Met Police raid on journalist over Palestine tweets was illegal, judge rules
A UK journalist has won a victory against the Met Police after the force raided his home and seized a laptop and mobile phone following a complaint over posts on X (formerly Twitter).
Asa Winstanley writes for Palestine-focused website Electronic Intifada and also publishes a Substack called Palestine is Still the Issue.
In October around ten police officers raided his London home and seized his mobile phone and laptop.
This week a judge at the Old Bailey denied the Met’s retrospective request for a Production Order, a rarely used document that empowers police to seize journalistic material.
The force originally seized the material as part of an investigation into alleged offences under the Terrorism Act 2006, which prohibits the promotion of terrorism via internet activity.
According to Winstanley’s own report on his Substack, the Counter Terrorism and Internal Referral Unit gathered 80 pages of screenshots of X posts.
Press Gazette asked Winstanley to share details of the X posts in question and he is currently seeking legal advice as to whether he can pass them on.
He wrote on his Substack site: “I have spent the last 15 years reporting in detail on many pro-Israel organisations in the UK — including the Community Security Trust, which has close ties to both Israeli intelligence agencies and to the British police.”
Winstanley added: “My legal team successfully argued that the police should have instead asked to speak to me, rather than raiding my home and seizing the devices I use for my journalism…
“There was no need for them to access private devices and documents simply to confirm the author of a public Twitter account. Such access would have endangered my contacts and violated my duty to protect my journalistic sources.”
Winstanley’s solicitor Tayab Ali, from Bindmans, said: “This ruling is a resounding victory for press freedom and the rule of law. The actions of the police, raiding a journalist’s home under the guise of counter-terrorism, were not only unlawful but a grave threat to the democratic principle that journalists must be able to work without fear of state harassment.
“The court recognised that the warrants were unlawfully obtained, the police conduct was unjustified, and their attempt to retrospectively legitimise the raid failed. This case was not about national security, it was about silencing a journalist who had made comments on the situation in Gaza.
“The police acted improperly by applying for warrants at the Magistrates Court where there simply is no power to retain journalistic and privileged material and despite repeated warnings refused to concede they had acted unlawfully.
“The police should now urgently review why this happened and what policy decisions led to this unlawful violation on journalistic freedom.”
Winstanley was supported by the National Union of Journalists.
NUJ general secretary Laura Davison said: “This ruling resoundingly affirms journalists’ right to protect sources as enshrined in law. The seizure of our member’s property was a brazen attempt to intimidate journalists working in the public interest.”
Winstanley said: “Thank you to the NUJ for standing by me and protecting the important principle of journalists’ duty to protect their sources.
“The police must now drop their criminal investigation into my social media posts.”
The Met Police has yet to respond to a Press Gazette request for comment.
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