INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM ON
FRACKING, ONSHORE OIL AND GAS AND THE REACTIONS TO IT
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Fracking opponent detained under the Terrorism Act
BY RUTH
HAYHURST ON JANUARY 6, 2016 • ( 17 COMMENTS )
A prominent
anti-fracking campaigner has revealed that he was detained under the Terrorism
Act at Exeter Airport just before Christmas.
Ian Crane, who
presents the weekly web broadcast Fracking Nightmare, said he was
held for about two hours. His phone was taken away to be examined but his
luggage was not searched.
He said he was
issued with a Notice of Detention under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000
The Network for
Police Monitoring, Netpol, said the incident was further “alarming evidence”
that opponents of fracking were being targeted as “domestic extremists”. It
follows Netpol’s recent publication of a recording in which a counter-terrorism
officer at a training session described some opposition to fracking as
extremism.
“Random check”
According to Mr
Crane, a former oil executive, he was detained by two police officers in plain
clothes on 20th December 2015 after he went through passport control at Exeter,
following a flight from Amsterdam. The Notice of Detention recorded that he was
held at 10.20pm.
He said the police
officers told him it was a random check.
“They wanted to know ‘Where have you been?’ ‘What are you doing?’”
“I said everything
I did was in the public domain.”
Mr Crane gives
talks to community groups about what he says are the risks of fracking. He
produced the documentaryVoices of the Gasfields about fracking in
Australia and has filmed police activity at anti-fracking protests in the UK.
Three days after his detention, lawyers for Rathlin Energy sought to make him
bankrupt. More details
He also broadcasts
on geopolitical issues and during the interview the officers asked him about
his views on events in the Middle East.
“They asked questions about what I thought radicalises people.”
“They didn’t say anything about fracking until I did”.
“They said ‘It
[fracking] is a concern but we’re alright down here [in Devon and Cornwall]’”.
“We have to take your phone”
Mr Crane said the
officers told him they had to take his phone.
“I said this was an infringement against my fundamental human rights.”
“They said ‘We have to take your phone. If you don’t give it to us we
will have to charge you under the Terrorism Act.’”
“I said I was allowing them against my better judgement.”
“I said I have this
country’s best interests at heart. The legacy we are leaving future generations
scares the crap out of me.”
Mr Crane said this
was the first time he had had any connection with the security services.
He said he refused
to sign the Notice of Detention. He said the interview lasted about an hour.
The officers then spent another hour with his phone. He asked the officers to
delete any material that had been collected from it.
DrillOrDrop asked
Devon and Cornwall Police whether officers had complied with this request. We
also asked the force to confirm the details of Mr Crane’s detention.
A spokesperson for
Devon and Cornwall Police said the force had no comment to make. It would also
not comment on our question about the authenticity of the Section 7 Notice of Detention,
which contained two spelling mistakes and had no name or reference to the
detaining authority.
Kevin Blowe,
Coordinator for Netpol, said:
“As far back as 2012, Netpol called on the Home Office to outlaw the use
of Schedule 7 to gather information or intelligence about political activism.
This draconian stop and search power is hugely intimidating – people can be
detained, with no right to silence, for up to six hours and police can take
their DNA, fingerprints and phone or laptop data.”
“Although intended
to prevent terrorism, we have documented repeated instances of its use against
campaigners, often on the basis of what seems like pre-existing intelligence
relating to their political activity. Mr Crane’s experience provides more
alarming evidence that opponents of fracking are amongst those who are
currently targeted as ‘domestic extremists'”
Schedule 7
Schedule 7 of the
Terrorism Act deals with port and border controls. It allows police,
immigration and customs officers to detain and question people at ports or
airports. A person who is questioned must give the interviewing officers any
information or documents that are requested. The schedule also gives officers
the power to search people and their property and detain items for up to seven
days.
There is no
requirement under the schedule for an officer to have “a reasonable suspicion”
that someone is involved with terrorism before they are searched. People who
fail to co-operate are deemed to have committed a criminal offence.
The use of Section
7 made international headlines in February 2014 when David Miranda, the partner
of the journalist Glenn Greenwald, was detained at Heathrow Airport. Mr
Greenwald had published documents leaked by the US security contractor, Edward
Snowdon. Officers held Mr Miranda for nine hours and seized computer equipment
he was carrying.
In February 2015,
25 peace campaigners travelling from parts of Europe to a demonstration in
Berkshire were stopped and searched under Schedule 7 by British anti-terrorism
police in Calais. More details
Netpol issued guidance on
Schedule 7 for activists travel to the Paris climate conference in December
Anti-fracking campaigners and the Prevent strategy
A week before Mr
Crane’s detention, Netpol, published a recording from a workshop on the
counter-terrorism Prevent strategy. The workshop was a training event held by
the police for a group of public sector staff.
According to the
recording, a police officer accused some anti-fracking protesters of violent
extremism. He alleged they had assaulted workers. Netpol said this was
apparently based on a single unfounded allegation of assault made at the Barton
Moss protest in Salford which led to no criminal charges. The officer also
alleged damage to equipment.
Transcript of
recording
“Domestic: animal rights and anti-fracking got anyone [inaudible] got anyone know of Frack Off? Sometimes it does. Why are they on there? Well, if they demonstrate in accordance with the Public Order Act then there’s absolutely no problems. What has happened though recently is at anti-fracking at Barton Moss, down in West Sussex and in Surrey, had some exploratory sites, people there started assaulting the workers going in … damaging equipment, trying to damage the site where the exploratory is taking place and all that sort of stuff. While people are with the placards at the front gate, absolutely no issues but once you cross the line into violence for their cause, then it becomes extreme. And it becomes violent extremism. As long as people stay within the law, no problem.”
“Domestic: animal rights and anti-fracking got anyone [inaudible] got anyone know of Frack Off? Sometimes it does. Why are they on there? Well, if they demonstrate in accordance with the Public Order Act then there’s absolutely no problems. What has happened though recently is at anti-fracking at Barton Moss, down in West Sussex and in Surrey, had some exploratory sites, people there started assaulting the workers going in … damaging equipment, trying to damage the site where the exploratory is taking place and all that sort of stuff. While people are with the placards at the front gate, absolutely no issues but once you cross the line into violence for their cause, then it becomes extreme. And it becomes violent extremism. As long as people stay within the law, no problem.”
Netpol made Freedom
of Information requests asking police in north west England to release copies
of the standard presentation they used in training sessions. The requests were
refused. One force said:
“releasing this
information into the public domain risks it being taken out of context, or used
without authorisation in an uncontrolled fashion, which could discredit WRAP
[Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent] training”.
The Prevent
strategy is now a statutory duty for most public authorities. It uses a multi-channel
programme called Channel, which, it says, helps to prevent individuals being
drawn into radicalisation. Information is said to be shared between different
agencies to tailor the most appropriate support.
Netpol said it had
been contacted by anti-fracking activists from north west England who had been
angered when they were unexpectedly referred to Channel because of their
political opposition to onshore oil and gas extraction. In most cases, Netpol
said, referrals appeared to have been made by universities and further
education collections and all related to adults.
All five police
forces in the north-west refused Netpol’s request to confirm the number of
Channel referrals in 2015 made specifically for individuals said to be at risk
of being drawn into extremism through involvement in anti-fracking campaigns.
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