A “dark and dangerous place” for British journalism

JVL Introduction

The arrest of British-Syrian journalist Richard Medhurst under the Prevention of Terrorism Act at Heathrow Airport last Thursday has raised barely a murmur from UK media, but it is, argues Chris Hedges in the piece below, “an ominous warning to any who stand up for Palestinian rights.”

Medhurst said on X: “I criticized the Terrorism Act before getting on the plane, then got arrested under the Terrorism Act upon landing. Can’t make this up.”

Former National Union of Journalists deputy general secretary Jacob Ecclestone says the arrest is a serious assault on British journalism. In a letter to his MP, which we reproduce below Hedges’ article, Ecclestone says: “When the British state starts to arrest journalists in this way,  then we are entering a very dark and dangerous place.”

For a full account of Medhurst’s experience see this report from CommonDreams.

NWI

This article was originally published by The Chris Hedges Report on Sun 25 Aug 2024. Read the original here.