Brit journalist arrested by UK counter-terror cops

  • Post last modified:August 29, 2024
  • Reading time:11 mins read


Early on 29 August, counter-terror police arrested Sarah Wilkinson – a prominent pro-Palestine activist and reporter. Supposedly, this was for content she posted online, which is a clear breach of journalistic freedom:

Sarah Wilkinson: arrested by counter-terror cops

There is something very ironic about the UK government arresting journalists under terrorism charges when they are literally complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians:

Journalistic freedom

In some circumstances, arresting journalists is in breach of international law. Resolution 2222 (2015) of the UN Security Council states:

Condemns unequivocally all attacks and violence against journalists and media workers, such as torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrest and arbitrary detention, as well as intimidation and harassment in both conflict and non-conflict situations;

It also:

Calls upon States to create and maintain, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment for journalists to perform their work independently and without undue interference

Clearly, the UK government could be in breach of that by creating an arena where journalists like Sarah Wilkinson cannot report freely on the truth without fear of unfair retribution:

Earlier this month, police also arrested Richard Medhurst – an independent journalist and political commentator, at Heathrow airport. He was detained for 24 hours under Section 12 of the Terrorism act 2000 – which is clearly bullshit. Supposedly for:

expressing an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation

Obviously the UK government don’t like people speaking the truth about Israel’s apartheid regime. Clearly if it threatens the status quo, it has to be shut down:

As the Canary previously reported, Medhurst’s arrest wasn’t the first. It seems British police are making targets out of non-corporate media journalists. Last year, they also arrested Kit Klarenberg, a Grayzone journalist – again under counter-terror laws, albeit different ones. In the same year, they also detained Craig Murray:

A bigger problem than just Sarah Wilkinson

According to Reporters Without Borders, the UK is ranked 24th in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index. This indicated that press freedom in the UK is ‘satisfactory’, rather than ‘good’. That alone should be worrying for a so-called democracy.

In 2021 the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport held a Call for Evidence on Journalist safety. It found that:

Multiple responses suggested the police themselves contributed towards threats or abuse towards journalists. This included police physically restricting access to spaces, arresting journalists, and holding negative conceptions about the role of journalists which affect how they treat them.

This is part of a much bigger problem. During Israel’s genocide in Palestine, the IDF has murdered 116 journalists and media workers. Additionally, it has injured 35 journalists, arrested 53, and two are still reported missing. It has been the deadliest period for journalists since the Committee to Project Journalists started gathering data in 1992.

Obviously, the UK’s corporate media isn’t reporting on the 100+ journalists Israel has murdered. Why would they when they are treating their own journalists so terribly. That is unless you’re singing from their out-of-tune hymn sheet:

Keir Starmer told us change was coming. Clearly, we are still waiting for that when his government is targeting journalists for truth telling. Obviously he thinks he can get away with complicity in Israel’s war crimes if he’s locked all the honest journalists up.

Speaking up against injustice and oppression, let alone genocide, apartheid, and state terrorism should never cost someone their freedom. But in the UK in 2024, that’s exactly what’s happening. The Canary stands in solidarity with Sarah Wilkinson.

Feature image via MENA Uncensored/Youtube 





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