UK may invoke 1351 law
Britain may use a medieval law dating from 1351 to charge citizens with treason if they go to fight with Islamic State insurgents in Iraq and Syria, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said.
Prime Minister David Cameron has warned that IS, whose fighters have seized large areas of Syria and Iraq, pose a grave threat to Britain, while police and intelligence officers say they have seen a rise in potentially deadly plots.
Security officials say some 500 Britons are believed to be fighting in Iraq and Syria, though the true figure could be much greater. Security officials worry that those who return could carry out an attack in Britain.
Hammond said any British citizen who had sworn personal allegiance to IS could have committed an offense under the Treason Act of 1351, which was passed during the reign of English King Edward III.
"We have seen people declaring that they have sworn personal allegiance to the so-called Islamic State," Hammond told Parliament on Thursday.
"That does raise questions about their loyalty and allegiance to this country and about whether the offense of treason could have been committed," he said, adding that he will bring the issue to the attention of Home Secretary Theresa May.
A member of Parliament from the governing Conservatives, Philip Hollobone, said that using the old treason law that singles out those who commit acts of war would be more effective against jihadis than subsequent counterterrorism
(China Daily 10/18/2014 page12)
