Nearly 200 Muslim prisoners are suing the British government, claiming their human rights were violated after test results confirmed that halal food being served to them contained pork meat, reported The Telegraph on Monday.
Islamic teachings strongly forbid any Muslim from eating pork.
Test results proved that halal sausage rolls, shepherd’s pies, steak and kidney pies and pasties served to inmates actually contained the pork ingredient.
The contaminated meat products were discovered during investigations over the horsemeat scandal this year.
A total number of 186 inmates from three different prisons have launched legal cases in an attempt to win compensation over the error, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed.
In an interview with the UK daily, Justice Minister Jeremy Wright said: “the Ministry of Justice has received a number of civil litigation claims following the discovery of contaminated halal food in March earlier this year. Each claim will be considered on its merits and robustly defended where appropriate.”
A total of 11, 248 Muslim prisoners make up 13.1 percent of the jail population in the UK.