Thanks for this Adrian, and I think this is very relevant to our discussion board.
Please see below an e-mail that is currently circulating at the University of
Nottingham, with additional points for action.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Fwd: FW: Student and Staff arrests at Nottingham University - Please Circulate!!!
Dear Friends – I’m writing to call your attention to a recent incident at the
University of Nottingham, where a one of our Graduate Students at the School of
Politics and International Relations and an administrative member of staff at the
Department of Engineering were arrested by armed police under the Terrorism Act of
2000. Their alleged “crime” was that the graduate student had downloaded an Al-
Qaeda training manual from a US government website for research purposes, as he’s
writing his MA dissertation on Islamic extremism and international terrorist
networks. He had then sent this to his friend in the Department of Engineering for
printing. The printed material had been spotted by other staff and reported to the
University authorities who passed on the information to the police. The two were
then arrested by armed police on May 14 and held for six days without charge,
before being released without charge on May 20. During the six days they were
imprisoned, the men had their homes raided and their families harassed by the
police. It is worth noticing that in talking to one of my colleagues, a police
officer remarked that the incident would never have occurred if the persons
involved had been “blonde, Swedish PhD students” (the two men were of British-
Pakistani and Algerian backgrounds respectively).
The incident was recently reported in the Times Higher Education Supplement online:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=402125&c=2
Needless to say, this raises hugely important issues both about academic freedom
and civil liberties. Obviously, there is the issue that for those of us involved in
research on contentious issues we will by necessity have to consult primary
materials of a controversial nature, and the fact that the material is
controversial should not lead to it being deemed as illegitimate research material.
Moreover, we should not under any circumstances have to fear for infringements upon
our civil liberties as a consequence of doing our jobs. Moreover, it goes without
saying that the university should guarantee the academic freedom, freedom of speech
and expression, and civil liberties of all members of staff and students,
irrespective of ethnic and religious background or political beliefs!
I would be most grateful if you could circulate this e-mail as widely as possible
in the interest of raising awareness and attention about this incident and the
wider issues of academic freedom that it gives rise to, to as many of your friends
and colleagues as possible! I would of course also be very grateful if any of you
would be willing to write to the University of Nottingham to express your concern
about this issue. If you are willing to do so, please contact me as soon as
possible.
Regards
Alf
Dr. Alf Gunvald Nilsen
RCUK Fellow, Centre for the Study of Social and Global Justice, School of Politics
and International Relations, University of Nottingham
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cssgj/index.php
University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, England, UK
Mobile: (0044) (0) 7973332219
Office: (0044) (0) 1159514032
"I wish I was a fisherman, tumblin' on the seas, far away from dry land and its
bitter memories. Castin' out my sweet line with abandonment and love; no
ceiling bearin' down on me save the starry sky above. With light in my head, you in
my arms ..."
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