The lawyer representing controversial peer Lord Ahmed has reportedly suggested his client will not get a fair hearing from Labour Party chiefs who are investigating claims that the peer made comments about a Jewish conspiracy.
Lord Ahmed will appear before a Labour National Executive Committee meeting on May 15.
He was suspended by the party in March after apparently claiming a Jewish conspiracy was responsible for his imprisonment for causing a fatal car crash.
The Times obtained a recording of an interview the peer was said to have given in Pakistan, and reported his comments. Lord Ahmed is said to have claimed Jewish media owners pressured the courts to give him a severe punishment.
His solicitor, Stephen Smith, was quoted by the Blackburn-based newspaper Asian Image as saying it was possible that footage of the interview had been doctored in Pakistan, as "part of a dirty tricks campaign".
Mr Smith reportedly said: "Unfortunately there is no confirmation of the date of this so-called interview or where it is supposed to have taken place.
"There is a translation of sorts with a number of words left out simply referred to as 'unintelligible'.
"It appears that this is taken from a film which does not represent all of the interview and we believe it has been edited in such as way as to misrepresent what was actually said."
Mr Smith was quoted as saying that he had not been able to obtain a copy of the interview film from Labour officials or the Times, and that he had concluded: "In my view the rules of natural justice require that this should be done to ensure that Lord Ahmed achieves a fair hearing, but the party does not appear to share that view."
Last month Lord Ahmed said he had "the greatest respect" for the Jewish community and apologised to Labour leader Ed Miliband.
“He’s of the Jewish faith and I’m sorry that I embarrassed him, or anybody else in the Labour Party,” he said.
