U.K.: Where reading can send you to jail

[Newsjock]

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/05/20/uk_where_reading_can_send_you_to_jail.html

LONDON—In the deepening investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings, federal officials have reportedly found copies of the Al Qaeda magazine Inspire and other extremist materials on a computer belonging to Katherine Russell, the widow of suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

If these reports are true, and if this case took place in the U.K., no other evidence would be needed to arrest and prosecute Russell, 24. Simply having a copy of Inspire — or any other material deemed “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism” — is a crime here.

Under Section 58 of the U.K.’s Terrorism Act, a 2000 law granting sweeping powers to law enforcement, it is a criminal offence to download, copy or otherwise possess Inspire. Same goes for bomb-making instructions, extremist speeches or any number of materials that in the United States are protected under the First Amendment.

No other evidence of terrorist activity, or intention to engage in it, is necessary to prosecute under the U.K. statute, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.