Gless Greenwald's partner detained at Heathrow

[Andalublue]

The British and US authorities' attempts to silence journalists working on the Snowden revelations continues apace. The partner of the Guardian journalist at the centre of the investigation was detained this morning for 9 hours under anti-terrorism legislation as he transited Heathrow airport en route between Berlin and Rio de Janeiro.

Glenn Greenwald's partner detained at Heathrow airport for nine hours | World news | The Guardian

Clearly the authorities intended to send out a message of intimidation to the journalist and the wider media that if they can't get hold of Snowden and Greenwald themselves, they can attack their families. Greenwald's partner, David is not a journalist, he's a student and, as far as I'm aware, has not been involved with Greenwald's journalistic work. That the UK authorities chose to use the full extent of their draconian anti-terrorism legislation against someone who has never been remotely linked to any kind of subversive group and holds no terrorist sympathies is quite shocking.

I hope that there may be some heavyweight politician prepared to stick their head above the parapet and ask serious questions in the House about this abuse of power. I also hope that the Brazilian government will be prepared to demand explanations of the British government for its act of intimidation against one of their nationals.

Here's Glenn Greenwald's comment piece currently running on GuardianOnline.

Detaining my partner: a failed attempt at intimidation | Glenn Greenwald | Comment is free | theguardian.com

One of the reader comments below the article likens the action to the kind of intimidation the Stasi used to use on dissidents. I don't think that that is over-stating the case.

 

[Dr. Chuckles]

One of the reader comments below the article likens the action to the kind of intimidation the Stasi used to use on dissidents. I don't think that that is over-stating the case.

lol ...


<<<One of those tried and convicted for attempted contract murder was former Stasi collaborator Peter Haak, who was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. The fifty-two-year-old Haak took part in the Stasi's 1981 Operation Scorpion, which was designed to pursue people who helped East Germans escape to the West. Proceedings against former General Gerhard Neiber, whose Stasi directorate was responsible for preventing escapes and for wreaking vengeance, were still pending in 1998.

Peter Haak's murder plot was hatched after he befriended Wolfgang Welsch and his family. Welsch was a thorn in the side of the Stasi because of his success in smuggling people out of the DDR. Haak joined Welsch and the latter's wife and seven-year-old daughter on a vacation in Israel, where he mixed a gram of thallium, a highly poisonous metallic chemical element used in rat poison, into the hamburgers he was preparing for a meal. Welsch's wife and daughter vomited immediately after ingesting the poison and recovered quickly. Welsch suffered severe aftereffects, but eventually recovered: He had consumed a large amount of beer with the meal, and an expert testified that the alcohol had probably flushed the poison from his system.>>>

Stasi

 

[Andalublue]

lol ...


<<<One of those tried and convicted for attempted contract murder was former Stasi collaborator Peter Haak, who was sentenced to six and a half years in prison. The fifty-two-year-old Haak took part in the Stasi's 1981 Operation Scorpion, which was designed to pursue people who helped East Germans escape to the West. Proceedings against former General Gerhard Neiber, whose Stasi directorate was responsible for preventing escapes and for wreaking vengeance, were still pending in 1998.

Peter Haak's murder plot was hatched after he befriended Wolfgang Welsch and his family. Welsch was a thorn in the side of the Stasi because of his success in smuggling people out of the DDR. Haak joined Welsch and the latter's wife and seven-year-old daughter on a vacation in Israel, where he mixed a gram of thallium, a highly poisonous metallic chemical element used in rat poison, into the hamburgers he was preparing for a meal. Welsch's wife and daughter vomited immediately after ingesting the poison and recovered quickly. Welsch suffered severe aftereffects, but eventually recovered: He had consumed a large amount of beer with the meal, and an expert testified that the alcohol had probably flushed the poison from his system.>>>

Stasi

The Stasi weren't all about murder attempts. Watch The Lives of Others and you'll see what I mean in making the comparison.

 

[Montecresto]

His detainment seems to be either an issue of incompetence or harassment.

 

[Dr. Chuckles]

The Stasi weren't all about murder attempts. Watch The Lives of Others and you'll see what I mean in making the comparison.

i own the movie. And even based on it, I would just laugh at such a comparison to the above

 

[Andalublue]

His detainment seems to be either an issue of incompetence or harassment.

I'd plump for the latter. It would have taken a bit of coordination to track his travel and intercept him as neatly as they did. It was no accident.

 

[Andalublue]

i own the movie. And even based on it, I would just laugh at such a comparison to the above

So be it.

 

[napa22]

By using anti-terrorism laws to detain Greenwald's partner, the British authorities have abused their power. Anti-terrorist laws should be used only on those who have committed or are planning violent attacks on civilians, not against the relatives of journalists who have no connection to any terrorist plot. How the British people can put with their laws so clearly being abused I don't understand.

 

[Montecresto]

I'd plump for the latter. It would have taken a bit of coordination to track his travel and intercept him as neatly as they did. It was no accident.

Ok, your right, so I was trying to give the rat bastards the benefit of any doubt.

 

[Andalublue]

By using anti-terrorism laws to detain Greenwald's partner, the British authorities have abused their power. Anti-terrorist laws should be used only on those who have committed or are planning violent attacks on civilians, not against the relatives of journalists who have no connection to any terrorist plot. How the British people can put with their laws so clearly being abused I don't understand.

That's like asking how Americans allow Gitmo to stay open. Some things take a lot more effort than a letter to your MP and a march down Whitehall.

 

[napa22]

That's like asking how Americans allow Gitmo to stay open. Some things take a lot more effort than a letter to your MP and a march down Whitehall.

Actually, I don't think these things take as much effort in the British political context as they do in the American context. We are already seeing efforts to review the anti-terrorism laws in the UK, with Labour's shadow home secretary calling for an investigation. American politics, by contrast, is in complete gridlock.