After interviewing and holding a French publisher under the UK’s Terrorism Act, the London Metropolitan Police have come under fire from writers, journalist unions, and campaigners. Ernest Moret, international rights manager for best-selling science fiction author Alain Damasio and Editions La Fabrique, was detained by police on his way to the London Book Fair on Monday night. Moret was detained by police at London’s St. Pancras station for questioning under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, according to a joint statement released by Editions La Fabrique and the British publishing firm Verso Books.
Moret was detained by police at London’s St. Pancras station for questioning under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act, according to a joint statement released by Editions La Fabrique and the British publishing firm Verso Books. A Metropolitan Police definition of “preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism” allows police officers the authority to stop, interview, and detain anyone on suspicion that they were involved in such activities. According to the publishers’ statement, the police said Moret participated in rallies in France against a contentious pension reform. As French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed through a largely unpopular plan that would raise the retirement age by two years, the country has been shaken by a surge of protests in recent months.
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In a joint statement, the French and British governments said, “The police officers claimed that Ernest had participated in demonstrations in France as a justification for this act—a quite remarkably inappropriate statement for a British police officer to make and which seems to clearly indicate complicity between French and British authorities on this matter.” The publishers said that Moret was taken into custody and taken to a police station after he refused to surrender his phone and passcodes. When they continued, “We consider these actions to be outrageous and unjustifiable infringements of basic principles of the freedom of expression and an example of the abuse of anti-terrorism laws,” I knew they were onto something.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the United Kingdom was one of the groups who spoke out against Moret’s detention. “The arrest of Ernest Moret is extremely concerning,” said Pamela Morton, a spokesman for the NUJ. “It seems extraordinary that the British police have acted in this way, using terrorism legislation to arrest the publisher who was here on legitimate business for the London Book Fair.” The London Police Service did not specifically name Moret, but they did say they detained a 28-year-old man “on suspicion of wilfully obstructing a Schedule 7 examination” after stopping him under the Terrorism Act. The AFP news agency reported that, later on Tuesday, police confirmed he had been freed on bond.
