now we hand over the floor to Richard medhurst my name is Richard medur and I'm an accredited journalist from the United Kingdom uh I became the first journalist in Britain to be arrested under section 12 of the terrorism Act of 2000 um when I flew into heo six police officers came to meet me at the entrance of the aircraft uh they were mostly in plain clothes no ID uh not that I can remember anyway and all of my journalistic equipment was seized microphones wired wireless headphones uh you name it and um I was placed in solitary confinement uh held for up to 24 almost 24 hours and uh in communicado so I I was not allowed to speak to family I was explicitly told you're not allowed to speak to them and I could only speak to a lawyer after they had contacted a lawyer which you know in in that moment for a couple of hours did not seem very certain um given that they were accusing me of something so big um and you know the the conditions were just atrocious I mean this was you could liken it to a dungeon it's like a toilet basically there's you know no natural light no windows it smells like Ur in you're you're held in there um you know it's very de very dehumanizing as an as an experience and I think that that was kind of the the uh the purpose of it especially to kind of you know rattle journalists and then know that other journalists are going to be listening to that and and um uh you know um might might prefer to stay silent about what's happening um there was also camera filming a microphone recording 247 the whole time you know while you're going to the toilet while you're eating while you're sleeping so um this is what happens in the UK uh just so we're very clear and and the bed is essentially a raised slab of concrete okay you so that that was like a paper thin mattress um as far as I recall the police didn't even tell me that I could uh have a lawyer uh until I brought it up I don't know if that was uh um you know why that is but that to the best of my recollection that's what happened and you know my right to privacy um was was also um violated uh in several ways because uh not only because of those conditions but also what Craig was talking about with having your phone seized you know I also have a duty towards um uh sources um uh you know information that I that I wish to keep confidential so you know there multip issues going on here that that simply are are intended to have a chilling effect on on other journalists elsewhere um and you know it is shocking behavior from many country especially one that calls itself a democracy and then lectures other countries about democracy uh so you know again just so we clear this is the UK in 2024 um you know the police did give me back my passport they did Release Me on unconditional bail which is great but but as a journalist some um legal experts have have reasoned that perhaps uh you know that was on purpose because now I'm effectively in limbo I don't know what I can and cannot say um I I'm afraid to you know do my job normally uh and uh I'm impeded from from working freely so um to be clear I'm under investigation I could go to I could be charged and I could go to prison for up to 14 years for doing my jobs so that that is what what you know how bad it is and the national Union of journalists which is the the largest uh Union in Britain as well as the International Federation of journalists which regroups all uh unions around the world for the Press both of them uh issued statements condemning my arrest at the highest level from the secretary generals themselves um organizations NGS like uh Cod pay stopped the war um and uh many others including Jus they they they've had my back which which is appreciated but you by using this legislation um uh the terrorism act specifically you know it's it's rather a misuse than than than a use because the legislation itself is so expansive it's so Broad and vague uh particularly when it comes to section 12 um it's done in a way that it can criminalize free speech and um it can be easily abused by the state to uh you know make reporting about actions regarding groups on the ground uh you know even if if it's in line with international law and domestic law suddenly criminal uh and by by misusing this counterterror legislation against me the the UK is not only violating my right to freedom of expression and and to free speech but it's also violating the Public's right to be informed okay because that is my duty and my mandate is to towards the public it's to to tell them what is happening to tell them the news to report honestly and accurately so these are all things you will find enshrined inside the universal Declaration of of Human Rights uh other rights uh that uh are both you know International and also domestic in the UK that that are normally guaranteed like for example um you know the right to make a phone call when you're you're held or or to contact a lawyer to to remain silent during interrogations not specific to me but in general these things can also be just randomly waved um and I you know I I I even asked one of the police officers like you know you're telling me I have the right to tell someone and then when I want to you say I can't what kind of a right is it and they says well they it's not absolute it can be waved um so you know this is very shocking Behavior and the fact is that the United Kingdom is is systematically misusing the terrorism act um as as a means to abuse our right to free speech and our right to be informed and for my right to inform the public about a genocide that is happening right now I don't feel it's a coincidence that people like myself and people like Craig who uh who reported on Julian in assange's case um in inside the court uh are being targeted by this legislation I don't think that's a coincidence at all I don't think it's a coincidence that people who talk about what's happening in Palestine are being targeted by the British government uh with the terrorism act um you know and and C already gave a list of of colleagues that that have been so you know this is this is really unacceptable behavior and it is an escalation by the government because following my arrest they used the same thing section 12 to go after activists like Sarah Wilkinson and then Palestine action in you know in the span of a week or two weeks so it's very intentional it's very clear the message has been sent and not only does that does the government in London have have the nerve to participate in war crimes and in Acts of terrorism in Gaza but it then has you know the the nerve to call us the terrorists and to try and silence us because we're saying please don't chop Palestinian children into 16 pieces um K is a former a human rights lawyer okay I think that's very important to point out and you know he's he said that Israel has the right to cut off water to cut off uh electricity to Palestinians I question his his qualifications as as a human rights lawyer and I don't think that he he understands how angry people are in the west about what is happening and so now that you know the government's response is to Simply lash out against us for telling the truth what the British government is doing is terrorism in in the very you know literal sense of it it um you know this is not a political chant or something that I'm leveling it is an objective fact they are literally murdering massive quantities of civilians in in three-dimensional space and that's terrorism if I've ever seen it and I just like to highlight the absurdity of this all you know Craig uh as you know is a former British Ambassador um my parents did not work for the for the uh FCD but they did serve as diplomats in the un uh they receiv received Nobel Peace prizes for their workers un peacekeepers and my father even authored a training manual on counterterrorism for the UN he was the deputy chief of security here in Geneva and in Vienna so you know if if we are being arrested as so-called terrorists how many do you think have come through London Heath or other ports in Britain and been also arrested or detained as so-called terrorists but simply did not have the platforms or the opportunities uh afforded to them in order to address uh the public and inform them so let me just finish by by asking the British government a question um is this what you want to be known for around the world is this what you want your legacy to be how many more of us are you going to arrest and how many more Palestinians are you going to murder thank you