UK-Terror Laws
Students and staff at Nottingham University are launching a campaign to guarantee the right to academic freedom after accusing the police of carrying out arrests in relation to the possession of alleged 'radical material' used for research.

Two members of the university in central England were released without charge on Monday after being detained in custody for six days under Britain's terror laws.

Both the student and staff member detained were also understood to have recently attended a Civil Liberties Conference discussing the history and future of terror legislation.

Following their release, Nottingham University said the police operation was a "low key" investigation that was "sensitively handled."
But students and staff said there was "fear caused by police presence and investigation into legitimate political activities, the concern of staff and students about the criminalisation of research, the racist and Islamophobic nature of the police action."
The arrests are understood to be the first since the government issued guidelines to effectively target and spy on Muslim students and Islamic groups.

The staff and students have launched a petition, calling for a guaranteed right to academic freedom and an "end to the
criminalisation of political research," according to details obtained by the Muslim News.

The university is also being asked to acknowledge the
"disproportionate nature" of the police response, make a formal complaint to the police and declare its commitment to freedom of speech and freedom of expression on campus.

An academic who is familiar with the arrested student was said to have revealed that his research topic was about contemporary political issues that are "highly relevant to current foreign policy." "The criminalisation of this kind of research is an extremely worrying sign for academic freedom, suggesting sharp limits to what may be researched at university," students warned.