UK: Seven New Terror Arrests

[muriel_volestrangler]

One person has been arrested in West Yorkshire in connection with the London bombings.

Six people have also been arrested in the Beeston area of Leeds under the Terrorism Act in a move not directly linked to the July 7 strikes.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1189403,00.html

(That's all there is to the story so far; Channel 4 News in the UK reported "some arrests" as their last sentence too).

[DS1]

1. Wow, the Brits sure are making quick work of this

Too bad Bush is so fucking useless, even WITH his patriot act bullshit

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. You do need to remember that the UK terrorism arrest:charge rate

is about 10:1, and arrest:conviction rate about 100:1. This may not mean much yet.

[krkaufman]

3. Exactly.

Many of the arrests may be part of their clamping down on "free speech", in that (from what I've heard) they allow speech that would be considered inciting or seditious here.

Heck, we had a ton of "terror" arrests post-9/11.

[daleo]

4. Do they release those not convicted in the U.K.?

I can think of a few places that don't concern themselves with the niceties of conviction vs non-conviction.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Yes, but if they were charged, they might have spent

a year or two in prison awaiting trial.

[daleo]

8. That seems like a pretty long time

Not exactly a speedy trial, but this seems to becoming more and more the norm. Still, better than Guantanamo.

[Eugene]

6. Oops! British Retract Claim on Leeds Arrests

British Retract Claim on Leeds Arrests

Sunday July 17, 2005 11:31 PM

LONDON (AP) - Police said Sunday night that six people were
arrested in Leeds under Britain's anti-terrorism act, but later
retracted the claim.

The six men, none of whom were identified, were arrested on
immigration offenses, a police spokesman told The Associated Press.

"There was a mistake earlier in that entry," the spokesman said.

Earlier, another spokesman had said the six were arrested under the
anti-terrorism law.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5148055,00.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. Par for the course (n/t)