The
OXFORD STUDENT Friday 3rd November 2017
oxfordstudent.com
Vol. 81, No. 5
Uni worker suspended for terrorism link Anisha Faruk Deputy News Editor
An Oxford University non-academic worker has been suspended after material emerged online showing he had links to Islamic terrorism. No arrest has taken place. The University alerted Thames Valley Police when it was informed earlier this month about the workers arrest and detention in Italy in 2012 and an internal investigation began into the worker’s background. It was alleged the worker, who is in his mid-30s and cannot be named for legal reasons, was involved in disseminating extremist material. He denied the charges, but spent two and a half years in prisons in Italy. He had reportedly sent emails with links to download operational manuals on how to carry out terror ‘attacks and guerrilla techniques’. He denied committing any offence. The arrest was part of a wider investigation into jihadi extremism by Italian authorities and the Cagliari State Police. One report said the worker was arrested when he was about to leave the country to go to Rabat, Morocco – he was in a relationship with a Moroccan woman at the time. He purportedly converted to Islam after studying Arabic. He is also alleged to have changed his name, and claimed that he wanted to “join the war-fighting formations of the ‘Holy War’” in Afghanistan. It was alleged that, along with
others, he was considered to be a significant connection between international jihadists and the Italian extremist network. It was also suggested the worker had served a prison sentence in ‘institutes’ across Italy before his release in 2014. He moved to England and was later employed by Oxford University. Helen King, principal of St Anne’s College and a chairwoman of the university’s security committee, will lead a ‘review’ of the circumstances around the case and will then make ‘recommendations’. The revelation of the suspension follows the news that 21-year-old Jack Letts, from Oxford, has been accused of being a member of socalled Islamic State, according to officials in the Kurdish region of Syria. Dubbed ‘Jihadi Jack’, Letts converted to Islam while he was attending Cherwell comprehensive school in Oxford as a teenager, travelling to Jordan in 2014. He was in IS controlled land in Syria by the autumn of the same year. Letts previously said he opposed IS and his parents deny that he went to Syria to fight for IS. Upon leaving IS territory, he was captured by the Kurdish-led YPG – a militia fighting IS – as a prisoner of war. In a statement, the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria – a self-declared autonomous region – said Letts had been imprisoned in Qamishli in northern Syria. Lett’s case is reportedly still under investigation by local police.
Steve Daniels
Comment
Is there really a “social apartheid” in Oxford admissions? p.8
Brexit MP’s letter to vicechancellors criticised by academics Anisha Faruk Deputy News Editor
A priest is unimpressed with some proposed rule changes at the History Faculty’s reenactment of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to a church door, which beg the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago this week. Photo: Frances Livesy
“Women can and will kick balls”: spotlighting Oxford’s female football team p.32
Sport
Art & Lit
Oxford academics have come together in criticism of Conservative MP Christopher HeatonHarris after he sent a letter to all UK university vice-chancellors requesting the names of all lecturers “involved in the teaching of European affairs, with particular reference to Brexit.” The government whip and MP for Daventry is a member of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of Conservative MPs. The MP was heavily criticised by academics and politicians with accusations that he was conducting a “McCarthyite” witch hunt. Helena Kennedy QC, principal of Mansfield College, said she believes “Mr Heaton-Harris has a rather narrow understanding of what happens in a university.” “The nature of academic discourse and inquiry is to examine issues from all sides. If Oxford did not do that, how come it produces politicians across the spectrum?” Former Labour Cabinet minister and Oxford academic, Lord Andrew Adonis commented: “Universities and academics should simply ignore this implied threat to their freedom.” Downing Street distanced itself from the letter, saying that Mr Heaton-Harris had been acting in his capacity as an MP and not as a representative of government. The Eurosceptic MP tweeted in response to criticism: “To be absolutely clear, believe in free speech in our universities and in having an open and vigorous debate on Brexit.”
Explore six exhibitions in the 2017 Venice Biennale p.17