Back in 2005, the year George W Bush was inaugurated into his second term as US President, Tony Blair first mentioned the possibility that pre-charge detention time for terror suspects should be put up to 90 days. It was an extreme statement, and its legacy was the bill that, just this past Tuesday, a ‘Labour rebellion against the Lords’ overturned. The bill would have mandated the increase of pre-charge holding time from 28 days to 42. Six weeks.
How long is six weeks, really? How many new experiences and achievements and conversations and mistakes can a free person pack into that time? The number on its own doesn’t really move us; our brains aren’t built that way. To illustrate the significance of what this law would mean, Liberty, along with Anya Serota, Simon Prosser and Hari Kunzru, created an anthology of 42 pieces of writing by some of the most brilliant British voices around: www.42writers.com. Some are fiction, but poetry, cultural commentary and interviews around this theme are also represented.
If you have a chance to comment: how long is six weeks to you? Is it too long to hold someone in jail without charge?
