The Australian Federal Police have started a book club. It’s not like other book clubs, though, with Margaret Atwood, red wine, cheese and other bourgeois comforts: the Feds seem to have a more interesting view of fun. The ABC reports:
A Melbourne university student says the Australian Federal Police (AFP) forced him to answer questions because he borrowed library books about terrorism and suicide bombings.
The Muslim convert, known as Abraham, says he was targeted by investigators while borrowing the books for PhD research at Monash University into the role of Islam in martyrdom.
One of two things has happened. Either the AFP has access to library borrowing records at the Monash Uni library (and, implicitly, other libraries), or someone working at the Monash Uni library rang the anti-terrorism hotline and dobbed this student in for borrowing books. Neither option is particularly palatable.
What’s the actual legal position on this in Australia? Librarians have been absolutely wonderful in campaigning against the relevant provisions of the American Patriot Act and in civil disobedience over turning over records of what people borrow. Librarians are the goodness.
Book clubs are very sexy at the moment. However, I was browsing at a certain Brisbane bookshop one Thursday night and noticed an in house book club meeting (complete with chards) where the attitudes and accents would have fueled a thousand denunciations of inner city elitists!
Or he’s making it up. Or there is more to the story.
During Gulf War 1 someone I know (a physics student) did a vacation scholarship at Lucas Heights. During this time he had an argument with a flatmate about what the risks the reactor actually posed, and to settle it he went to the Library at Lucas Heights and asked the librarian to help him find some of the relevant documents, which they did - going into a secured room to get them. He photo-copied and took them home. Over the weekend he got a worried call from his mother who’d heard on the radio that secret documents had been stolen from there. Wasn’t too concerned since he had obtained them via the librarian, but on arrival for work next monday was taken away by the Federal police for questioning.
One of the first things they said to him was that they knew he was a memeber of Greenpeace. Are you involved in any other subversive organizations?
fancy doing a Phd and actually wanting to do some research on the subject!
Is the AFP as incompetent as this indicates?
Like Amanda I suspect there is a bit more to this. I don’t know about Monash, but at many libraries stack requests are anonymous, and at my uni library records of borrowing are only kept until the books are returned.
A colleague of mine once asked whether she could access her own borrowing records, to find out whether she’d looked at anything she’d left out of her bibliography, and was told that the system did not keep the information on record. That would, thankfully, make intelligence gathering a bit difficult.
Still, book-dobbing is an unnerving idea.
“Either the AFP has access to library borrowing records at the Monash Uni library (and, implicitly, other libraries), or someone working at the Monash Uni library rang the anti-terrorism hotline and dobbed this student in for borrowing books.’
Or (3): the books he borrowed from the Monash Library weren’t the reason for the AFP interviewing him.
Geoff on the world today the said Phd student said that the reason the AFP wanted to taslk with him was because of the books he took out!
I’m sure he did Homer.
I’ve been doing some digging on this issue this morning, in response to a seemingly unrelated journalist’s request for information about dobbing in students doing suspicious subjects etc. I think releasing library records would breach Victorian privacy legislation, though there may be an exemption for police investigations. Ditto enrolment records. However there is now increased centralised information at DEST about enrolments and DIMIA has information about overseas students.
The student’s lecturer seems to believe him.
University privacy issues aside, I don’t see any great problem in the AFP having a chat with people who fit risk profiles. This can quickly eliminate them as suspects.
Can I get out a book on terrorism and get an AFP file? Id probably have to say Alah Auakbar a few times at the desk too.
How exciting.
I guess they do need to keep tabs on this kinda thing, but it strikes me as overkill in this circumstance. The guy didnt have any previous history and no other reason to be considered a threat. Unless of course the caller, if there was one, trumped it up a lot - which is rather sad.
Like Andrew Norton, I don‚Äôt see any great problem in the AFP “having a chat” with people who fit risk profiles. But Liam’s post reported that the student was *forced* to answer AFP questions. If this is true, it is worrying indeed, as it overturns about eight centuries of law, re a suspect’s right to silence, and the privilege against self-incrimination.
I think I’m researching safe subjects like Fukuyama, the end of history, Hegel and war. Could almost sound like a neo-con thesis! Phew.
My theory is the AFP would not recognise somebody as a terrorist who had two crisscrossing bandoliers of ammunition across the chest. Proof? They couldn’t even find the slimeball who leaked one of Wilkie’s reports from DFAT.
And Paul W, there is a big problem with AFP ”having a little chat” with Phd students who are reading certain books, the advice is to call your lawyer but in the meantime, unless they are invoking the terrorist act of questioning people who might know of terrorist activity, the laws relating to not incriminating one self requires you to tell to AFP to f*** off on that score.
That these Inspector Clousou type idiots are seemingly reduced to checking the reading material of academic study on mindless fishing expeditions flies against reason, practicalities and the even the stupid laws. We are seeing an Oz version of the so called ”Patriot Acts” and soon enough Howard will want to give these goons carte blanche shoot to kill orders as well.
Nic, why is it necessary that ‘they’ keep tabs on this sort of thing?
Use libraries much? Use the internet much?
Looks like someone was alert and alarming - the AFP says they received information from “a member of the public”.
In the case of tips, I don’t think you can blame the police. They get a tip, they have to run it down diligently. At least, as a citizen I hope that’s how it works. It’s unfortunate for the individuals involved (and having been questioned, frisked and searched by police on the street on the basis of being sniffed suspicious by a big scary dog I know it ain’t pleasant) but, I don’t see the alternative.