This is the story of a Muslim man who was stopped at a British airport under a controversial terrorism law.
His story is detailed by human rights group Cageprisoners which has launched a website (Schedule7stories.com) to document the human misery behind “Schedule 7” stops at British airports.
Schedule 7 was introduced as part of the 2000 Terrorism Act and gives the police the right to stop and search people at airports, to fingerprint them and take their DNA, and to hold them for up to 9 hours without legal representation.
More than 70,000 people were stopped and questioned under the Schedule 7 law last year and although most of them were white a hugely disproportionate number were ethnic minorities or Muslims.
Case study
“I was travelling to France alone when I was stopped at Stansted Airport. I was told to move to the side at the airport and was eventually taken to a police station. I spent roughly half an hour at the immigration desk in the airport, another hour in a separate room in the airport and then up to 7 hours in the station.
“My phone was taken and I was asked if I wanted to inform anyone of my arrest. I was not allowed to call my family in France and only after some time they said they would speak to colleagues of mine. I was patted down and my luggage was taken. None of my possessions were kept by them.
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“I was told I was being detained under Schedule 8 and that I could contact a lawyer but that they wouldn’t wait for one to be present in order to question me. My lawyer’s number was in my phone, but they wouldn’t allow me to use it so they said they’d call him. I was asked to sign a form at the beginning and at the end of the ordeal.
“They claimed they needed to buy a camera but it seemed to be a tactic to delay the interview process to run background checks. They said to the lawyer that they needed to buy a camera to explain why I spent so long in the airport interview room just waiting around. There was no camera for hours but when the lawyer came in they pulled it out.
“I was asked what Mosque I prayed at, what school of thought I followed as well as who inspires me. They asked me if I thought Muslims had the right to defend themselves and enquired as to why I had a beard. Questions were put to me about my ethnicity, my family and their beliefs, my friends and my workplace as well as the lives of my current flatmates and a friend I used to live with.
“I was provided with facilities to pray and offered food and drink. The chair I was sitting in was very uncomfortable and the room was hot. I was treated respectfully but they were threatening when it came to not answering questions which were not relevant.
“They never identified themselves but the man in charge gave a first name. My rights were briefly explained to me. SO15 police conducted the interview. My fingerprints were taken, a mouth swab was done and pictures were taken. I have not been asked to provide information to them since, but a few days later, the French seemed to have been alerted of my arrival
“I have been stopped before but it didn’t last long. I think I was stopped because I am a young Muslim and they thought I was south-asian. I ended up missing my flight to France. They told me that they believed I wasn’t involved in any preparation of any act of terrorism after my fingerprints were taken, a mouth swab was done and pictures were taken.”
