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Richard Medhurst

UK journalist Richard Medhurst (Source)

British journalist Richard Medhurst is the first reporter to be arrested under Section 12 of the UK’s Terrorism Act of 2000, a deeply troubling infringement on the freedom of the press in the United Kingdom. 

UK authorities were waiting for Medhurst when his flight to London landed at Heathrow Airport, where they then arrested him, seized his devices, and interrogated him after 15 hours of detention. The officers said he “had expressed an opinion or belief that was supportive of a proscribed organization,” and held him for nearly 24 hours. Medhurst detailed the entire ordeal at his website. 

Now British police are attempting to unlock his devices. As a journalist, Medhurst is duty-bound to protect his sources’ identities, and so he has declined to hand over passwords to phones and computers which contain confidential and privileged information.

Medhurst has refused to hand over the passwords to his phones, an iPhone and a Google Pixel, running the privacy-minded operating system Graphene, to protect the confidentiality of his sources. Authorities could obtain a court order to surrender the passwords, and if Medhurst refuses, he could face 2-5 years in jail. Police have extended their own latest deadline to May 15, 2025. 

Like the United States’ Patriot Act of 2003 or Espionage Act of 1917, the UK’s Terrorism Act of 2000, which replaced earlier Acts in 1998 and ’89, provided British authorities with new powers which have only expanded since its introduction and led to widespread accusations of abuse. Section 12 of the Act carries up to 14 years in prison for each offense, and the section is written to include political speech and opinion which UK authorities determine expresses or invites support for an organization on its proscribed list. 

While the UK has detained others in connection with journalism under the Terrorism Act before, Medhurst believes this is the first time a journalist has been arrested and held for nearly a day under it.

Medhurst “categorically and utterly reject[s] all the accusations by the police” and describes his detention as “a declaration of war on journalism.” 

Medhurst, who gained international recognition for his reporting on the prosecution of Julian Assange, has been extensively covering Israeli’s assault on Gaza and Lebanon for the last year and has been critical of U.S. and UK support for genocide.

In a video statement, Medhurst said,

“Those like myself who are speaking up and reporting on the situation in Palestine … the most pressing news story in the world … are being targeted. This was a pre-planned and co-ordinated arrest. I’m the only journalist to have been arrested under Section 12 of The Terrorism Act, and although I was released on bail ‘unconditionally’, I do not know if I will be charged or imprisoned in three months. I am disgusted that I am being politically persecuted in my own country. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are under attack by a state that is cracking down on people speaking out about our government’s complicity in genocide.”

Press freedom groups across the UK and around the world have condemned the UK’s treatment of Medhurst. The UK’s National Union of Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists published a joint statement, in which they said,

“Richard Medhurst’s arrest and detention for almost 24 hours using terrorism legislation is deeply concerning and will likely have a chilling effect on journalists in the UK and worldwide, in fear of arrest by UK authorities simply for carrying out their work.

Both the NUJ and IFJ are shocked at the increased use of terrorism legislation by the British police in this manner. Journalism is not a crime. Powers contained in anti-terror legislation must be deployed proportionately – not wielded against journalists in ways that inevitably stifle press freedom. We will continue to monitor this case and urge the authorities to provide urgent clarity as to the nature of this ongoing investigation.”

Reporters Without Borders’ Rebecca Vincent spoke to Il Fatto Quotidiano,

“We have tracked cases of authorities forcing journalists to disclose passwords or otherwise interfering with their devices in every region of the world, from western democracies to more authoritarian regimes. The impact is the same: at best, it intimidates journalists working on sensitive topics, and at worst it compromises the protection of journalistic sources.”

The unprecedented act of arresting and threatening to charge a journalist under the UK’s Terrorism Act, coupled with the aggressive home raids and abusive interrogation, is a clear attempt to instill a chilling effect on journalists everywhere. The message is loud and clear, that a free press will not be tolerated and that the UK wants to determine what can and cannot be published about its actions around the world.

The investigation has already curtailed Medhurst’s ability to do his job:

“Journalism is my livelihood. I have an ethical and moral responsibility toward the general public to inform. But I feel that a muzzle has been placed on me.

I simply do not know if or how I can work at all during the next months. Palestine—the humanitarian crisis in Gaza— remain the most pressing news story in the world, however, it seems that any statement, no matter how innocent, factual, and well-intentioned, can be skewed and twisted into an offense of the highest order.

This is precisely the danger and absurdity of the Terrorism Act that I have always sought to impress upon the public, long before I ever became a victim of it myself. 

It is out of control and has no place in a democracy.

Counter terrorism laws should be used to fight actual terrorism, not journalism.”

Courage supports Medhurst’s right to practice journalism, free of intimidation or censorship. We call on the United Kingdom to return his devices to him, apologize for his treatment, and to drop this investigation immediately.

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