Anger Over "Terror Arrests" at Nottingham University
Notts IMC + Concerned Students | 20.05.2008 21:48 | Education | Repression | Terror War
Two people (one of them a student) who were arrested on the Nottingham University campus last Wednesday using "anti-terror" powers have today been released without charge. After seven days of incarceration, the two men (aged 22 and 30) were released from custody. The manner of the arrests, the intimidating police presence on campus, and the gullible media coverage have raised serious concerns and anger amongst the student body, the academic faculty, and the general public in Nottingham.
The arrests were carried out due to the alleged possession of "radical material," specifically an Al Qaeda manual relevant to the younger detainee's dissertation, which had been emailed to the other for printing. Despite their own admission that there was no threat to local communities, the police decided to launch a full-blown "terror" operation and put the students, their families and many friends through a colossal amount of stress. Meanwhile, police on campus searched bags and dominated a central area, creating great fear amongst the student community that was totally disproportionate to the apparent ‘threat’ of radical material. The harassment of friends and relatives by the police also raised serious concern.
One of the two was rearrested on his release under "immigration legislation." See this feature for more info: Nottingham Uni Detainee Innocent But Still Facing Deportation
Audio: as featured in #5 the June Show ~ Riseup! Radio
Newswire: Comment on University Communication on Recent Events | Press Release | Students Released After 7 Days Incarceration Without Charge | Terror Arrests on Campus
Previous features: Nottingham Students Organise Conference on Civil Liberties Crackdown | Protesters Demand Freedom of Expression at University | Heavy Handed Police Condemned Over Peaceful Protest
Other Coverage: Times Higher Education Supplement
Links: Campaign Against Criminalising Communities | Nottinghamshire Police | Nottingham University | Notts Indymedia Repression topic pageThe arrests were precipitated when the younger of the two detainees downloaded an Al Qaeda training manual, widely available on the internet and downloaded in this instance from a US Government website, in the course of his research into political Islam. He emailed this to the older detainee, a member of staff to get it printed.
There was never any suggestion that either of the were part of a terrorist cell nor that they posed any threat to anybody else. Police communicated that there was "no cause for alarm within local communities" (see their press statement here), and a spokesperson for the university, who have fully co-operated with the "low-key" operation, said "there is no risk to the university community or to the wider public."
However, the whole operation seems to have serious and frightening racial overtones. One officer who investigated the case is reported to have said: "This would never have happened if he had been a white student." The re-arrest of the second student on dubious immigration grounds displays a clear desire on the part of the police to smear the two men in the hope of gaining sympathy from the tabloid press.
Furthermore, the university and police rhetoric during this time period was surprising to many students and academics. Amidst the great amount of rhetoric that the university put out during this period, supporting the police and assuming guilt of its own students, it also spoke of groups or individuals who "unsettle the harmony of the campus." This seemed to be a direct reference to the peaceful political activism and vocal, peaceful protest that the university now seems to think it can clamp down on under the Terrorism Act.
Finally, and most importantly, this has constituted a huge and serious attack on academic freedom in the university. The arrests raise concerns about the opening of a door to the criminalisation of research into radical movements which necessarily involves the study of contentious primary documents. Bettina Rentz, a lecturer in international security and the student's personal tutor, said: “This case is very worrying. The student downloaded publicly accessible information and provoked this very harsh reaction. Nobody tried to speak to him or to his tutors before police were sent in. The whole push from the Government is on policy relevance of research, and in this case the student’s research could not be more policy relevant.”
Furthermore, the indefinite incarceration of two innocent people under "anti-terror" legislation has created a prevalent climate of fear on campus. Everyone realises that the police can - and WILL - hold anyone they want to without any evidence or charge for up to 28 days. With an increased police presence on peaceful demonstrations, there is great fear that the police are criminalising peaceful activists using the "anti-terror" legislation.Concerned students and academics are coming together to decide on the appropriate action to take. A petition has been circulated amongst staff and students, expressing concern about the detentions and demanding that the university acknowledge the "disproportionate response" to the possession of legitimate research materials and a demo on campus is being planned.
Notts IMC + Concerned Students
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Demonstration Wednesday
25.05.2008 09:32
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Hide the following 24 comments
erm
21.05.2008 08:47
Also, I don't think its that strange that this sort of thing wouldn't have happened if the student had been white (assuming of course that the comment put down was in fact said). Obviously if there was a white terrorist then they should be handled in exactly the same way as any other terrorist, regardless of race. However, since at the moment most terrorist acts are being carried out by 'Islamic terrorists' who have all (to my knowledge) been non-whites, it'd make no sense arresting people not of that description. Now some people may cry 'racism' or 'racial profiling' but thats stupid. If you are looking for a non-white suspect in a case, there isn't a lot of point arresting any white people, or in fact anyone who don't fit the description of the suspect. The same works in reverse: if you're looking for a white suspect, there is no point arresting someone who's not white.
It is of course somewhat disconcerting to see the terrorism powers being used. Its a very dangerous thing to give police the power to arrest and hold suspects for up to 28 days without charge, because as this article points out this can (and sooner or later) will be abused. Anyone seen as an annoyance to the police will just be detained by 'anti-terror' law as a way to get around the fact that no crime has been committed. The article is also correct in concluding that there is likely to be a larger police presence at peaceful demonstrations. Thats just something the protesters will have to deal with. I don't see it as a problem. The peaceful protests will carry on as usual and since they are carrying out legal and peaceful protests then no one is at risk of being arrested or in any way hassled by the police. Well, so long as you are in fact carrying out legal protests and not aggravating the police. As soon as you give the police ANY reason to detain you, they might just do that. Don't be stupid, keep the protests legal, peaceful and don't start arguing with police, it won't get you anywhere other than a cell.
peter Garratt
The entire problem is
21.05.2008 10:30
Secondly, it is actually a minority of terrorists worldwide that are non-white muslims. The most succesfull 'suicide terrorist' group in the world has been the Tamil Tigers, predominantly hindu, though secular in its aims. The IRA were far more successfull at launching attacks in this country than any muslim group has been (and thats not because 'were stopping them'). However, if what you say is true then we have to view why, after many years of living with muslim communities, we are suddenly under attack from them. The only answer I can see is that the government has persistently abused muslim communities abroad and here, which allows religious extremists to make their case all the more easily.
Finally, you can speak for yourself but many of my (non-activist) friends in halls have felt both intimidated and scared by both the news reports and the police presence.
A
Questionning - the search for clarity
21.05.2008 11:10
In this instance the Police and University have blurred the boundaries between legitimate political activity and terrorism. This is a very worrying precedent. You might not be all too bothered right now, but as soon as you start caring about something enough to want to act upon it, you will no doubt find these concerns becoming increasingly pertinent to your own situation. People aren’t born as activists; people become activists out of a desire to tackle injustice and suffering, and to better the world around them; and we should all have the right to do that without fear of intimidation, arbitrary arrest and stigmatisation.
You correctly note that “Anyone seen as an annoyance to the police will just be detained by 'anti-terror' law as a way to get around the fact that no crime has been committed.” If that does not worry you, I’m not sure what will. Unfortunately, Police are often aggravated by perfectly legal activity and protest; it represents a threat to their authority. There is a very clear difference between doing something that ‘challenges or may be seen as a threat by authority’ (the police, of the Uni), and doing something ‘illegal’- these are distinctly different things; but in this case both the University and Police have treated these two things as one, muddied the arguments and tried to get away with punishing innocent members of our University community; either arbitrarily, or as many now suspect, exactly because they were challenging, questioning social norms and exploring controversial information and ideas. This is totally unacceptable behaviour on the part of the University and Police. We will not, and must not stand for it!
student
not just a student issue
21.05.2008 11:26
graduate
Pete Garratt
21.05.2008 12:06
You only have to have been to a couple of protests to realise this is not true. Police are happy to arrest people under some false pretexts. So you are saying we let them limit our rights to protest while we sit back and let the bastards walk all over us...
Emmett
Rosy View of the Police is Unfounded
21.05.2008 13:59
You do not have to DO anything to be arrested by the police if you are an activist/Muslim/black/any other group vilified by the boys in blue.
The police serve a dual role in society. On the one hand they are supposed to "protect" us or deal with "crime" etc.
On the other hand they are AGENTS OF STATE CONTROL. Therefore, their presence on demonstrations is POLITICAL. It is a way of INTIMIDATING people into silence. It is therefore a form of political repression.
Similarly, the abuse and harassment that innocent black and Asian people suffer at the hands of the police is a way of further alienating and marginalisng sections of society that are already oppressed at the hands of institutional racism. (Remember the innocent Muslim who was SHOT IN THE CHEST in Forest Gate East London?
If Mr Garratt was an activist he would know that the police DO NOT NEED A REASON TO ARRESST YOU. If Mr Garratt was non-white, he would also be aware of the fact that the police can, and do, regularly, harass, arrest, beat up, and occasionally shoot and kill innocent foreign and non-white people. (Remember the fatal shooting of Menenzes?
I wonder of Mr Garratt knows how many people are murdered in police custody.
Student Activist
press release
21.05.2008 17:47
concerned student
concerned student
21.05.2008 20:11
own the media
peter ..
22.05.2008 09:35
anarchia
press release already there
22.05.2008 09:45
The press release was already published on the newswire (right column on the startpage) and we have added it with the other 'Newswire' links in this feature (see above).
imc person
Don't buy into the media agenda
22.05.2008 11:06
You probably don't feel the "climate of fear" because you're not a protester, and so - luckily for you - have little to worry about. But those of us who can't stand idly by whilst we allow corporations to plunder Iraq and acquiesce in the face of the destruction of Palestine (etc) do have something to worry about - the harrassment and intimidation by agents of the state (sadly, working class ones, who have yet to discover who the bad guys really are).
It is easy to prefer the official story - that Islamic terrorists are madly blowing things up for no reason, and that the climate of police repression is justified - which is precisely why having an independent media is so important. You might like to write to the editor of your favourite newspaper, for example (though arguably it's a bit late now) to ask him/her why the largest find of explosive components ever found at a UK house did not make the "news agenda" in a big way:
Would it be because, ahem, "they" were white? Surely not!
Ex-student in solidarity
I don't read the Times but...
22.05.2008 16:10
another concerned student
Peter
22.05.2008 16:51
peaceful protest has become criminalised, and peaceful protesters are regularly subject to arbitrary arrest and intimidation from the police, I respect yopu coming on here and airing your thoughts, and would like to ask you to watch a film called On The Verge which I belive will be an eye opener to you, the police have unsuccessfuly tried to ban this film.
torrent available here:
Fly Posters
PHD
22.05.2008 17:02
I think doing a PHD on the subject is rationale enough, boy have nottingham uni and the police fucked up this time.
fFly Posters
@peter
23.05.2008 15:19
I find it extremely depressing to witness your apathy and lack of anger, to fail to condemn the police for being agents of a repressive state on the one hand, or to speak out in favour of academic freedom in this country.
"Climate of fear" is just a Daily Mail-type phrase unconsciously borrowed by people like Stop the War and Indymedia. There's never a universal climate of fear in totalitarian societies; but when people can be made to experience fear by the cops when they step out of line, despite having done nothing that shouldn't be acceptable in a democratic society, the only people who would fail to fear both fear and anger have no idea what democracy is. The only reason you are not afraid is because you are in fact totally apathetic.
anonymous
But NuLabour have made this material illegal
23.05.2008 19:49
PJ
DEMO
24.05.2008 00:17
I believe it is taking place next wednesday at 2 outside the Hallward library and will involve a public reading of the banned research material but it would be great to have the link above.
Thanks
Student activist
stop deportation
24.05.2008 03:30
The big threat now is that they're trying to deport the second arrested person despite knowing he's innocent. In other words, they're saying that there's not an actual "crime" but that the non-crime is still reason enough to deport someone. This is conclusive evidence that this was NOT some fact finding investigation as the university now maintains, but an attempt to persecute people by whatever means were available.
concerned staff member
Why were they released, aren't we all equal under the law?
26.05.2008 16:59
When that new law came in (2004?) I made sure destroyed a vast pile of data that I had been collecting on terrorism, including the I destroyed all the old explosives manuals and other related military stuff that I still had from a misspent youth in the fascist boots brigades. I was scared of ending up in a cell or deported to the US.
Why is it that some people can own this material while others cannot. It is useful to people engaged in terrorism and is therefore illegal, but it seems that you only get persecuted if you are from the muslim community (cf, the lyrical terrorist).
Does anyone who is reading this know how the law works on this. It seems weird and very unconstitutional to be using the law to persecute some and not others 'equal under the law' was my understanding. Are the police and govt trying to muddy the waters over what is or what is not legal in order to start wider repression and arbitrary fascist 'do as you are told' doctrines?
Alastair McGowan
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Al Qaeda Training Manual (Paperback)
26.05.2008 17:16
Al Qaeda Training Manual
List Price: $14.95
Only 3 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).
Amazon
Homepage:
http://www.amazon.com/Al-Qaeda-Training-Manual/dp/1414507100
thanks
27.05.2008 19:13
I haven't got time to go through and address everyones comments/questions but I've picked a few thing to clear up
"In this instance the Police and University have blurred the boundaries between legitimate political activity and terrorism. This is a very worrying precedent. You might not be all too bothered right now, but as soon as you start caring about something enough to want to act upon it, you will no doubt find these concerns becoming increasingly pertinent to your own situation" -- I would like to say that I do find this very worrying.
"You only have to have been to a couple of protests to realise this is not true. Police are happy to arrest people under some false pretexts" -- Yes, I am aware that the police do this and as I said in my original comment, its worrying that they are using the Anti Terror laws a yet another pretext. The police will use anything they can to arrest you. What I was trying to say in my comment is that protesters with a legitimate, meaningful cause that should be taken note of and acted on need to be extremely careful when protesting. Although police can always think of some pretext (the classic 'breach of the peace' is a fav) to arrest you under, the less protesters give them to work with the harder it is on them to arrest you. For example, shooting your mouth off and swearing at police will get you arrested, whereas sitting quietly, being polite to police (that included biting your tongue sometimes) and carrying out a protest is going to make it much harder for them to arrest you.
"You do not have to DO anything to be arrested by the police if you are an activist/Muslim/black/any other group vilified by the boys in blue." -- Yes, again the false pretext comes in handy when the police want to arrest you.
"On the other hand they are AGENTS OF STATE CONTROL. Therefore, their presence on demonstrations is POLITICAL. It is a way of INTIMIDATING people into silence. It is therefore a form of political repression." -- Yes, I agree. The way to deal with that is to not be intimidated. If you are protesting within your rights to protest, then you have no reason to be suppressed. So don't be. Carry on as if they weren't there. Don't be intimidated!
"here's betting that he is white ." -- Does that make any difference? What if I told you I was black? What if was a muslim? What if I was asian? I don't like the implications of this comment: because I am white I have a certain view because of my race. Now if that doesn't sound like discrimination on account of race I don't what it.
"You probably don't feel the "climate of fear" because you're not a protester, and so - luckily for you - have little to worry about." -- OK, you got me, I'm not a protester. Maybe if I was I would feel the climate of fear. Having read some of the comments on here that I would guess are from protesters, I would actually like to get involved in some protests and see what its like. Perhaps then my opinions would be different.
"You say "it is of course somewhat disconcerting to see the terror laws being used". They are being used against people with extremely reasonable alibis to possess the offending material, and who don't meet any of the criteria to be Islamic terrorists, apart from their race. So I conclude from this that you either don't like the content of the anti-terror legislation itself, or you disagree that researching a PHD isn't a good enough reason to have some outlawed material, and be promptly left well alone by the pigs." -- Doing a PHd is a good reason to have the material. I don't really know the ins and outs of the terrors legislation; my concerns are mainly from how it is being used as a pretext for the arrest and detention of people who haven't committed a crime. Oh and calling police pigs isn't really a good plan. Unless you want to give the police to arrest you.
As I said, time is short and there is so much more I want to say but haven't got time. Once again thanks for the informative and thought provoking comments.
peter Garratt
Response to Peter - thanks for the reply
30.05.2008 17:52
> OK, you got me, I'm not a protester. Maybe if I was I would feel the climate of
> fear. Having read some of the comments on here that I would guess are from
> protesters, I would actually like to get involved in some protests and see what
> its like. Perhaps then my opinions would be different.
Most people here are certainly on the the protest end of politics, if not actual marchers and direct action activists. But many of the readers here are these things as well. Most of us have views that fly in the face of public apathy and the media big-business-as-usual agenda, driven by a shared view of universal human rights and a minimum standard of living for everyone.
This explains the pressure from the business/government amalgam to suppress criticism and stifle dissent, which is a common thread running through banned demonstrations in the UK, violence in Latin America, the illegality of unions in Iraq, the "war on terror" and the "war on drugs", the post 9/11 "fear-factor" and generally increased surveillance on societies from China to Great Britain.
I would thoroughly recommend getting involved and I'm really pleased that you are happy to adjust your views based on give-and-take discussion (hopefully it is true to say that other people here are as equally amiable in the exchange of viewpoints). I'd suggest that you should choose campaigns upon which you are passionate, or where you see the most glaring injustice. For me it's Palestine and Iraq, and the brazen commercialisation of these man-made disasters that - hidden in the deliberate complexity of the world's administrative structures - ordinary people find hard to understand. For other people it's the environment, anti-capitalism, G8/IMF/globalisation, animal rights, civil liberties, gentrification and public space etc - take your pick!
Just to give you a quick flavour of protest in the UK, by the way - I was at an anti-war demo in late 2007 to greet Gordon Brown, party to war criminal Blair's wanton complicity in the deliberate destruction of Iraq and its infrastructure. The government, not wanting any embarrassment prior to the new premier taking office, decided to do the unthinkable and actually refused permission for the march. This is actually quite unusual in the UK - at least for now - and it even caused a minor stink in the Guardian and the Indie (who are a mix of pro-war and slightly anti-war). The (male) police were aggressive and confrontational at the march - presumably having been led to believe the wide variety of protesters there were all anarchists wanting to tear the place up. First time protesters in our coach found it somewhat daunting - as did I - but they are now much more involved as a result of the (thankfully minor) aggression.
Some of the stories I heard that day, from "old boys" involved in the working class fight against the Poll Tax, and the miners' strikes - in relation to horrifying *British* police violence and state repression - would make your hair stand on end. But learning about these struggles, and then getting involved in the modern-day equivalent, is very worthwhile indeed. If you decide to take part, I wish you the very best of luck.
Ex-student in solidarity
terorism
02.06.2008 08:54
david robson
The answer is...(not) 42
10.06.2008 15:27
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