Two men arrested arrested last week in London have been charged under the Terrorism Act, Scotland Yard says.
The men, both aged 25, were arrested on 13 October and will appear before Westminster magistrates on Monday.
One has been charged with engaging in acts with the intention of committing or assisting in acts of terrorism.
Both were charged with collecting or recording information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.
One of the men was also charged with a further offence contrary to the Identity Documents Act 2010.
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They were were arrested in a car in Mansell Street, Whitechapel, east London, after police fired "Hatton rounds" - ammunition designed to burst tyres and blow open doors.
At the time of their arrest, police said one was a British national of Turkish origin and the second was a British national of Algerian origin.
Two other men arrested during the same operation were released earlier this week.
One was a 28-year-old British national of Azerbaijani origin who was arrested outside the premises of Planet Organic in Westbourne Grove, Bayswater, west London.
The other was a 29-year-old British national of Pakistani origin who was arrested in Peckham Hill Street, Peckham, south-east London.
A spokesman said officers had completed searches at six addresses in London and also on two vehicles as part of their investigation.
[source : Pair charged with terror offences, BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24604617, 20th October 2013]
Many reports of the arrests stated:
1. the men had all been under surveillance for some time;
2. there were fears that the men had weapons;
3. so a large number of armed officers were used to arrest the men, in a London street, in broad daylight, in front of shoppers and diners;
4. one of the men was arrested at his home which had been 'staked out';
5. the fear was that the men were planning a Mumbai or Nairobi-style attack inside the UK;
6. the head of MI5 had warned that Islamists saw Brits as legitimate targets;
7. six houses were being searched, presumably for the weapons for the suspected attacks.
So, after all this, two of the men arrested have been released...WITHOUT CHARGE, one of whom was arrested in his own home which had been 'staked out'.
You will also note that there is no mention in the BBC report above of any weapons being found at any of the six addresses that were searched.
However, the BBC report has just been followed by a slightly more detailed report from The Guardian, which states:
Two men arrested in a dramatic counter-terrorism operation a week ago have been charged.
Scotland Yard said a 25-year-old British national of Turkish origin had been charged with offences contrary to Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 and Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
A British national of Algerian origin, also 25, has been charged under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and with a further offence contrary to the Identity Documents Act 2010.
[source : Two men charged with terrorism offences, The Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/oct/20/two-men-charged-terrorism-offences, 20th October 2013]
Section 58 of The Terrorism Act 2006 states:
58 Collection of information.
(1)A person commits an offence if—
(a)he collects or makes a record of information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or
(b)he possesses a document or record containing information of that kind.
(2)In this section “record” includes a photographic or electronic record.
(3)It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that he had a reasonable excuse for his action or possession.
(4)A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a)on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, to a fine or to both, or
(b)on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or to both.
Section 5 of The Terrorism Act 2006 states:
5 Preparation of terrorist acts
(1) A person commits an offence if, with the intention of—
(a) committing acts of terrorism, or
(b) assisting another to commit such acts,
he engages in any conduct in preparation for giving effect to his intention.
(2) It is irrelevant for the purposes of subsection (1) whether the intention and
preparations relate to one or more particular acts of terrorism, acts of terrorism
of a particular description or acts of terrorism generally.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable, on conviction
on indictment, to imprisonment for life.
Very vague. No mention of weapons being found or planned to be used. There is reference to documents and information being collected, which could refer to checking out manuals on the internet.
I'm just wondering why, after the suspects had been under surveillance for 'some time' and they were arrested using a large number of armed officers in front of many members of the public, two of them have been released without charge after being detained for a week, no weapons have been reported to have been found, and the charges against them are vague and imply they were collecting information yet the media last weekend were pushing the idea the men were about to launch a spectacular terrorist attack on a shopping centre somewhere in the DFQ.
And that statistic still stands: only 14% of those charged with offences under terrorism acts are convicted.
At the moment this is looking more and more like a knee-jerk arrest to reinforce the fearmongering by the head of MI5 a few days earlier who said that GCHQ should get more power to spy on us because thousands of Islamists are itching to kill us all.
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