04 Feb 08 | News and features
On 31 January, Amjad Mahmood, 29, and Shella Roma, 27, of Greater Manchester, were charged under the Terrorism Act 2006 for distributing material encouraging acts of terrorism. Both have been released on bail and will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 12 February.
25 Jan 08 | Comment, Digital Freedom, News and features
New proposals to limit extremist speech could have a significant chilling effect on the Internet, argues Bill Thompson
Taking a leaf from its approach to prosecuting predatory paedophiles who use the Internet to establish contact with young people, the British government is planning to take on those who are promoting violence and extremism through websites, chat rooms and email.
Speaking at the first International Conference on Radicalisation and Political Violence on 17 January, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith focused on what she called “the threat posed by terror Svengalis who work to seduce young people into believing that terrorism is a fully feasible outlet for their teenage anger” and promised to “challenge the ideology of violent extremism behind the acts of terrorism”.
She went on to say: “If we are ready and willing to take action to stop the grooming of vulnerable young [people] on social networking sites, then I believe we should also take action against those who groom vulnerable people for the purposes of violent extremism.”
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09 Jan 08 | News and features
The prosecution of a Foreign Office civil servant under the Official Secrets Act has been dropped. The UK government now has questions to answer. Jo Glanville reports
Derek Pasquill was charged last September with making damaging disclosures of Foreign Office documents concerning UK government policy on dialogue with Islamist groups and extraordinary rendition.
Today, the Crown Prosecution Service dropped the charges as a result, it said, of material provided to the prosecution in December by the Foreign Office. The material indicated that discussion had taken place that undermined the charge that damage had been caused by the leaks. As a result, the case was dismissed – two years after Derek Pasquill was arrested and after a Special Branch investigation that lasted 20 months.
The leaks had in fact influenced a change in government policy on the question of dialogue with radical Islam following their publication in the Observer and the New Statesman. Critics of the decision to prosecute Pasquill (including Index on Censorship and the New Statesman) believed that the case would prove highly embarrassing for the government, since ministers had clearly acted on the information revealed by the disclosures.
Neil O’May, Derek Pasquill’s solicitor, said: ‘It was a scandalous prosecution, a case where the government shot the messenger. It’s clear that the Foreign Office took a view at an early stage that the disclosures were not damaging and in fact assisted in changing a dangerous government policy.
‘It’s a disgrace that this information was withheld for nearly two years while Derek Pasquill was persecuted by Special Branch investigators, arrested, charged and subjected to a criminal prosecution. He’s now been vindicated.
‘Questions now need to be asked as to why the Foreign Office withheld this information, why the decision was taken to prosecute him and what compensation he is going to receive.’
