Today see a protest by amateur and professional photographers in London’s Trafalgar Square following rising tensions between photographers and police over the implementation of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Many photographers feel intimidated by Police as a result of actions to target possible terrorists who may be on reconnaissance missions in areas of Central London including Mayfair, Soho and St James’s and other major cities.
The protesters are echoing the views of the European Court of Human Rights who last week ruled the power to stop and search people without suspicion was indiscriminate and therefore illegal.
It is estimated up to 36,000 people were stopped under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act between April 2009 and June 2009.
John Yates, the head of counter-terrorism at the Metropolitan Police, has stated that Police risk losing public confidence as a result of the tactics they are employing under the controversial law.
Lord Carlile, the government’s independent reviewer of anti-terrorist legislation has publically stated that he believes “section 44 is being used far too often on a random basis without any reasoning behind its use”.
Marc Vallee, one of the photographers behind the protest, said, “Photographers will be exercising their common law right to take a picture in a public place – and they will be doing it collectively. People are fed up about being stopped and they want to challenge a culture that sees photographers as a threat.”
