Journalist working on NSA spying story held at Heathrow under UK terror law

When the police have these powers, they have shown they can not be trusted with them. Our government has resorted to detaining family members of journalists to intimidate them, and to dissuade people from criticising the government. How has it come to this?

The goverment and met have some serious explaining to do.
 
MrMoonX said:
No! Read the article they took it all
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Wow, so basically without giving any reason, on your way out of the country, any officer with special powers can mumble the words terrorism, stick you in a room for nine hours, steal all your stuff and not have to return it?


Thanks Gordy and Tony. You really helped make us all safe with that gubbins.
 
I just wonder, could there exist the potential for a request come in from abroad, the uk guys not wanting to seem like they were not playing ball, but go about it in such a cack handed manner, so as not to get such requests again in the future.

A case of do the first job so badly, no one asks for it again?

I can't see how else they thought the fallout they would receive wasn't far above the benefit gained from licking the chocolate starfish of our pond chummies?
 
Xordium said:
What is shocking is that Mr Vaz didn't think the bloke was an actual terrorist for having a games console in his possession because as Mr Vaz frequently tells us playing games will turn an upstanding citizen into a frothing at the mouth homicidal maniac within a few hours.
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You must have been spying on me again? :D
 
AGD said:
They don't need a reason under the law, that is why the law is so bad.
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Well strictly speaking they don't but they have to justify fair usage of the law and said journalist has just given them good reason by owning up to the possession of material that would be damaging to national security and potentially of benefit to hostile parties. And the fact he was using his partner to ferry material to a filmmaker in Berlin who is partaking the making of media that is covering one of the most sensitive leaks of intelligence in history.

And I am not arguing it's a good law it's very draconian and part of a very worrying trend we have seen since the turn of the millenium. However, I would do the same in their shoes if I knew such material was out there.
 
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Strikes me as a pretty nasty abuse of power. I'm also quite surprised how open-ended the legislation seems. Denied legal representation and an offence to remain silent? I guess the majority were OK with legislation like this when used in exceptional circumstances but being irritating to government doesn't constitute exceptional circumstances.

xibinim said:
Why has our media gone quiet on GCHQ's snooping?
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There's a DA-Notice.
 
Xordium said:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/08/2013819153659413362.html

So it appears the reporter does have further documents. If those documents would facilitate terrorist actions then it would be reasonable to see whether they were being carried into the country by his partner.

Still a farce but sufficient reason under the law.
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technically he wasn't entering the uk, he was transferring planes which makes this even more odd. and now its on the news from the met saying it was all legal, fine show us why he was picked up then and i bet they cant.
 
GAC said:
technically he wasn't entering the uk, he was transferring planes which makes this even more odd. and now its on the news from the met saying it was all legal, fine show us why he was picked up then and i bet they cant.
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No, it doesn't make it odd. He was potentially carrying information damaging to national security interests and was at an British airport and had and was about to fly over British airspace.

Like I've said now 3 times it doesn't make the law correct but I would expect security forces to attempt to stop any leaks using whatever powers they have. Whether it is in the publics interest or not is irrelevant. The information this bloke was potentially carrying was obtained through espionage, would potentially be useful to enemies of the state, would most likely be damaging to national security, etc. I for one would rather like our security forces to act on such potentialities. I would also prefer if they went about it in a "better" fashion.

Yes, the laws very Orwellian but let's not pretend this bloke was innocent. In another thread we have everyone saying two lasses should be banged up for life because they were muling for the drug lords and yet we have everyone saying this bloke should not be stopped for 9 hrs when he is muling information that will directly damage this country ... OcUK consistent as ever.
 
The journalist says he has some juicy information regarding the British intelligence services that he may now leak/publish. Gets the popcorn.
 
so what did this guy potentially have on him then ? codes to nukes or something, if its just the chance he may have info of us spying on various countries then im sorry everyone already knows that everyone is spying on everyone else.

now if its the chance the info could damage people hunting terrorist again how does this damage the uk, it doesnt as the police and anti terror unit have shown how inept they are at dealing with known terror cells in the uk after 7/7 when they had them under surveillance and did NOTHING, let alone the farce that is Anjem Choudary a known terrorist recruiter and lunatic but left on the streets and who keeps coming up time and again after somethings happened but yet is left alone.
 
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