Police Intimidate UK Journalist Sarah Wilkinson

This is an extraordinary account of police intimidation of journalists commenting on the situation in Palestine under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act.

Jonathan Cook writes: “This is an utterly shocking account from journalist Sarah Wilkinson of her recent violent arrest by 16 counter-terrorism police, several masked, at 7.30am.

They smashed up, or stole, many of her belongings; emptied an urn of her mother’s remains over the floor; have denied her the right to touch any electronic device, even a phone, though she has a potentially life-threatening medical condition; stolen her passport, which she needs to produce or it will lead to a bail infraction and possibly a five-year jail term; and much else besides.

She has, of course, been stripped of the right to do journalism. All of this under Section 12 of the draconian Terrorism Act.

This is clearly intended as a campaign of terror, meant to intimidate others from speaking up about Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

We are being reminded that you don’t need to be a Julian Assange to be targeted and have your life turned upside down. We are being reminded that ultimately the UK is a police state – and that our freedoms are a gift from those who rule over us.”

Comments (8)

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  1. SteveH says:

    We do agree that the state is most dangerous when politically motivated…

    How many of you applauded when Starmer’s Stasi were arresting and jailing people merely for their tweets and FB posts, merely because many of you labelled them “Far-right”, even though most of them were clearly not.

    FIRST THEY CAME
    By Martin Niemöller
    First they came for the Communists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Communist
    Then they came for the Socialists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Socialist
    Then they came for the trade unionists
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a trade unionist
    Then they came for the Jews
    And I did not speak out
    Because I was not a Jew
    Then they came for me
    And there was no one left
    To speak out for me.

    It is the globalist governments who are twisting the laws to give themselves draconian powers. This is where true free speech is critically important even if you don’t like what the other people are saying. We must protect each other’s right to free expression.

    1. Meg Macleod says:

      The tightening of global control…where is starmer ?

    2. Frank Mahann says:

      You are Esther McVey at I claim my fiver.

  2. Dougie Blackwood says:

    I wonder what her “Crime” is purported to be. I do not find this unbelievable; the darker arms of the state have powers to do anything they like and are unaccountable to anyone.

  3. John Wood says:

    Thanks for sharing this.

  4. Martin Langley says:

    It is unclear whether Ms Wilkinson has been charged with an offence, – seemingly under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, that of “inviting support for a proscribed organisation”. Presumably this pertains to her Twitter/X postings which express support for Palestinian victims of Israeli genocide. This is clearly a charge fabricated to intimidate all journalists and anybody else (like you or me), who calls out the actions of Israeli military arseholes. It is interesting that of the 52 terrorist organisations proscribed under the above act, none are zionist. Mossad are conspicuous by their absence. In any event raiding the home of a sick woman at 7.00am with 16 balaclava clad police thugs wrecking the interior and stealing cash and equipment is a grossly disproportionate abuse of authority by the West Mercia force. They are clearly liable for investigation by the Office of Police Conduct who can be found here: https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/complaints/submit-a-complaint. I would urge Sarah Wilkinson and anyone else affected by this obvious intimidation to submit a complaint at the earliest opportunity. You can do it on the website.

  5. Alasdair MacVarish says:

    It is especially significant that as far as I know, the Morning Star is the only newspaper to report this. I have written to the Guardian to ask why but no reply.

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