Dossier mode
Arrested for Reporting
The same investigation, restaged one beat at a time. Drive it with the arrow keys, space, or autoplay. Nothing is cut from the piece — long runs are split across frames. Read the full investigation or open the Who Controls What You Get to Know hub.
Arrested for Reporting.
Five journalists held a camera at a protest in England and were arrested under the Terrorism Act. They had press cards. They were covering the news. In the UK, in 2026, that was enough.
On Oct 9, 2026, Leicestershire Police arrested at least five journalists under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act while they covered a Palestine Action protest outside an Elbit-linked drone factory — releasing them without charge only after they proved they were press.
The facts graded FACT; the police's 'arrest-for-investigation' account carried; the sharper charge that it was meant to deter coverage posed, not asserted.
Five journalists, one drone factory.
On Oct 9, 2026, protesters gathered outside the UAV Tactical Systems factory in Leicester — a drone maker tied to Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems, a recurring Palestine Action target. Police arrested everyone present, including at least five journalists: two Leicester Gazette reporters and three freelance photojournalists, there to cover the demonstration.
The law: Section 13, and a proscribed protest group.
The arrests were under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 — displaying an article arousing reasonable suspicion of support for a proscribed organisation. Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist group by the UK in July 2025 (the first direct-action protest network banned under terror law), making even expressing support a potential offence — the framework that turned a protest crowd into terror suspects, photographers included.
Arrested, then 'de-arrested' — no charges.
All at the scene were held ~2 hours; the journalists were 'de-arrested' only after providing details and proving a press capacity, no charges brought; ~35 protesters were released on bail. Stated precisely: no reporter was prosecuted, but each was arrested under terrorism law for taking photographs and freed only on proving they were journalists. The outcome defines the problem rather than erasing it.
The alarm: the NUJ, RSF, and Parliament.
NUJ general secretary Laura Davison: 'covering Palestine Action protests and taking photographs does not constitute support for the group.' Reporters Without Borders was 'deeply concerned.' The Leicester Gazette's Emma Guy: 'the freedom to report is not optional.' And Labour MP John McDonnell tabled a parliamentary motion expressing 'alarm.' Trade bodies, international monitors, and Parliament objecting at once is not a fringe concern.
How this page is graded.
- FACT: the Oct 9 2026 arrests of at least five journalists (two Leicester Gazette reporters + three freelancers) under Section 13 Terrorism Act 2000 at the Elbit/UAV Tactical Systems protest; the July 2025 proscription of Palestine Action; the ~2-hour hold, de-arrest after proving credentials, and no charges (~35 protesters bailed); the police's 'arrest-for-investigation' account; and the NUJ/RSF/Leicester Gazette/McDonnell reactions.
- SOME SMOKE (posed): that the arrests were a deliberate strategy to suppress coverage — the well-founded concern of press-freedom groups, not asserted as proven; the police say it was a procedural sweep.
- FENCES: no journalist was charged or jailed (the arrest itself is the issue); we take no position on whether Palestine Action should be proscribed; the journalists were covering, not members.
Why it matters.
The point of covering a protest is to let the public see what happened; the fastest way to stop them seeing it is to arrest the people with the cameras. It needs no formal censorship order — a journalist who knows that showing up might mean a cell, a search, and seized equipment thinks twice about showing up, and that second thought is the chilling effect doing quietly what a reporting ban does openly. The machinery is the terror-law proscription of a group whose target is an Israeli arms maker — which is how press suppression here cross-links to Israeli Influence.
Help us fill these lines.
- OpenThe named journalists and outlets, and whether any equipment seized was returned or data copied.
- OpenWhether Leicestershire Police or the CPS pursue any charges, and the outcome of McDonnell's parliamentary motion.
- OpenA fuller count of journalists arrested at UK Palestine Action protests since the July 2025 proscription, to test whether Leicester is a pattern or a one-off.