On May 14, two political researchers at the University of Nottingham, in the UK, have been arrested under the Terrorism Act for downloading Al-Qaida material from a US government website! The material was to be used for research in terrorist tactics. There has been a huge public outcry, with thousands of students planning a march to demonstrate against the attack on academic freedom. Yet, one of the students, Rizwaan Sabir, is Algerian, so he is still held in custody under immigration charges and is being fast-tracked for deportation.

Their crime? Sabir, a graduate research student, who is writing his MA dissertation on Islamist extremism and international terrorist networks, had downloaded an edited version of the al-Qaida training manual from a publicly accessible US government website. He had sent it to Yezza to print, and the material was noticed by staff who passed it on to university authorities. The university reported it to the police, and the two men were arrested. Kept in detention for six days, they were released without charge on May 20.

The university has argued that it was well within its grounds to contact the police. After all, what was Yezza, employed in a non-academic role, doing printing a terrorist manual? Arguably, the university was only acting in the interests of the safety of its students and staff. In the current climate of fear and surveillance constructed by the government and much of the media, we are all encouraged to be on “terror alert”.

A spokesman for the university said the edited al-Qaida training manual was not viewed as “legitimate research material”. Yet one wonders what might be deemed more appropriate research material for a student researching Islamic terrorism.

The School of Politics and International Relations at Nottingham offers various courses addressing terrorism and counter-terrorism, and students are encouraged to use the internet to access materials that may enhance their research.

Academics within the school have expressed their concern about the potential criminalisation of research into extremist movements, and the harsh actions taken by the university and the police.

Neither students nor academic staff should have to fear police arrest and detention in the course of their work. Academic freedom and the integrity of our research are severely threatened if students and staff risk arrest over possession of controversial literature, or if universities have control over what material they are permitted to use.

Merely because primary research materials are of a subversive nature does not make them illegitimate. Particularly when they are widely accessible over the internet.

This incident highlights the threats to civil liberties and academic freedom that students and academics now face, particularly those from non-Western or Muslim backgrounds. The two men arrested fit the racial and religious stereotypes: they were of British Pakistani and Algerian backgrounds.

One wonders whether the arrests would have taken place if the individuals concerned did not fit the “terrorist” profiles that cause Muslim and non-white citizens of this country to be subject to increased police surveillance.

Several other incidents that have led students to fear infringements of their civil liberties. Earlier this academic year, Nottingham university called the police on to campus during a peaceful protest organised by the Palestinian society against the Israeli-Palestine wall, which resulted in the arrest of the same student, Rizwaan Sabir, who was released later that day without charge.

Hicham Yezza, during his time in custody, was questioned extensively about his role as editor of Ceasefire, the journal of the Nottingham Student Peace Movement.

Yezza was probed, alongside members of the editorial team, about his political views and the content of the publication. Following his release without charge, he was subsequently arrested on immigration grounds. Originally granted a hearing to argue his case on July 16, he is now being denied the right to a hearing, and police are rushing to deport him to Algeria on June 1.

The haste of the immigration services in removing him from the country without a fair hearing has caused outrage among the academic community at Nottingham. Students, academics, and MPs are concerned that Yezza’s rushed deportation is an attempt by the police to cover up their embarrassing blunder over the “terrorist” arrests.

Universities are intended to be a place for learning, debate and free discussion. In order to maintain their credibility, they must protect the academic freedom and freedom of expression of their students and staff, regardless of ethnic background and religious or political beliefs.

Universities should not be succumbing to the climate of fear constructed by the “war on terrorism”. If they wish to maintain their academic integrity, they cannot and should not respond by immediately handing over their students and staff to the police for detention or deportation.