecommunications. The last thing he should be given access to is a computer or method of free communication,” the Daily Mail quoted an unnamed source as saying.
Karim was jailed for 30 years last year after being found guilty of planning a 9/11-style terror attack with former al-Qaida warlord Anwar al-Awlaki. The father-of-two claims using a prison payphone costs him too much money. In a letter written to inside Time, a newspaper for prisoners, he said, “The international call rates cost a lot using the prison PIN system and the Skype option looked like a perfect solution. The best part was that it was legal and no breach of prison rules as the call was made to a direct number and was not being redirected.