• Independent Journalist Sarah Wilkinson was arrested by counter-terrorism police in the early hours of Thursday morning and denied bail.
• The raid conducted by 12 police officers, of whom some wore plain clothes, resulted in the seizure of all her electronic devices at her family home.
British human rights and pro-Palestine activist Sarah Wilkinson was the target of a police raid at her family home, believed to be in breach of her journalistic freedom.
On the morning of August 29th following the raid, twelve police officers which included some plainclothes officers, arrested Wilkinson for content she published online in support of Palestine and against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
It is alleged the arrest of the pro-Palestine activist was related to online postings which supposedly showed support for proscribed groups, which is what led to her being detained and then initially denied bail according to her son.
Sarah Wilkinson’s brother Jack, subsequently posted confirmation of the raid and arrest on X.
“The police came to her house just before 7:30 am. There were 12 of them in total, some of them in plain clothes from the counter-terrorism police.
“They said she was under arrest for ‘content that she has posted online’. Her house is being raided, and they have seized all her electronic devices.”
Her arrest comes just a week after Syrian-British journalist Richard Medhurst, who is known for his anti-Israel activism, was detained as he exited from his aeroplane upon his arrival into the UK and was interrogated for over 24 hours by UK police at Heathrow Airport under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act.
Following his release on bail, Medhurst explained that all his electronic devices and journalistic equipment were confiscated.
“I believe I'm the first journalist to be arrested under this provision of the Terrorism Act. I feel that this is a political persecution and hampers my ability to work as a journalist.”
Like the arrest of Medhurst, the detention of Wilkinson has seen an escalation by the British ruling class against left-wing journalists and outspoken opponents of the US-backed Israeli campaign of extermination of Palestinians in Gaza.
Her arrest and action against other pro-Palestine activists had led to claims that under Keir Starmer counter-terrorism police are taking tougher action against alleged breaches of terror laws.
MENA Uncensored, for whom Wilkinson worked as a roving reporter, wrote in a post on X following news of her arrest:
“We hold the anti-media British government full[y] responsibility of this stupid act of intimidating and oppressing journalists as well as human rights activist in favor of the israeli occupation entity, and we demand that this zionist-run puppet British government releases our reporter Sarah Wilkinson immediately.”
In a statement earlier this month, MENA praised Wilkinson for her support for the “Palestinian resistance and relaying what is really happening in Gaza and the West Bank to the world.”
Wilkinson has been an outspoken critic of the UK’s support for Israel during its ongoing genocidal bombing campaign in Gaza.
Earlier this year, she took part in the “Freedom Flotilla Coalition,” an international initiative that tried to deliver humanitarian aid directly into Gaza, where she posted the following after Israeli attempts to suspend the launching of the flotilla.
“The Israeli regime has sabotaged the Freedom Flotilla’s mission to deliver life-saving aid to Gaza, but it’s not over.”
Since her arrest, MENA Uncensored reported that Wilkinson had been released on bail and “is back to the comfort of her home.”
The UK police have not released any official statements on her arrest and detention.
