Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg has walked free from Belmarsh prison after seven terrorism-related charges against him were dropped.
The charges – which were connected to the conflict in Syria – were dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service after “new material” emerged.
Leaving prison, Mr Begg, 46, said he had “wanted his day in court” and claimed his detention was “unlawful”.
The Muslim Council of Britain called for an “urgent investigation”.
Mr Begg, from Birmingham, was arrested with three others in February.
Speaking from outside prison after his release, he said: “Not once but twice in my case this government has been involved either in directly detaining me or indirectly detaining me and on both occasions it’s been unlawful.”
Mr Begg also said handling of his case “shows a knee jerk reaction”, adding: “It shows little has changed since the beginning of the early days in the war on terror. There isn’t an appetite, there isn’t a desire to try to really understand what’s taking place.”
Update: See “Moazzam Begg was in contact with MI5 about his Syria visits, papers show”, Guardian, 2 October 2014