LONDON: Ministers in the UK government are planning to expand the country’s treason laws to prosecute people who aid a state or organization in war against Britain.
The move looks to target Islamists who traveled to Syria to join Daesh during the country’s civil war, The Times reported.If successful, the expansion of the treason laws would overturn 650-year-old legal norms in the country.
Britain’s 1351 Treason Act is one of the oldest pieces of legislation in the country.It was last used in 1945 to convict William Joyce, dubbed Lord Haw-Haw, who broadcasted pro-Nazi Germany radio shows during the Second World War. The proposed revision, which would see life sentences handed to the convicted, will apply to those who reside in the UK as well as British citizens around the world.It follows long-term attempts by newly appointed Security Minister Tom Tugendhat to revise Britain’s treason laws, enabling the prosecution of former Daesh fighters and associates.Tugendhat argued in a 2018 report that outdated UK laws make it unfeasible to prosecute figures including Shamima Begum, the 23-year-old so-called “Daesh bride,” as well as members of the “Beatles” terror cell, who were subsequently imprisoned in the US this year.Begum, who traveled to Syria aged 15, had her UK citizenship stripped in 2019 over concerns that she would return to Britain and avoid prosecution.About 900 British citizens have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join terror groups since 2011.Of that figure, about 200 are believed to have died in conflict, while more than 300 are estimated to still be in the Middle East, including many women and children.But about 400 citizens eventually returned to Britain, of whom only 10 percent have been prosecuted, leading to concerns among the security establishment.Tugendhat’s proposal has been met with some criticism, including from Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, who warned that the overhaul to the treason laws could “pit the British government against an official rebellion.”Baroness Williams of Trafford, former security minister, also warned that the new legislation would risk “glamorizing” Britain’s enemies.
