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Islamist or far right, terrorist prisoners should remain behind bars if there is the slightest suspicion they could still pose a risk
The British government last week very sensibly moved to make sure dangerous terrorist prisoners cannot be released halfway through their sentences to maim and murder innocent members of the public. In emergency legislation tabled in Parliament after two Islamists launched bloody attacks over the past few months having both been let out of jail early, UK government ministers sought to prevent extremists from being set free prior to serving at least two-thirds of their sentence. Even then, cases would need to be referred to the Parole Board for consideration before an inmate could be freed, according to the draft legislation. Under British law as it stands, terrorist suspects are automatically released from jail halfway through their sentences even if authorities believe they could still pose a threat.
The unveiling of the proposed new law prompted some commentators to complain that simply locking up terrorists and throwing away the key is no way to deal with radicalised individuals, as is often the case whenever stricter sentencing for these types of offences is floated as an idea. In reality though, while the suggested new measures may be a start, they go nowhere near far enough.
While the multiple terror attacks the UK endured throughout 2017 were not enough to force any meaningful change, one need only look at the events of the past few months to see how desperately reform of current legislation is needed. In November of last year, an Islamist extremist who had been let out of jail early after being convicted of plotting to launch attacks on several London landmarks stabbed two people to death while attending a conference on rehabilitating offenders in Fishmongers' Hall near London Bridge.
If it were not for the bravery of members of the public, who tackled Usman Khan before armed police arrived on the scene and shot him dead, it is likely that many more victims would have lost their lives. Khan was handed an indeterminate prison sentence for "public protection" with a minimum jail term of eight years after he was convicted of a range of terrorist offences in 2012, including plotting an attack on the London Stock Exchange. Despite this, he was freed in December 2018, less than a year before he launched his deadly attack.
Just months later, another Islamist extremist stabbed two people in the London suburb of Streatham after being released halfway through a terror-related prison sentence just days earlier. Sudesh Amman was shot dead by a police officer who was part of team keeping him under surveillance due to worries about the danger he posed. Amman was set free after being jailed for possessing documents containing terrorist information and disseminating terrorist publications. If nothing else, the fact the 20-year-old jihadist was released from custody despite being considered so dangerous that he required police surveillance demonstrated just how wrong-headed current UK law is.
How can it be the case that a potentially violent extremist can be let out of prison when he is considered such a threat that he requires a team of detectives to monitor his movements? While it is of course a good thing that officers were on hand to neutralise Amman after he launched his attack, would it not have been better for all concerned if he was not been freed in the first place?
Over the approaching months, scores of convicted terrorists will be coming up for release in Britain, which is one of the reasons the UK government is so keen to push through its new legislation as soon as possible. But while the new law might buy ministers some breathing space by keeping dangerous extremists off the streets in the short term, all it effectively does is kick the problem into the long grass. Even if some extremists are forced to serve the whole of their tariff behind bars, there will be no guarantee they will not hold the same views that inspired their original crimes once they are eventually released from jail. This will be the case whether the offender of is an Islamist or a member of a far-right organisation, although the former group is by some margin a more worrying concern in the UK at present.
As such, the law must act accordingly. A system under which terrorists are handed determinate sentences is no longer fit for purpose, as has been demonstrated repeatedly not only in the UK but also elsewhere. Members of the public deserve to be protected from dangerous extremists, which means none should be allowed to walk the streets until any suspicion that they might pose a risk has been completely discounted. The long and short of the matter is that so long as those harbouring dangerous extremist attitudes are not allowed back on the streets, their chances of acting out their ideological impulses will be much diminished, and you and I will feel safer going about our business without the fear of being stabbed in the neck by a convicted terrorist whose rightful place is behind bars.