OMAR KARMI—Some 10 officers served the journalist with warrants and other papers they claimed authorized them to search his house and vehicle for devices and documents.
A letter addressed to Winstanley from the “Counter Terrorism Command” of the Metropolitan Police said they were investigating “possible offenses” under sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism Act (2006). These provisions set out the purported offense of “encouragement of terrorism.”
The raid was widely criticized, including by the National Union of Journalists, which funded Winstanley’s legal team.
The “rising use” of counter-terrorism legislation, the union wrote in a statement, is being “used against journalists as an intimidatory measure harmful to public interest journalism and press freedom.”
