U.K. cops use Terrorism Act to confiscate journalist's laptop
'The police have the authority to seize anything'
Published: 13 hours ago
U.K. police used powers under the Terrorism Act to seize the laptop of a BBC journalist
Authorities in the U.K. apparently have a blank check to target journalists who report on terrorism.
U.K. law enforcement personnel used the Terrorism Act earlier this year to obtain a judge’s order before seizing the laptop of a BBC journalist who reports on British-born jihadis, the Independent reported Wednesday.
Secunder Kermani appears on the network’s show “Newsnight.” Officers wanted to obtain information on one of his Syrian sources.
“While we would not seek to obstruct any police investigation we are concerned that the use of the Terrorism Act to obtain communication between journalists and sources will make it very difficult for reporters to cover this issue of critical public interest,” Newsnight editor Ian Katz told the newspaper.
English Penn, an organization of writers, expressed shock at the tactics used by U.K. law-enforcement officials.
“If journalists go near something to do with terrorism the police can use the Terrorism Act [2000] to go after their sources,” the group’s director, Jo Glanville, said.
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“It think it makes it very difficult to do proper reporting in this territory when the cops can come in and get orders for material as easily as they can. The police have the authority to seize anything that they think will be of use to them in a terror investigation and that’s quite a wide net,” a BBC source told the Independent.
Read more at
http://www.wnd.com/2015/10/u-k-cops-use-terrorism-act-to-confiscate-journalists-laptop/#WcqJxP0B0zCafERJ.99
