18/12/18
Egypt journalist detained in public loo, ‘beaten’ by police at Edinburgh Airport
At 4pm on Thursday 14 December Egyptian journalist AbdulRahman Ezz was prevented from boarding his flight to France from Edinburgh Airport where he intended to cover the yellow vest demonstrations in Paris. Waiting for him at the door of the plane was a policeman wearing civilian uniform who asked for a brief word before he continued to board. “Have I done something wrong?” he asked. Ezz had been through a similar ordeal last year when he was detained on a flight from Istanbul for six hours. His camera, phone and computer were confiscated and not returned to him for a week. “It’s no problem,” replied the policeman, leading him aside and gesturing towards another woman. “Myself and my colleague just have some questions, come to this room.” He went on to inform Ezz that the interview would be held under the Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act Law 2000, which has been described by advocacy group Liberty as a broad and intrusive power to stop individuals at airports without even suspecting the person has been involved in terrorism. [ read more ]