Challenging Schedule 7 - Passwords

Mohammed Rabbani Managing Director of Cage until August 2016. Mr Rabbani is currently the International director of Cage.

The human rights group Cage is preparing to mount a legal challenge to UK anti-terrorism legislation over a refusal to hand over mobile and laptop passwords to border control officials at air terminals, ports and international rail stations. Cage, which campaigns on issues such as torture, discrimination and wrongful imprisonment, is planning to fight the issue as a surveillance v privacy test case. Authorities arrested Muhammad Rabbani, a UK citizen and the international director of Cage, at Heathrow Airport in November. This arrest occurred because Rabbani refused to hand over passwords. Rabbani, 35, has faced detention at least 20 times over the past decade when entering the UK, under schedule 7 of terrorism legislation that grants broad search powers, but this was the first time authorities arrested him. He said he had cooperated as usual and handed over his laptop and mobile phone. On previous occasions, when asked for his passwords, he said he had refused and eventually his devices were returned to him and he was allowed to go. However, there was a recent development this time: when he declined to disclose his passwords, the police arrested him under schedule 7 provisions of the terrorism act and detained him overnight at Heathrow Polar Park police station before granting him bail. He expects to be charged on Wednesday.