UK treason law to be changed to help prosecute terrorists

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to amend the UK’s treason laws to prosecute citizens who travel abroad to join terrorist groups such as Daesh. (File/AFP)

• 650-year-old law, last used in 1946, to be amended to include membership of groups such as Daesh
• People may be asked to give reasons for traveling to “hotspots” or face prosecution

LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to amend the UK’s treason laws to prosecute citizens who travel abroad to join terrorist groups such as Daesh.
The laws, which have been in place since 1351 and were last used to prosecute Nazi sympathizer William Joyce in 1946, have been described as currently “unworkable” by MPs with regard to jihadists returning to the UK from Iraq and Syria.
Proposals to reform the 650-year-old law include the widening of the definitions of what constitutes an “enemy” and “acts of betrayal” to apply to non-state actors, including terrorist organizations. 
Perhaps more controversially, there are also proposals to force people traveling to areas known to host hostile groups, or “hotspots,” to provide legitimate reasons for doing so in order to avoid prosecution.
“It’s something that various countries have — a system that says it isn’t necessarily legal to travel to a particular country or region,” a Home Office source told The Times.
“It’s about demonstrating a good legitimate reason, and very few people are going to southern Iraq or Syria because of the weather in August.”
Another source told the paper: “At the moment, for people returning to the UK, you (the government) need to prove they have done something bad. This bill will reverse that. Those returning will need to prove they weren’t doing something bad, otherwise they’ll face prosecution.”
The changes, should they be confirmed, will be unveiled in the upcoming queen’s speech to Parliament on May 11, an event during which the government lays out its legislative agenda.
“We make no apology for doing whatever is necessary to keep the UK safe from those who pose a threat,” a government spokesman said.
“The individuals who remain in the conflict zone include incredibly dangerous individuals. They turned their back on this country to support a group (Daesh) that butchered and beheaded innocent civilians, including British citizens.”
The UK has struggled with prosecutions of suspected Daesh members returning from the Middle East in recent years through lack of compelling evidence of wrongdoing.
According to Home Office statistics, 900 British citizens were considered threats to national security after traveling to join terrorist groups since 2011.
Of those, around 400 have since returned to the UK, but as few as 10 percent have been prosecuted; 200 are thought to be dead, with many more currently detained in prison camps across the region.
Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, chair of the House of Commons’ Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “We need tough sanctions for betrayal. We can’t wash our hands of those who spread terror abroad, but can only deal with them if we’re willing to act and prosecute those who’ve betrayed our communities.”