By IRNA,
London : The arrest of an academic and a student from Nottingham University, central England, for possessing extremist material has provoked outrage on the campus after it was revealed the apparent offence concerned downloading material for a PhD course.
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.
According to the Muslim News, students and staff alike branded the arrest an exploitation of anti-terror laws and stifling of civil liberties.
Coordinator of Dissertation and Sabir’s personal tutor, Dr Bettina Renz, said that the material in question, an edited version of an al-Qaeda handbook, was “easily accessible” and available on government websites.
“The information he downloaded was 100% related to his studies,” Dr Renz said.
“The information he obtained is available on websites that are widely used on reading lists in the School of Politics,” she told the publication.
His personal tutor was also annoyed about behaviour of the university authorities towards Sabir, who was preparing for his PhD on radical groups.
“Nobody tried to speak to him or to his tutors before police were sent in,” Dr Renz said. She also added that he “actually missed one of his exams because of his detention” was also convinced his Muslim faith “undoubtedly played part” in his arrest.
Sabir’s other lecturer, Dr Rod Thornton, also confirm the PhD student was engaged in research into Al Qaeda.
“So it would be no surprise if he accessed material related to Al Qaeda’s activities,” he said.
Dr Thornton told the Muslim News that “the likes of Al Qaeda’s Training Manual is not hidden away,” adding it was “freely available on US government web sites.”
In response to the wrongful detentions, academics from Nottingham University are holding a public reading next week of the research material that led to arrests under the Terrorism Act. It is being followed silent vigil to object to the attack on academic freedom.
The arrests are understood to be the first since the government issued guidelines under its counter-extremism strategy to effectively target and spy on Muslim students and Islamic groups.