8/7/2019 Background to arrests of the Nottingham Two in Operation Minerva at the University of Nottingham on 14 May 2008

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Contextualising the existence of the al-Qaeda training Manual & the

arrests of the Nottingham Two in Operation Minerva on 14 May

2008 by West Midlands Counter-Terrorism Unit and Nottinghamshire

Police at the University of Nottingham, UK.

1. The document that led to the arrests was entitled the al-Qaeda Training Manualand was downloaded by Masters student Rizwaan Sabir, a UK national of Pakistani

descent, in December 2007 from the United States Department of Justice website

in preparation for a PhD application on international terrorism.

2. The document was sent by Rizwaan Sabir to Hicham Yezza, an Algerian national, aformer PhD student and the editor of political journal entitled Ceasefire in

December 2007.

3. Hicham Yezza was acting in the capacity of an academic mentor to Rizwaan Sabirand assisting him with the drafting of his PhD proposal. He held an administrative

post within the Department of Modern Languages at the time of his arrest.

4. After approximately five months, on May 12 2008, Hicham Yezza was absent fromwork. A colleague after receiving permission to access his computer for a work-

related purpose discovered the al-Qaeda training manual, along with two academic

journal articles, on the desktop of his office computer.

5. The three documents were reported by this individual to the Human Resourcesdepartment, who eventually reported the matter to the Registrars Office.

6. The Registrar looked at the three documents and without conducting any form ofrisk-assessment or following governmental protocol on what to do in such a

circumstance, reported Hicham Yezza to Nottinghamshire Police.

7. Nottinghamshire Police requested the assistance of the West Midlands Counter-Terrorism Unit, who arrived on campus on 12 May 2008 and began searching

Hicham Yezzas office.

8. On May 14 2008, at approximately 9:00 hours, Rizwaan Sabir arrived within theTrent Building. He inquired what activity was occurring within Hicham Yezzas,

which was situated approximately fifty feet away from his own office, and inquired

for his welfare. He was refused any information by Nottingham University security

personnel.

9. Rizwaan Sabir then attempted to make direct contact with Hicham Yezza viatelephone, but failed. Eventually, Hicham Yezza returned his call. Rizwaan Sabir

checked Hicham Yezzas welfare and informed him that a campus security

presence was outside his office and speculated that a burglary may have occurred.

10.Hicham Yezza thanked him for the information and made his way onto campus.

8/7/2019 Background to arrests of the Nottingham Two in Operation Minerva at the University of Nottingham on 14 May 2008

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11.At approximately 10:20 hours, Rizwaan Sabir entered the gents toilets of the TrentBuilding and was immediately followed in by three non-uniformed counter-

terrorism police officers. He was asked for identification and was requested to

follow an officer to an unmarked police vehicle that was parked in the car park of

the Trent Building.

12.At approximately 10:30 hours on 14 May 2008, Hicham Yezza arrived in thecourtyard of the Trent Building. He was asked for his name by a counter-terrorism

police officer, who then placed him under arrest under Section 41 of the Terrorism

Act 2000 on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or

instigation of an act of terrorism.

13.At 10:40 hours, Rizwaan Sabir, after being questioned by a police officer forapproximately 20 minutes in a stationary police vehicle, was also arrested under

Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 on suspicion of being involved in thecommission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.

14.Both men were driven to the Bridewell custody facility in Nottingham city-centre,where they were held in solitary confinement for a total of six days.

15.On 20 May 2008, at approximately 14:00 hours, Rizwaan Sabir and Hicham Yezzawere released without charge. Hicham Yezza was, however, re-arrested on

unrelated immigration charges.

16.Hicham Yezza was charged and convicted for securing avoidance of enforcementaction via deceptive means' and was sentenced to a nine-month custodial sentence.

17.Hicham Yezza has since won civil action against the Home Office for forcedremoval and has been granted indefinite leave to remain.

18.Rizwaan Sabir is currently a second year PhD student at the University ofStrathclyde where he is researching UK policy toward Muslims and Islam, with a

particular focus on counter-terrorism.

END