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Shami Chakrabarti
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Shami Chakrabarti CBE (born 16 June 1969, London), has been the director of Liberty, a British
pressure group, since September 2003. Chakrabarti is the Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University. Shami Chakrabarti
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Contents
1 Early life
Featured content
Current events 2 Liberty
Random article 2.1 Andy Burnham controversy
2.2 Damien Green Controversy
search 3 Personal life
4 References
Go 5 External links
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interaction Early life [edit]

About Wikipedia
Community portal After graduating from the London School of Economics gaining a degree in law, Chakrabarti worked
Recent changes as a barrister at the Home Office from 1996 after qualifying as a barrister in 1994, before joining
Contact Wikipedia Liberty on 10 September 2001.[2] She is an alumna of the British-American Project, which promotes
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Anglo-American relations.[3][4]
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toolbox Liberty [edit] At Humber Mouth on 28 June 2007

What links here Born 16 June 1969 (age 40)
Related changes She spent the following two years campaigning against the anti-terrorist measures which followed
London, England
Upload file the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States, such as Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act
Alma mater London School of
Special pages 2001 (ATCSA), and is a prominent opponent of recent counter-terrorism legislation. She is a frequent
Economics
Printable version contributor to BBC Radio 4 and to various newspapers on the topic of human rights and civil liberties.
Permanent link Occupation Lawyer, Director of Liberty
In December 2005, the BBC Radio 4 Today programme ran a poll of listeners to establish "who runs
Cite this page
Britain". After many hours of debate involving subject matter experts, Today placed Shami Spouse(s) (married 1995)

Chakrabarti on the shortlist of ten people who may run Britain. Children 1
[5]
Chakrabarti has comprehensively attacked the political legacy of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
She was shortlisted in the Channel 4 Political Awards 2006 for the "Most Inspiring Political Figure" award. It was voted for by the public and she
came second to Jamie Oliver, beating Tony Blair, David Cameron, George Galloway and Bob Geldof.[6]

Andy Burnham controversy [edit]

In June 2008, Andrew Burnham, British Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, made insinuations in an interview in Progress magazine
at Shadow Home Secretary David Davis' resignation over the 42-day detention for terror suspects. Davis, a Conservative MP, was said by
Burnham to have had "late-night, hand-wringing, heart-melting phone calls with Shami Chakrabarti." Chakrabarti received an apology from
Burnham for his "innuendo and attempted character assassination".[7][8][9]

Damien Green Controversy [edit]

On 18 April 2009, it was reported in The Times and The Daily Telegraph that police who raided the parliamentary office of the Conservative
frontbencher Damien Green and arrested him as part of an inquiry into the leaking of Home Office documents had searched through e-mails and
computer documents going back a number of years using Chakrabarti's name as one of the keywords. The Times reported her as saying that she
believed the actions of Scotland Yard's anti-terror squad "raises very serious questions about just how politicised, even McCarthyite, this
operation was...”[10][11]

Personal life [edit]

Chakrabarti lives with her husband, a partner at City legal firm Herbert Smith, in London. They have one son and they married in July 1995 in the
City of London.
She is a member of the editorial board of the political monthly Total Politics, and a governor of the Ditchley Foundation which aims to promote
international, especially Anglo-American, relations.[12] Discussions at the Ditchley Foundation are private and non-attributable.
She is Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, a member of the Council and Court of Governor of the London School of Economics and a
governor of the British Film Institute, a Visiting Fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford and a Master of the Bench of Middle Temple. She was appointed
a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours.[13] In 2005, the British band The Dastards wrote a
song in Chakrabarti's honour entitled Shami Chakrabarti.[14] She was featured on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in December 2008 and
appeared on Have I Got News for You in May 2008.

References [edit]

1. ^ "Director of Liberty appointed University Chancellor" . Oxford Brookes University. 16 June 2008.
2. ^ "Desert Island Discs featuring Shami Chakrabarti ". Desert Island Discs. BBC. Radio 4. 2 November 2008.
3. ^ http://www.baponline.org/conferences.html
4. ^ Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (March 17, 2008). "This unhealthy strain of left-wing McCarthyism" . The Independent.
5. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3639988/So-much-freedom-lost-and-on-my-watch.html
6. ^ Channel 4 Political Awards 2007 .Channel4.com. Retrieved on 30 November 2008
7. ^ Patrick Wintour "Chakrabarti threatens to sue over Minister's jibe" , The Guardian, 20 June 2008
8. ^ James Chapman "I may sue over David Davis slur, civil rights chief warns Minister" , Daily Mail, 19 June 2008
9. ^ Robert Winnett "Andy Burnham writes letter of apology to Shami Chakrabarti for David Davis comments" , Daily Telegraph, 21 June 2008
10. ^ "Shami Chakrabarti was target in police search" . The Times. 18 April 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
 11. ^ "Damian Green raid: police search emails for Liberty head" . The Daily Telegraph. 18 April 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
12. ^ "The Governors" . Ditchley Foundation. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
13. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58358, p. 7, 16 June 2007. Retrieved on 9 January 2008.
14. ^ Shami Chakrabarti Lyrics - by The Dastards Dastards.com Retrieved on 30 November 2008

External links [edit]

Liberty
Telegraph March 2007
Times January 2005
Wbqonline.com July 2009
[1] April 2009
[2] April 2009

Non-profit organization positions

Preceded by Director of Liberty

Incumbent
John Wadham 2003 – present
Academic offices

Preceded by Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University

Incumbent
Jon Snow 2008 – present

Categories: 1969 births | Living people | People associated with Oxford Brookes University | Alumni of the London School of Economics | British
people of Indian descent | British people of Bengali descent | Bengali people | Commanders of the Order of the British Empire | British barristers

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