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Terror arrests provoke outrage on Nottingham campus
London— The arrest of an academic and a student from
the University of Nottingham for the possession of extremist
material has provoked outrage on the campus after it was revealed
the apparent offence concerned downloading information for a PhD,
reports, The Muslim News.
Politics student Rizwaan Sabir was arrested on May 14 along with a
30-year-old member of staff under the Terrorism Act 2000. Both men
were eventually released on May 20, although the staff member was
re-arrested on unrelated immigration issues.
The paper said students and staff alike branded the arrest an
exploitation of anti-terror laws and stifling of civil liberties.
Co-ordinator of Dissertation and Sabir’s personal tutor, Dr Bettina
Renz, said that the material in question, an edited version of an
al-Qaida handbook, was easily accessible and available on government
websites. The information he downloaded was 100% related to his
studies, Dr Renz told The Muslim News. The information he obtained
was actually on the reading list, she said. It was in preparation
for his PhD on radical Islamic groups
His personal tutor was also annoyed about behaviour of the
university authorities. Nobody tried to speak to him or to his
tutors before police were sent in, she said. Dr Renz also added that
he actually missed one of his exams because of his detention. She
was also convinced that Rizwaan’s Muslim faith contributed to him
getting arrested, saying it undoubtedly played a part.
Sabir’s other lecturer, Dr Rod Thornton, also confirm the PhD
student was engaged in research into Al Qaida. So it would be no
surprise if he accessed material related to Al Qaida’s activities
and the likes of Al Qaida’s Training Manual is not hidden away, Dr
Thornton said .. It is freely available on US government web sites.
According to the paper, the University of Nottingham was
unapologetic over its decision to call the police.
There is no reason why the material they had should have been part
of their studies, spokesperson for the University initially told The
Muslim News. But faced with a barrage of staff testimony
contradicting their claim that material downloaded was irrelevant,
the spokesperson later insisted that the police were involved
because Sabir had forwarded the information to a 30-year-old member
of clerical staff, who was not connected with the research.The
University seemingly failed to find out that it was emailed to the
staff member to print because Sabir’s owns printer was not
working.—APP
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