Emergency legislation set to be introduced to the UK lower house later on Tuesday to prevent the automatic early release of prisoners convicted of terror-related offenses could be applied retrospectively to approximately 50 inmates currently incarcerated in the country, a national newspaper reported
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2020) Emergency legislation set to be introduced to the UK lower house later on Tuesday to prevent the automatic early release of prisoners convicted of terror-related offenses could be applied retrospectively to approximately 50 inmates currently incarcerated in the country, a national newspaper reported.
According to The Guardian newspaper, the new legislation, which has been proposed by the Conservative government in response to a pair of recent terrorist attacks in London that were committed by two men who served only half their prison sentences for terrorism-related offenses, is part of tougher measures to combat extremism on the UK's streets.
A total of 53 prisoners sentenced for terror crimes were released from UK prisons in 2019, the newspaper stated. The Henry Jackson Society think tank estimated that 11 convicted extremists, who would be eligible for early release under current legislation, could be forced to remain in prison, according to the newspaper.
The new legislation would impact both Islamist and far-right extremists, the newspaper stated.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Justice Secretary Robert Buckland have both pushed for tougher legislation in the wake of the recent knife attacks. On February 3, Buckland pledged new measures that would ensure longer mandatory sentences, extended probation periods and more stringent surveillance of individuals convicted of terrorism offenses.
Speaking on Sunday at the Labour Party's North West regional conference, Shadow Attorney General Shami Chakrabati stated that the current situation was all the government's own making, and called for the government to provide further funding to prisons to bolster staffing numbers and programs to facilitate deradicalization measures.
On February 2, Sudesh Amman stabbed and injured several pedestrians on Streatham High Road, south London, before being shot and killed by police. He had been released from prison on January 23, halfway through a sentence for possessing and disseminating material pertaining to terrorist activities.
Amman's attack followed that of Usman Khan on November 29, who stabbed five people on London Bridge in central London. Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones, two prison advocacy workers, were killed by Khan, who was released on license in 2018 halfway through a 16-year sentence for preparing acts of terrorism. Khan was shot dead by police.
