You may have seen Liberty’s Director of Policy on Newsnight last night highlighting the danger of powers to stop, search and detain without suspicion.

		You may have seen Liberty’s Director of Policy on Newsnight last night highlighting the danger of powers to stop, search and detain without suspicion.  The focus on this issue follows the detention of David Miranda at Heathrow airport on Sunday under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Chilling and alarming as it is, we’re not surprised.  For many in Britain, Schedule 7 has become a byword for racial profiling, provocative and derogatory questioning and routine hassle when entering or leaving the country. The power allows for people to be detained for 9 hours, fingerprinted, strip searched and asked questions without a right of access to a lawyer. Refusing to comply is a criminal offence. Schedule 7 contravenes our basic rights to liberty and respect for private life. That’s why Liberty is already fighting the abuse of this power in the courts. Our client was detained in November 2010 after he had flown back to Heathrow via Bahrain. He was detained for more than four hours. He was asked about his salary, his voting habits and the costs of his Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. They went through his possessions with a fine tooth comb; they made copies of his credit cards; they kept his mobile phone and SIM cards which were only returned eight days later (at his own expense). This man had never in his life been arrested or detained by the police. Our client’s story is not unique. Actor Adeel Skhtar is one of the thousands of people who has been held under this offensive legislation. He has started a petition asking the Government to rethink its position. Sign the petition here. The repeal of this power is long overdue. It has long alienated and humiliated sections of our community and has now seemingly been used to bully and intimidate a journalist’s partner. With your help, Liberty will continue to challenge this legislation in Parliament and through the courts. Keep an eye on our website for further developments, and you can also follow us on twitter @libertyhq.  If you are not already a member of Liberty please support us in our work by joining here.  For detailed information about Schedule 7, how it operates and why it needs reform, you can read Liberty’s response to a recent Home Office review here.