UK Police Raid Home, Seize Devices of Pro-Palestine Journalist Asa Winstanley Under 'Terrorism Act'

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Oct. 17, 2024

UK counterterrorism police on Thursday raided the home of Electronic Intifada associate editor Asa Winstanley under the Terrorism Act for what appears to be the suspected "crime" of vocally supporting Palestinian liberation.

Winstanley has been a pro-Palestine activist for ages and has done invaluable work exposing the lies, hoaxes and disinformation the Israeli government spread about October 7th.

From Electronic Intifada, "UK police raid home, seize devices of EI's Asa Winstanley":
British counterterrorism police on Thursday raided the home and seized several electronic devices belonging to The Electronic Intifada's associate editor Asa Winstanley.

Approximately 10 officers arrived at Winstanley's North London home before 6 am and served the journalist with warrants and other papers authorizing them to search his house and vehicle for devices and documents.

A letter addressed to Winstanley from the "Counter Terrorism Command" of the Metropolitan Police Service indicates that the authorities are "aware of your profession" as a journalist but that "notwithstanding, police are investigating possible offenses" under sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism Act (2006). These provisions set out the purported offense of "encouragement of terrorism."

An officer conducting Thursday's raid informed Winstanley that the investigation was connected with the journalist's social media posts. Attempts to reach the Metropolitan Police Service for comment for this story have been unsuccessful.

Although his devices were seized, Winstanley was not arrested and has not been charged with any offense.

Winstanley is active on several social media platforms, and has more than 100,000 followers on Twitter/X, where he frequently shares articles, other peoples' opinions and his own comments on Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people, British government support for these crimes, and the Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation, apartheid and genocide.

The vaguely worded provisions relating to "encouragement of terrorism" would clearly violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution guaranteeing freedom of speech, however the United Kingdom lacks similar constitutional protections for freedom of expression.

The draconian legislation "curtails a range of freedoms," according to University of Edinburgh law professor Andrew Cornford, including "the freedoms to discuss controversial topics openly, and to share moral, political and religious opinions."

Human Rights Watch has called on the British government to repeal the repressive provisions of the Terrorism Act (2006), noting that "the definition of the encouragement of terrorism offense is overly broad, raising serious concerns about undue infringement on free speech."

In August, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service issued a warning to the British public to "think before you post" and threatening that it would prosecute anyone it deemed guilty of what it calls "online violence."
As he hasn't been charged yet, we don't know exactly what they're planning to accuse him of but I know from following his X account that he has been vocal supporter of Palestinian liberation -- which would be entirely within his rights in any free country (the UK excluded).





The UK government can send weapons, bombs and other military aid to help Israel terrorize and genocide Palestinians in Gaza (against the will of the British public) but Brits aren't allowed to complain about it.



This is happening under the "liberal" government of "Two-Tier" Keir Starmer.

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