Holding people

[robinbloke]

So some Brits were held in Iran for 13 days and the foreign office has been trying to get them released after they (probably unknowingly) wandered onto a disputed island.
They've just been released after thirteen days. Well, frankly I think they're lucky - if they'd have been arrested here they could have another fifteen days of being locked up before even being charged.
Another seventy seven if Blair had got his way.

Comments

[ua-meruti.livejournal.com]

The point is they do have to justify it. To a judge, every 7 days. Or rather would have had to.

Arresting someone, for anything, requires that the police gather sufficient evidence to secure a conviction before the CPS will allow it to even be considered. The point of this bill was to give them time to actually do this bearing in mind that the suspects in question have a huge chance of flight (think how far that failed bomber got before we caught up with him - Italy wasn't it?)
OK they could probably have done some sort of house arrest thing, but we'd have probably all whinged about that as well because then none of us would know who's a terrorist or something equally ridiculous, which would promptly have erupted into full-on racial hatred in the event of a successful attack. Hence holding them in cells is probably the best way.