Federal police quiz Muslim over library books
By Clay Lucas and Julia Medew July 26, 2005 - 4:46PM The AGE A Monash University lecturer has warned students that studying terrorism could make them subject to federal police investigation. Terrorism expert David Wright-Neville, who now works on Monash University's global terrorism research project, told a packed lecture theatre of second-year politics students that simply showing interest in terrorism could make them a target. "You need to know that if you are taking this subject, you too are under scrutiny,'' he said. The students were studying terrorism and violence in global politics offered by the arts faculty. Dr Wright-Neville's comments come after a Monash University student told ABC radio he was questioned by federal police over books he had bought and borrowed from the university library. He said he agreed with the student's claim that he had been unfairly targeted because he was Muslim. The student, named only as "Abraham" said he was singled out of a group of about 40 students who had previously specialised in terrorism and martyrdom. He was suspected to be a national security threat and interviewed by a federal police officer at his home last week. "Last Thursday, I was sleeping, my wife came in at about 10 o'clock and said there's an Australia (sic) Federal Police officer at the door asking about some book purchases I'd made on terrorism, my readings on terrorism," he said. The student said no explanation for the interview was given and he did not know if he had been previously listened to or watched. "I couldn't ascertain obviously who they were or what information they had. But considering the AFP officer was asking about my library books I've been reading, books I'd purchased, obviously they've had access to either my library records," he said. Dr Wright-Neville said although other students had not been questioned, they needed to know there was a risk. "All students, if they're going to be studying this subject, need to be aware that they might also be targeted by the authorities. Students have a right to go about their study and research without that sort of interference in their private affairs,'' he said. The student, who converted to Islam two years ago, had been targeted because he had a Muslim name, Dr Wright-Neville said. "Hopefully the Muslim community won't feel they're being unnecessarily targeted because of this. In terms of counter-terrorism we need a co-operative relationship with the (Muslim) community. This kind of random targeting might work against that,'' he said. "These books were not bought under the counter in a brown paper bag. They were books bought from university bookshops. They were scholarly investigations into the phenomenon of terrorism. The books begin with the idea, as did this student, that terrorism is an abhorrent form of behaviour that we need to understand.'' The lecturer said the student was one of many to have shown interest in the subject in recent years. "Young people are interested in understanding this phenomenon, and he was one of those young people, drawing on mainstream research and scholars to see what their insights were, and he's been targeted for this reason,'' he said. Dr Wright-Neville said he would have been hard-pressed to get 20 students into a terrorist class before the last four years. Now his classes were packed. "Hopefully students will have reason to get bored and move off to other areas,'' he said. A federal police spokeswoman defended the investigation saying information they had received on the man "warranted further inquiries". "The AFP conducts inquiries into allegations of criminal activity irrespective of any person's ethnicity or religious beliefs," she said. She said federal police had been meeting with Australia's Muslim communities. "As a result of recent events, the AFP has met with Islamic leaders across the country to maintain ongoing communication with Muslim communities and provide clarity surrounding the AFP's role in investigating crimes, and provide assurance that the AFP is not prejudiced in its application of the law," she said. "This is part of a long-term strategy to create open channels of communication with community groups and engage their services to provide cultural-awareness training to AFP members." The student was no longer considered of interest to police and no further action would be taken, she said. - theage.com.au [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. 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