UK Muslims Blast "Flawed" Terror Glorification Bill

"The overwhelming majority of the Muslim community opposes the ill-considered measures in the current Terrorism Bill relating to the undefined crime of ‘glorification of terrorism’," the groups said in a press release posted on the Wes site of the umbrella Muslim Council of Britain (MCB).

They asserted that the glorification provisions will criminalize people who defend the legitimate rights of people under occupation or those voicing support for legitimate resistance to illegal military occupation in places like occupied Palestine.

"The Terrorism Bill is seriously flawed because it is built on a definition of terrorism that includes legitimate armed struggles against violent autocratic regimes," read the statement.

"It is impossible to justify laws that would have criminalized the supporters of Nelson Mandela, and that could put behind bars opponents of the current odious regimes in, say, Burma, Chechnya and North Korea."

Earlier this month, the British parliament backed an amendment to the anti-terror bill, making glorification of terrorism a crime.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke has watered down the glorification provision after harsh criticism from the opposition and human rights activists.

People will be charged with glorifying terrorism only if it can be demonstrated they intended to encourage their audience to commit terrorist attacks.

The original bill read: "A person commits an offence if he glorifies, exalts, or celebrates an act of terrorism whether in the past or in the future."

The new bill further grants sweeping powers for police, including detaining terror suspects before charges are laid and closure of places of worship being used by alleged extremists.

British Muslims, estimated at some 1.8 million people, had denounced the grisly London attacks which killed 52 people, saying there was no justification whatsoever to take innocent lives.

Mistrust

The Muslim groups, including the Muslim Association of Britain, Islamic Society of Britain and Association of Muslim Schools, warned that criminalizing non-violent behaviors would have serious ramifications.

"Far from assisting the fight against terrorism, this will result in a loss of trust between the Muslim community and the police, leading to a reduced flow of important information and intelligence," they said.

The groups said that the Muslim minority has made clear its determination to work with the authorities to stamp out terror, citing calls by Muslim leaders to open a public inquiry into the events that led to the terrorist 7/7 attacks.

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