The ‘Surveillance Society’ Has Led To Many Terrorists Being Imprisoned

'So was there or was there not a plot to bring down airliners? I know what I think. The jury agreed that some of those on trial wanted to commit murder, but couldn’t agree, despite strong evidence, that the targets were airliners. They have not rejected the possibility, and while the lawyers pick the bones out of the messy end to this trial we can still be satisfied with what the “surveillance society” has achieved. Many innocent people, targets of a group of homicidal terrorists, are safely at work, at home or on holiday with their families.

But the terrorists didn’t end up in prison by accident. They didn’t suffer a pang of conscience, give themselves up to the police and throw themselves on the mercy of the courts. They were hunted down by the most sophisticated counter-terrorist bodies in the world, and convicted by one of the oldest judicial systems.

On the evening of August 9, 2006, I was told that a man connected to the British terrorists had been arrested in Pakistan. This was not good news. We were at a critical point in building our case against them. If they got to hear that he had been arrested they might destroy evidence and scatter to the four winds. More worrying still, if they were tipped off to the arrest they might panic and mount a desperate attack.'

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