It is an unprecedented case. And it risks triggering an unprecedented threat to journalism. The UK police have repeatedly tried to obtain the passwords to the phones of the British independent journalist, Richard Medhurst, the first reporter arrested in London under Section 12: his analyses and comments on Israel’s bloodbath in Gaza – which Amnesty International has characterised as genocide – have been interpreted by the police as support for organisations banned from the UK, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The British journalists’ union, the NUJ, and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) publicly condemned his arrest and the use of anti-terrorism laws against journalists “simply for carrying out their work”.
He’s definitely pro-Assad. He’s consistently said sanctions against Assad-led Syria need to be lifted, lied about humanitarian aid from the west not being sent to Syria (it has), denied that Assad’s government used chemical weapons on their own citizens (they provably did), and said that Assad’s government was democratic (lol), secular (lol), and welcoming to all people (lol), whereas the new government is evil. He also said that in kicking out Assad they had chosen to become subservient to Israel and NATO – a position not only completely absurd and pro-Assad, but also dog-whistling the conspiracy theory that Jews are controlling the world.
Medhurst just looks to what western nations think and supports the opposite, regardless of whether they’re right or wrong. He’s a misinformation spreader literally paid by Russia and Iran (through his work for RT and PressTV). He’s no journalist. He’s a tankie.
But like I said, I do believe he should have the right to keep his password to himself if he desires. Doing so should lead to no extra charges.
E: I know Lemmy has a serious tankie problem, but come on. Support of Assad too? Really, Lemmy? Sometimes you’re worse than Reddit.
Not that his position is right or defensible in any way, but saying “become subservient to Israel” when talking about the Middle East isn’t a dog whistle; it’s just a (true or not otherwise) statement of fact. Saying they’re subservient to America would be more accurate, but a number of Arab states can, in fact, be described as subservient to Israel