Snooping powers ‘needed to jail jihadis’

Alison Saunders, Director of Public Prosecutions

Glenn Copus

12 November 2015

Dangerous terrorists who have fought in Syria will be left “walking the streets” if intelligence agencies and police lose access to vital surveillance data, Britain’s top prosecutor warned today.

Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said information gleaned from computers, phones and emails was playing a crucial role in bringing returning Islamic State extremists to justice — and revealed that there has been an “alarming” rise in the number of terror cases.

She also said the surge in Syria-related cases was so great that the Crown Prosecution Service is having to double the size of its counter-terrorism unit to cope and warned of serious consequences if data from surveillance can no longer be obtained.

Ms Saunders’ comments came in an interview with the Evening Standard and follow the publication by Home Secretary Theresa May of a draft Investigatory Powers Bill designed to update state surveillance powers. It will give Britain’s spies and police a range of powers.

These include the ability to access phone and internet connection records, the right to harvest “bulk data” and the authority to hack computers, phones and other devices. Critics claim that the powers, which are subject to judicial oversight and other safeguards, are too extensive.

But Ms Saunders said the use of evidence gath- ered by surveillance was critical as she added her voice to those of other law enforcement chiefs who support preservation of the powers. “We rely on communications data in a large number of cases and if we didn’t have the data then in some cases we would not be able to prosecute,” she said.

“That would make it particularly difficult in the cases where we are prosecuting people returning from Syria and if we weren’t able to prosecute them they would be on the streets, rather than in custody.”

Ms Saunders highlighted the rising number of terror cases that are being passed to prosecutors by police, adding: “Much of the increase has been people returning from Syria.

“They have been prosecuted for acts preparatory — going to training camps or across to Syria to fight. A lot have documentation in relation to terrorist activities, which is banned by the law.

“In most of the cases we rely on things such as information on their computers — email traffic or texts or calls. So there is a heavy reliance on data communication, social media material. You can get flight itineraries and so on.”

Ms Saunders said the value of such data had been shown by the case of Mashudur Choudhury, 31. He travelled to Syria in 2013 with four men who were later killed fighting, plus another travelling companion, but was jailed for four years on his return because of evidence found online.

“With Choudhury, he was one of six men who went to a training camp in Syria,” she said. “When we looked at the evidence, much was communications data retrieved from his devices.

“Some of it established links to someone who was in Syria and arranged travel and we were able to use all of that and he was eventually convicted.

“Communications data is vital for cases like that. We rely on it not just in terrorism cases but in lots of other cases too — murder, conspiracy to murder, sex offences against children.

“It really helps us because we can track people. You can see where they are, you can see what the traffic is and that’s all evidence which, if you can use it, makes really strong cases.

“If we don’t have the data then that makes it much more difficult to be able to track where people have gone and what they have gone for.

“So if that’s how they communicate with each other, that’s where the evidence is going to be.

“If they keep the terrorist manual on their computers and you can’t access that, they don’t have paper copies.”

Alison Saunders on...

Rape laws

THE DPP vowed to support the implementation of a change in rape legislation to spell out the law on drink and consent — a move recommended in a report for the Met by former top Scottish prosecutor Dame Elish Angiolini.

“We think the law relating to consent is clear but there appear to be some misconceptions and confusion about it,” said Ms Saunders. She also pledged continued efforts to improve the prosecution of sex attackers.

Hate crime

MS SAUNDERS promised a similar drive to help “hate crime” victims.

“Hate crime is one of the next areas I’ll concentrate on,” she said. “It is a big area and is under-reported significantly, particularly disability hate crime.

“People don’t think it’s a crime at first, with the sort of harassment and assaults they get and because they don’t feel the system will take them seriously.”

She said prosecutors are already working to improve the way they helped victims and identified cases. They would be seeking to ensure perpetrators received the heavier sentences available in law. “It’s about prosecutors identifying and flagging them to make sure that if there is an aggravated offence available we charge it and if there is a sentence uplift we ask for it,” she added.

“Nobody should have to put up with crime, particularly aimed at your vulnerabilities or because of who you are. If people don’t want to go via police they can do third party reporting too.

“People should be confident in coming forward. They’ll be taken seriously by police. Prosecutors have now been trained how to identify issues and how to help people through the system.

“These are unacceptable crimes that go to the heart of society. There are too many of them and we know that they are under-reported.”

FGM

ON FEMALE genital mutilation — for which only two people have ever been charged, both unsuccessfully — the DPP admitted that prosecutors were facing continuing difficulties.

She said only one “live” case was currently awaiting a charging decision, though police continued to investigate five others.

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Snooping powers ‘needed to jail jihadis’

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