A TOP anti-terror lawyer has warned that Jihadi Brides should be treated as harshly as terrorist husbands.
In a speech about terror laws Jonathan Hall QC said the law as it stands is too quick to judge women who married ISIS fighters, like Shamima Begum as “passive victims.”
Mr Hall, who is the independent reviewer of terror legislation, appointed by the Home Office, is also conducting a review in the way in which agencies like the police, probation and security services investigate and monitor terrorists – known as Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (Mappa).
Speaking at a think tank event in Parliament last night he said: “Dividing overseas travellers into a cohort of fierce Foreign Terrorist Fighters and Jihadi brides is too crude.
As there are different terrorists, so there are different individuals who went to join Da’esh.
Calling all women Jihadi brides by portraying them as passive victims of males in some cases risks underplaying female agency; the law does not quite deal with those who provide important moral but not material support.”
He also calls for new laws banning execution videos, and making withhold passwords during a terror investigation a specific offence at the Henry Jackson Society event.
The current laws do not do enough in deterring individuals from refusing to allow access to information on their devices.
Although police do have some powers to prosecute people who withhold access to devices, Mr Hall suggests a new law should be created to specifically prosecute those who withhold access to devices in connection with terror offences.
He said he was surprised to find out that possession of torture of execution videos was not already illegal, adding: It is possible that a model based on the extreme pornography offence would provide a possible framework for identifying the sort of material whose very possession should be an offence.
Following the recent London Bridge terror attack, where released terrorist Usman Khan killed Jack Merritt , 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, while out on a tag Mr Hall said it is impossible to guard against all risks.
He added: there is no magic test for risk at the point of release which means that one should be cautious about minimising a trial judge’s assessments of risk and seriousness when passing sentence.
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