Research into Islamic terrorism led to police response

This is a disturbing development for academic freedom. <p>More worrying is the university's response: "There was no reasonable rationale for this person to have that information" - he was doing an MA dissertation and intending to do a PhD on the subject. I cannot think of better rationale. <p>Instead of apologising for its role in a grave miscarriage of justice, it sounds like the university is attempting to justify what it has done. <p>Do the upper echelons of the university (i.e. businessmen) believe that they have the right to tell academics what constitutes as “legitimate research material”? I am of the opinion that they do not.

The University of Nottingham has acted several times over the past year to silence freedom of speech on the part of its students and academics. We need to be afraid that this is the thin end of the wedge in terms of telling us not only what we can say, but also what we can study. <p>If academics & students can't be trusted to read and evaluate vile materials without having the police called by their employer/educational provider, what chance does anyone have of being allowed to do it?

I am a student at Nottingham and the university community has been outraged over the past few days. <p>Most people seemed confused when the students were initially arrested, but now the facts have emerged it is clear the university acted in a grossly disproportionate fashion to one of their own student's research. Why didn't they contact his supervisor and lecturers before contacting police, to see if the material was relevant to his research? As a mixed race student, I'm really concerned that the university is keeping a close eye on ethnic minorities. I hope it's not the case, but their behaviour since the students were released without charge shows that they're standing by their atrocious behaviour. I hear a petition is going round and I fully intend to sign it.

If nothingham university should take that stand, then international students should do some consultations before shosing a school to study.

It should also be noted that both of the people arrested are prominent in activist circles at the university and have been involved in peaceful protest action and publication in the past. It is widely viewed that these arrests were an attempt, instigated very deliberately by the university, to intimidate student activists. <p>Seems to me that it will and should only provoke anger from students and turn more of us against this profiteering institution that has made numerous attempts to limit our freedom of speech.

I wholeheartedly agree with "concerned student", and as such a student myself I cannot fathom how any educated person can possibly condone this kind of draconian behavior by any institution, more especially one of higher education. <P>While wartime propaganda and information control is one thing whose morality is debatable, the idea that it could ever even possibly be right to restrict the academic study of even the most sensitive of ideologies and methods (and even more-so those of the current enemy) is quite clearly absurd. On the contrary, the government should give grants for such study. <p>Were it not a time of active war, laws such as the Terrorism Act and its like around the globe would be grounds for revolutions and impeachments all over. But because the so-called "civilized world" is clinging to the shreds of peacetime stability wherever it can, fear dominates all our domestic policies and those of us aware enough to see it are forced to watch our freedoms melt away like so much sludge on a rain-swept road. <p>I don't know if "the" end is near, but "an" end is most certainly being announced. Time will tell what exactly it is that is ended. <br>~Warren

Hold on a second. Don't forget that the person whose arrest sparked this off was a clerical member of staff, not a student. Let me ask all these principled people a simple question. <p>If you find on the Departmental computer the Al Qaida terrorist manual, placed there apparently by a clerical member of staff, do you: <p>do nothing <br>talk to the member of staff and let him reassure you <br>call the police? <p>If you choose either of the two options and that member of staff then goes on to kill people using the information in the manual, are you still happy that you have chosen the right course of action? More importantly, unless you take the third option, you cannot be sure - since you are in no position to make a judgement - that the person is not a terrorist. <p>I appreciate that it is not a pleasant or nice thing to do, but I don't think you have much choice - legal or moral - other than call in the police.

I agree that there are real dangers that need to be taken seriously concerning terrorism but it seems that some simple inquiries within the university would have revealed that the material had come from a student who was legitimately downloading this information for research purposes, with it seems the knowledge of their supervisor/tutor. The actions of the university were disproportionate and the whole thing could have been avoided. The moral option is to act in a balanced way and try to ascertain some facts before calling in the police with all the consequences we have seen. <p>It was perhaps foolish for this student to involve an unrelated third party in their research who could look suspicious and perhaps some guidelines need to be developed for the university to deal with incidents like this and for those dealing with research issues that are so senstitive at this time. But there should not be restrictions on research, nor excessive reactions that fuel fear and divisions.

University response seriously shocks me. Instead of politely apologizing, they are suggesting that using publicly accesssible resource was suspicious? Please! <p>Shame that our university spokespeole have a head of their own which never looks at the situation from the students point of view. Neither does Students Union! <p>If things keep being handled ignorantly like this, everybody will be joining the protest groups next year.

Response to "Concerned Academic" <r>You say: "Don't forget that the person whose arrest sparked this off was a clerical member of staff, not a student". In the article we are told that the University :" confirmed that the police had been called after material was found on the computer used by a junior clerical member of staff". Therefore we can deduce from this that the information was discovered after the student had used the pc and the pc was later used by a staff member who panicked, I would say. <p>The three options that you outlined did not take account of a fourth option written elsewhere- that the students academic supervisor be contacted to see if the information accessed was known to be part of his research. We are told that the research material came from the US Government website, which I would imagine is hardly likely to reprint information that jeopardises security. <p>I don't remember my old professor, who was researching and lecturing on the subject of the IRA, ever being arrested or detained for questioning, or his students. But then, they were all white.

Mr Another Concerned Academic taking precautions is fair enough, but not when it means that two innocent people spend six days in prison. The University acted like scared immature (and perhaps even racist) idiots, but according to me the majority of the blame rests on the shoulders of the police. How did it take well trained professionals six days of crushing fear and not mention sheer embarrasment to figure out that the material was being used as a research for a dissertation?! <br>A frightened student.

I agree with the last commentator, in as much as I am an ethnic minority, its a hard call to make as the document was in the possession of a clerical member of staff, not an academic. The problem is the length of time it took the police to release the men and the fact that University did nothing to expedite their release....we live in fearful times....

"He added that the edited version of the al-Qaeda handbook was “not legitimate research material” in the university’s view" <p>“There was no reasonable rationale for this person to have that information,” <p>How do the above statements justify anything? It is one thing if the people involved are suspected of 'terrorism related activities' (in which case state that as the justification), but the material should be irrelevent (whether or not it is relevent to the study). I am a UK ('westerner') and if I came accross this manual I would be interested to have a look purely for interests sake, and why on earth not? We are after all supposedly 'at war' with said organisation, and I for one would be interested, well at least at first, though would probably get bored with the document unless it was something especially horrid, which would make it an interesting read surely? <p>What exactly are we defending against the militants if it is not our so called free society anyway? I for one will read what I like, I have a copy of Mein Kampf indoors too (though to be honest haven't read it), doesn't mean I am a Nazi. <p>Having said that, reporting such documents if you are concerned shouldn't really be a problem if the Police actually do some 'policing' (ie. investigate) rather than just locking people away to see if they 'crack' or whatever (we are not in Cuba and have some of the best intelligence services there are). <p>I would like to believe that this is possibly what happened and that the Police had decided that there was a possibility (whether wrongly or rightly) that the arrested people were doing something dodgy. What I would NOT like to believe is that we can be told BY ANYONE that there is "no rationale" for us to have a particular document.

'Another concerned academic' wrote: <p>"If you find on the Departmental computer the Al Qaida terrorist manual, placed there apparently by a clerical member of staff, do you: <p>do nothing <br>talk to the member of staff and let him reassure you <br>call the police? " <p>You talk to the member of staff and ask him/her what s/he's doing with such material on their computer. What you do not do is nark them to the police, particularly in the current hysterical climate where anyone with a dusky skin and a seeming interest in terrorism can be locked away for 28 days without charge and have their life ruined. <p>I can't believe that an "academic", who should be aware of rational methods of enquiry, would write: <p>"you cannot be sure - since you are in no position to make a judgement - that the person is not a terrorist." <p>You can't be sure of anything about anyone, because you can't prove a negative. The view expressed above leads naturally to a police state, as if anyone can be a terrorist then anyone should be arrestable at any time under any pretext, because there's a finite probability that anyone can carry out lethal actions. <p>The actions of the university are deeply disturbing. They've just today emailed all staff 'correcting' aspects of the story above, which 'correction' in itself raises disturbing questions. <p>Even if all questions of morality and ethics are put to one side, this story is going to hurt the university financially. The university is absolutely dependent on overseas students from outside the EU, and in particular from SE Asia and China - it even has campuses in Malaysia and China. If word gets around that foreign students are being narked to the cops then they may well choose to go elsewhere, taking their very lucrative course fees with them. The uni has a lot of PR to do to repair the damage that this incident will cause.

I've also read the article and can't understand how some have come to their conclusions. <p>The person arrested for possession of an Al Qaida manual was not a researcher, but a clerical member of staff. They had no legitimate reason for having the manual on their computer. <p>True, it seems they were suppled the material by a researcher, who may have had a legitimate reason for possessing it. However, the researcher was no arrested for having the manual, or for supplying it, but for impeding the investigation. <p>I can see nothing in this that affects academic freedom.

This action conducted by The University of Nottingham towards fellow staff and students is ridiculous and pathetic. I'm an international student from Portugal and I do believe that the extremism that the government, the police and the University of Nottingham deal with these 'terrorists issues' is a great violation to that member of staff and to the student arrested, human rights. <p>Let me put it right... As an international student that constantly travel to many countries all over the world, I choose University of Nottingham for their international acclaim and also for the democracy that this country argues that offer to its citizens and also their to their 'visitors' and also activities to help Human relations and as a country who sign the Human Rights Convention , I'm totally appaled by this countries politics and the extreme fear that people live because of 'terrorism' that doesn't exist. I never faced in my all life the degree of racial intolerance, International students face racism almost everyday, we are accused for many crimes and stealing other people jobs even though we pay more than £12000. <p>Now, it obvious that the University that i choose for their ethical and human rights stance is been one of the worst when it comes to deal with such issues. <p>I also don't recommend international students to come to UK, paying extraordinary amounts of money, were some of the universities (specially University of Nottingham) fail to represent their students and staff. <p>Instead as I'm very aware the University of Nottingham, the police and specially the Government (which doesn't actually deliver any kind of democracy, and is a real abuser to the concept) uses muslim, british muslim and many other minorities of the British population as a scapegoat. It is unnaceptable that these kind of attitudes are made towards human beings who do their best for their community and their host country. <p>My English may be somewhat limited and this is the message I want to put across. <P>Also as a student who is involved in many British Charities and international charities, I came to think that the government doesn't really help many the people, let say refugees, asylum seekers the way that they suppose to. And when it comes to Human rights and vulnerable people Britain is one of the worst. The hostility that foreigners, asylum seekers, refugees and apparently international or British muslim students face is beyond understanding. <p>This is a really sad situation and just proves that UK lives on media moral panics and their extremism to fight terrorism (which terrorism??? the government, the university of nottingham, if still wants to be considerated a institution of prestige, and the police...all should get a grip, and at least be rational about their claims and stop using soft targets to apply their 'Terrorism Act' and using ethnic minorities as a scapegoat. <p>Next thing I will probably come across is my arrest under the terrorism act for my freedom of speech.

Does the manual contain information on how to kill people? This is very doubtful, as until fairly recently the document was available on the official website of the US Department of Justice and the FBi. It continues to be available on the RAND corporation website (a US-government sponsored think tank), the Federation of Atomic Scientists' website and other official and credible websites. Due to the fact that the document is available on official websites it is impossible for students/staff/clerical staff to distinguish what is deemed legal or illegal under the terrorism act at any point in time. Unless, of course, the official institutions posting the material on their websites, equally, are guilty of disseminating or condoning illegal material. <p>Moreover, it should be irrelevant whether the person that sparked the arrest was clerical staff or not. Freedom of speech, thought and opinion applies to everybody on campus, not just those actively engaged in research.

It is difficult to see how some people still think this was a legitimate operation. It's fine to have concerns about material someone has, if you think that person could be involved in dangerous activity. But it's perfectly obvious that discrete enquiries could have been made if this was the case. No justification can be given for the way the police and university acted. Interesting, too, how the 'pro-censorship' group conveniently forget that the police explicitly stated this would not have happened to a white student. (They actually said 'blonde haired Swedish student', but you get the point pretty clearly). The racist overtones of the operation are, to me, very disturbing.

what a sad state of affairs...

I agree with 'Who is to Blame?' commentator. It is most surprising to me that the police took as much time as they did detaining the student and staff member, and I believe most of the blame for the false accusation, and perhaps racism, belongs with them. <p>As citizens, British and international, we should be able to rely on the police of this country for the protection of our community and we should not have to view contacting them with concerns as 'narking' or school-yard 'telling'. I think if any person suspects another of plotting a terrorist act or murder, he or she should contact authorities, even if that suspicion is not fully substantiated. <p>In this case, the suspicion was false; however, the worried person that contacted the police is not at fault. It is the police that, with a few phone calls, should have been able to use investigation skills to clear up the misunderstanding to the benefit of all. <p>I think the University of Nottingham is a very good school for academics overall, but they may be making a mistake in their very critical defense, and will, no doubt, be feeling the aftereffects of their PR decisions for many years to come.

Clearly the student and the staff member should be allowed to continue with their important research. Academic researching should be encouraged to help with finding durable solutions to terrorism and lawless world. We are all responsible to contribute in taking proactive actions and help to ease the difficulty and fear that this poor student is going through at the moment. The police must do their job to secure our institutions but when it was clear that the matter was purely academic research then no researchers should suffer as this might only contribute to a bad reputation of our own institutions that Nottingham is proud of.

Now one can understand WHY the librarians in Connecticut of the USA refused to release the circulation records of their library to the FBI. They were presented with a letter, not signed by a magistrate or judge, demanding the titles of books checked out by a patron. The letter also threatened arrest if the librarians dared to reveal the existence and contents of the letter. <p>The librarians fought this and won. <p>Anyone can understand the principle involve. If I check out a book about Karl Marx, it does not follow that I must be a Marxist or believe in the violent overthrow of the USA. <p>What has been lost in the USA is all sense of judicial propriety. <p>I hope the leadership of Nottingham was adamant that the police release the student and staff member and that these investigators stay of campus.

As I understand it, the terrorist material was accessed from a public website by the student, and passed on to the clerical member of staff for printing, to dodge having to pay the printing costs. At this point the University found the manual. At this point, they had the choice of either making their own enquiries or passing the matter on to the police. Since they are by no means qualified to conduct investigations into potential terrorist activities, I think they made entirely the right choice. Think of the reaction there would have been if there had been real terrorism behind this situation, and the University's amateur investigations had precipitated murder. At no point was anyone's academic freedom curtailed unreasonably. Whether the police really needed to hold the student for 6 days to disentangle this story is, however, a different question.

It is a worrying fact of governance. We as a nation have sleepwalked into total Government control without the safeguards in place. However one does have to be extremely careful of what and where we gather information.

Your nation opened the doors to a flood of immigrants which hold a markedly different world view than that held by the democratic West. <p>Now you have to live with the consequences of living with large numbers of people who do not want to assimilate, but would rather destroy your way of life - and eventually they will. <p>In the meantime you can fool yourselves that implementing a half hearted police state will change things, but it won't. Anything short of mass deportation will not solve your problem at this point - and this is simply too draconian to be accepted by the nation which defeated the NAZIs. <p>You could try increasing immigration from poor overpopulated nations like Brazil, Columbia, etc.. The increased fertility rates of those Western nations may save the day for Jolly old England - as they would covert your unused abbeys into nicely filled up Catholic churches - instead of mosques.

No one should be arrested simply for being in possession of information. Clerical staff at universities, non-academics, anyone might be doing research for his or her own edification, for an article they've always wanted to write, or just out of curiosity. <p>It is not as if bomb-making materials were found. The barest minimum investigation has revealed the purpose of the material. <p>The story is particularly scandalous because it is set at a University but it would be no less alarming if it happened at a library, an internet cafe, a private home, or a dry-cleaner's.

Why, in a free society, should it be anyones business least of all the police, what documents anyone has on their computer. Some documents may contain instructions on how to perform vile acts of terrorism. Terrorists will get hold those whether they are legal or not. <p>What I find most shocking are the statements by the University of Nottingham which suggest they have the right to determine what is valid source material for academic research. Is this an institution dedicated to enlightenment values?

Can someone please post the URL (web address) of the document in question? I would like to download it and examine it, out of curiosity, to see how dangerous it really is. <p>It's a sad commentary on our 'democracy' that I don't feel comfortable stating my real name and email address on this message. How dare the government dictate to me what I can and cannot read? It doesn't matter whether I am a faculty member, a student, or a raving, stinking lunatic conspiracy theorist. The government had better keep its paws off my reading material !

People spend a week in jail . <p>For posession of information provided by the U.S. government . <p>Which is an al qaida manual . <p>If A=B and B=C , then A=C . <p>Therefore - <p>a) Either H.M. government believes that al Q is an American agency / Or , <p>b) blonde haired Swedish students are extremely dangerous / or else , or else <p>c) coppers make mistakes without fear of consequences . <p>It's only logical . <p>Ironically , a and b can both be true , while c is impossible .

Two points puzzle me: <p>First, why does it matter whether the member of staff was an academic? It's not like it's only academics who do research on politically sensitive issues. Relatedly, how can one possibly think that there was "no reasonable rationale" for him to have that kind of information? There is a reasonable rationale to have that kind of information for any (politically interested) person, I should think. <p>Second, how stupid do people think terrorists are? Surely, someone involved in such activity would not leave sensitive material which might expose him on a computer used by various people. <p>The extent to which paranoia already seem to have undermined the rationale judgment of (presumably) otherwise intelligent people is genuinely frightening.

Jonathan Ray, spokesman for the university, said: "What brought this matter to our attention was this material being sent to someone else who is now being held on unrelated immigration matters. <p>What exactly does this statement mean? <br>The person who is being held and paying the highest price is certainly the immigrant, being held on UNRELATED immigration matters and now facing deportation! <br>What JR forgot to mention is that this person is a former student from the University of Nottingham, who has been here for 13 years and is actively involved in the peace movement and in arts/culture groups. Moreover, if it has taken the Home Office/Immigration authorities 13 years to find some irregularities on his visa status, and the University of Nottingham was even happy to offer him a full-time JOB, as a clerical staff in a trustworthy position, MAYBE his rearrest was not UNRELATED and the University most authorities ought to take some responsibility and help HIM!

This seems to be be yet another example of police 'Following Procedures' instead of applying the Mk.1 Brain to the situation. <p>As to why they do this, I reckon it's a case of covering their own interests - If they were to apply commonsense to situations like this, then their judgement might be questioned. If they robotically 'follow procedures' then their actions cannot be questioned. Or so they reckon, anyway. <p>I speak from experience, presently being under a preposterous charge, made by a psychiatric patient who is known to suffer from irrational fears. Talking to the officer handling the case felt a bit like trying to reason with a Dalek.

Hello, "I'm a terrorist, and I downloaded an Al-Qaeda manual on a public computer in a public place. Here is my telephone number, my address, the day of the attack, my entire terrorist's network. I'll be home tonight between 5 PM and 9PM. Then I'll be out with friends in this bar. Is that enough for the police to find me?" Seriously, I know terrorists can be stupid, but to imagine that they would left such evidence behind them raises serious doubts for the cleverness of the University staff and of the police. I hate saying that, but it is clear to me that this is a case of discrimination.

I was considering submitting my application to Nottingham for PhD research in an area related to Religion and violence and now I have to withdraw the application and try elsewhere. Universities are not supposed to collaborate in the violation of academic freedom. How do they know that an Al Qaida terrorist manual is not relevant material for research? The government and their puppet universities must make up their minds what it is they want academics to do. On one hand they accuse academics in the humanities and social sciences of not getting their hands dirty by not doing research which has relevance to our lives. And when academics decide to do that kind of research the government and universities want them arrested and locked! This is what happens when people with no or little understanding of research are put in charge of academic Institutions and government policies!

In reply to 'an interested party' above: <p>The offending document can be found most easily on the website of the Federation of American Scientists (fas.org), which is a respected resource and widely used by researchers working on politics and security issues. <p>The document is totally tedious and ridiculous - in particular the 'edited version' that had been downloaded by the student (edited as not 'to aid in educating terrorists or encourage further acts of terrorism').

I would just say that muslim students should avoid choosing such researchs topic which can cause problems for them and their families. I too had to change my Masters dissertation topic as my initial proposal was rejected.

Who is qualified to make the judgement, “there was no reasonable rationale for this person to have that information"? <p>Administrative staff of the university? If they are so well qualified, maybe they should be doing research instead? <p>Or the police, on account of whose incompetence in this sort matter their right to prosecute was taken away from them many years ago?

what about al the hype on western liberties? freedom of speech? yada yada... <p>Britain is now looking more like third world countries with oppressive regimes!.. <p>and to target international students i s a shameful thing as they bring in more money than anyone else, while they get the same lousy level of education provided by British universities as home students.. <p>shame on University of Nottingham.. <br>shame on the UK.. <br>shame on a world obssesed by fear ...

I am confused as to why it is the University who is taking so much of the criticism, and not the police. The University discovered that a junior member of the clerical staff was in possesion of a terrorist training manual, this is enough cause to be suspicious. If you are suspicious that a crime has been or may be committed, you have a duty to inform the police and let them handle it. This is what the university did. It is then the responsibility of the police to look in to it and deal with the situation. Without too much effort, the police could have and should have been able to work out that there was no threat before any arrests were made. The fact that this was not the case is the fault of the police, not the university.

Perhaps the lesson to be drawn from this episode is the rather banal (and I would have thought obvious) one that academics who are engaging with materials (or people etc.) in a way that may give rise to concerns about terrorist links, should consult the relevant authorities before engaging in that research. Presumably we would regard that as sensible procedure in the case of someone who had a legitimate academic interest in, for example, child pornography. (Query: do criminology departments have established procedures for such things?) Academic freedom does not mean freedom to do whatever one would like without any thought to the law (cf. research on animal subjects).

Quite frankly, I can't even relate to most of the comments on this thread. Someone found a terrorism training manual in the possession of a Algerian Computer Science administrator, and called the police. They detained them for too long. Okay - you've got me there. But, so many people can't seem to understand why that was suspicious, or why the university said a Computer Science Administrator had no reason to have a terrorism training manual. (Nevermind the fact that engineers are actually disproportionately represented in the ranks of Al-Queda.) Ugh. Sorry, I certainly agree with liberals on most issues, but sometimes liberals make me angry with their complete stupidity about the world, how it works, and human error. Reading these comments, it's clear that too many people are hypersensitive, and they can't tolerate the police being suspicious of anything. This story seems so blown out of proportion, and the Western World is doomed if this kind of liberal mindset becomes widespread. It seems like many of these commenters would allow men to carry automatic weapons onto an aircraft - because 'hey, it would be wrong to assume there are people in the world who want to destroy us'.

For all the crimes that one can commit, terrorism is the one for which one can be presumed guilty until proven innocent. On all other crimes, we hold to the more ethical standard of innocent until proven guilty. <p>I'm not a barrister, nor do I play one on the internet. Hell, I am not even a Brit, so I don't know if the presumption of innocence is even a relevant matter in the UK. <p>How on earth can one of the democratic powers be so paranoid on terrorism that it has decided that the idea of liberty is subservient to security? <p>As much as this story disturbs me, comments here on this page disturb me even more; <p>"In the meantime you can fool yourselves that implementing a half hearted police state will change things, but it won't. Anything short of mass deportation will not solve your problem at this point - and this is simply too draconian to be accepted by the nation which defeated the NAZIs." (reads like a compatriot of mine because if immigration ignorance and anti-Muslim stance.) <p>"The person arrested for possession of an Al Qaida manual was not a researcher, but a clerical member of staff. They had no legitimate reason for having the manual on their computer." (How do you have the judgment to decide legitimacy?) <p>"If you choose either of the two options and that member of staff then goes on to kill people using the information in the manual, are you still happy that you have chosen the right course of action? More importantly, unless you take the third option, you cannot be sure - since you are in no position to make a judgement - that the person is not a terrorist." (Allowing fear to rule over judgment is a poor concept of justice.) <p>It's not the police and the University that are to blame for this, it is a citizenry cowed by the spectre of terrorism into losing all sense of perspective. More people are murdered every day than those killed in the July 7 Tube attacks. More people die on U.S. highways every month than were killed on 9/11, and yet both the U.S. and British citizenry are allowing their governments to abdicate our rights because of these attacks? <p>I don't mean to be callous towards the families of those murdered, but terrorism isn't the only sort of violent crime in our countries. Why does sense leave us when it comes to terrorism? <p>Presumption of innocence is supposed to be a check against police power, and a restraint on the magistrate. Push for its restoration, even in terrorism investigations.

'I don't mean to be callous towards the families of those murdered, but terrorism isn't the only sort of violent crime in our countries. Why does sense leave us when it comes to terrorism?' <p>It is all due to the fear of the 'other' in society. I may not study politics, but through my literature degree I have been studying the effects of otherness as a driving force for fear and confrontation. Furthermore, it is a fear compounded when one cannot immediately detect that other. Darker skin is a marker, yes, but what marks religion? Extremist views? This student had lived in Nottingham all his life, was a British twenty-two year old, and suddenly this document made him distinctly other than a normal British student. It made him exactly that other which society fears, because we can alienate ourselves from it and create a monster in its place. <p>It is high time that western society, as a whole, made a move in evolving past the 'us versus them' instinct. We should respect difference, not fear it. <p>Furthermore, our freedom for the pursuit of knowledge, and speech, should become an inalienable right for all people regardless of how much it frightens our sensationalist society, media and goverment. It is the pitchfork-toting mob, supported by fear tactics of the media and goverment, which is the real terrorist faction. It latches onto the newest bogeyman, that other we just cannot or will not include in our 'us versus them' mentality, and seeks to remove their human rights so that it can sleep better at night. <p>What I find most shocking and deplorable in this chain of events is how racial otherness can be used as an excuse to exonerate the university and the police in its assumptions about the men involved. Many of the above posts have pointed out that if they were both white, such extreme measures would have never been implemented. Assumptions were made, and no attempts (as described in this account of the events, at least) seem to have been made to mediate the situation before the police were even called in. As mentioned above, many people own copies of other inflammatory texts and it is accepted that it is certainly no reason for arrest. However, this situation occured in our current political climate where Al-Qaeda plus dark skin equals assumptions of terrorist links. When there is nothing involved but the possession of information, issues of race and religion should be removed from the equation of suspicion. <p>Personally, I would rather live in a world where basic human freedoms are maintained than in a plastic bubble monitored by the Thought Police of our time.

my questions are: <p>if you are foreign: <br>1. can you be employed without a work permit? <br>2. check of passport or an ID? <br>3. check of visa and work permit? <p>The university and its protocols for employing foreigners needs to be investigated as well by the home office?! <p>and they should pay for the lawer fees for the 2 people investigated and appologize to them and their families and friends who were affected and questioned <p>these 2 individuals have paid thousands of pounds to study in this country to be paid back this way...................................what a degree they are getting?! DEPORTATION

@ U of N Politics student <p>The University is rightly taking the brunt of the attack. This is because a university should be an institution dedicated to free enquiry. They should be defending the rights of everyone and particularly their staff (not _just_ academic staff) to read what they like. <p>Laws which declare documents "illegal" are an outrage. Universities should be resisting them not conniving with the state and the police. Somehow I think, if this was a US university, it would have done.

It is understandable that the university initially over reacted when they found a file that concerned them, however their reaction after this where they are attempting to defame the student in their press statements. In particular the University spokesman’s comments : “There was no reasonable rationale for this person to have that information,” He added that the edited version of the al-Qaeda handbook was “not legitimate research material” in the university’s view. These may be understandable reactions when the file was initially found but to have made these statements after the suspects have been released without charge, and once there has been time to actually think about the situation. <p>The University will not actually take any notice of objections from students the only reaction that will make them sit up and take notice is if academics start to move to other universities where academic freedom will be respected.

The funny thing about this is that UK & US governmental organisations will most probably reference that poor boy's dissertation when it's published in their analysis and creation of policy to tackle terrorism! <p>Is it just me or are the US & UK starting to lose the run of themselves?? When i work from my company's Manchester Office, there are A4 properly marketed posters in the canteens and toilets encouring people to rat out potential terrorists: "if you don't report them who will...?" etc etc etc. <p>Paranoia with your Sandwich anyone...? <p>anyone...?

I've just seen this on the news, would like to say I am completely shocked, as I'm sure is everyone else. <p>Surely if the University do not accept this kind of research, why allow it as part of the course content? <p>Moreso, if the Government do not want people to get their hands on these kind of things, Why on earth have it publicised? <p>I know my cousin is hoping to go into a similar field of higher education after her A levels, I wouldn't like to think she'd be treated this badly! Or anyone else! <p>Bottom line, if it's not supposed to be seen, or used, don't put it on the internet. Secondly, if the University do not see it as 'legitimate research material' then tell your students this beforehand or make it one of the rules! <p>Tut.

"A spokesman for Nottingham [University] confirmed that the police had been called after material was found on the computer used by a junior clerical member of staff. 'There was no reasonable rationale for this person to have that information,' he said." <p>I have worked as a clerical member of staff in an academic environment and I am horrified to learn of the appalling attitude of Nottingham University towards its staff members possessing and reading documents which are currently available within the public domain anyway (see link above). <p>When a person moves from an academic role into a clerical role he is not (yet) required to undergo a lobotomy to prevent him from possessing a curious and enquiring mind. But ... who knows what future plans the authorities have in the pipeline? <p>I've been a victim of violent terrorism and I demand the right to learn as much as I wish about these enemies of my freedom. <p>On the subject of Enemies of my Freedom: it appears I'm also potentially a victim of state and academic censorship and I demand the right to learn ... etc.