Terrifying

I’d like to refer you to this post, on my good friend Osama’s blog, Rolled up Trousers. From there, he links to a story detailing how one actor, who had portrayed the role of a man released from Guantanamo Bay as innocent after two years of detention (what sort of a world allows that go on unchecked? Western values of freedom and liberty? Hello?), was stopped and question by police. Click on the link to the The LIP. It’s compelling reading:

"She called in a male colleague who threateningly told me to give him the phone before gripping my hands and wrestling it from me. He then sat on a table in the room, grinned at me, winked and went through my phone. I protested, but he ignored me and continued to go through my phone. Then a third officer entered, and all three adopted very aggressive stances, threatening to take me to a police station, calling me a 'fucker', moving in very close to my face, pointing and shouting at me to 'shut up and listen'. I complained at being called a fucker. The officer who still had my phone, and who had sworn at me, smiled at me and then said 'now you’re making things up, no one called you that'."

The government has powers to stop, detain and interrogate us at any time, for absolutely no reason at all, with no requirement for any evidence or even motive. And, according to this account, they claim that they can also deny us access to legal assistance for up to 48 hours. I really do find this genuinely terrifying. Every time I fly the thought of being put through something similar to this plays on my mind. This guy handled himself really well; I'm not so sure I could do the same.