George Galloway claims airport stop was ‘fishing expedition’ by police
By Margaret Davis and Rebecca Black, PA
George Galloway has accused police of stopping him at Gatwick Airport as a pretext for “a fishing expedition” on his phone and laptop.
The 71-year-old and his wife Putri Gayatri Pertiwi are threatening legal action after they were stopped on Saturday after flying to the UK from Moscow via Dubai.
Former MP Mr Galloway said the questions he was asked by investigators were “generic musings” that he claims were an excuse to seize and analyse the couple’s devices.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, he said, “This was no interview. None of the questions was specific in any way.
No specific question at all was asked of me beyond generic musings that I now believe were merely a pretext for ... the seizing of our devices to go on a fishing expeditionGeorge Galloway
“I fully expected to be asked about something I’d done, I was not. I expected to be asked about something I’d said, I was not. Something I’d written, I was not.
“No specific question at all was asked of me beyond generic musings that I now believe were merely a pretext for … the seizing of our devices to go on a fishing expedition.”
Mr Galloway said Britain has fallen into a vortex “in which freedom of speech, freedom of expression, is increasingly threatened” and told journalists: “I’ve never been more angry.”
The couple claim the stop breached their human rights and are threatening legal action against various agencies.
Ms Pertiwi said she had not slept or eaten since the “ordeal”, which she described as being “thrown into a black hole”.
She said police asked her about a Palestinian flag design painted on her index fingernail.
At the press conference in Belfast, solicitor Kevin Winters said the Galloways were subjected to “a frightening interrogation procedure conducted by armed police officers who proceeded to ask them questions which at times ranged from the sublime to the outright ridiculous, including queries about China, Gaza and Russia”.
He went on: “On any analysis of such questioning, there was nothing put to them which could be remotely described as evidence of ‘hostile activity’.
“We can state with confidence that none of the questions posed had anything to do with terrorism.”
Mr Winters criticised the “draconian” law used to stop the Galloways, under which staying silent can count against you.
The stop was “a contrived, politically-motivated investigation undertaken with the aim of humiliating, undermining and ultimately embarrassing Mr and Mrs Galloway,” he told journalists.
He claimed there was no lawful basis to stop them and called the stop “a barely concealed ruse to get their phones and their IT equipment”.
Mr Winters said: “Today we are issuing pre-action protocol correspondence against the relevant agencies engaged in the operation which was overseen by Counter Terrorism Policing South East.
“It remains unclear who exactly was ultimately responsible for overall decision-making but that will emerge shortly in the course of this legal action.”
It is claimed one interviewer said he was connected to the security service and Mr Winters said the legal team is considering applying to the Investigatory Powers tribunal to find out if MI5 or MI6 were involved.
Mr Winters added: “Detaining George Galloway in a bid to try and silence him because of robustly-expressed political views which are in many ways uncomfortable to those in authority will simply fail.
“If nothing else, it’ll only serve to redouble his efforts. He fully expects that those who planned Saturday’s actions ought to rue the day that they did so.”
The Metropolitan Police did not name the couple but said: “We can confirm that on Saturday September 27, counter-terrorism officers at Gatwick Airport stopped a man in his 70s and a woman in her 40s under schedule three of the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.
“Neither of them were arrested and they were allowed on their way.”