“Let’s look at what had Hammaad Munshi is actually said to have done. According to all accounts of the case, Munshi surfed the internet and is said to have downloaded material about the making of napalm and other explosives. He also had ‘al-Qa’ida propaganda videos’ on his PC.
“So what? That’s freedom folks. Just think how many British teenagers have got hold of the Anarchist’s Cookbook over the years and how much easier the internet has made it to seek out and read such material. How many of them went on to become terrorists? And if people want to download videos of US army tanks being blasted apart by Iraqi resistance fighters then that is surely their own business, right? Where have all the ‘free speech’ warriors gone now?”
Inayat Bunglawala examines the conviction of “Britain’s youngest terrorist”.