Terrorism—UK Arrests

Information stored on your computer’s hard drive is becoming more and more important to law enforcement across the world. With the vast amount of information available on the internet, it is becoming increasingly easy to gather information on a variety of topics and find yourself in trouble because of it. Sometimes, courts will determine that certain information should not enhance criminal liability, such as was recently seen in the United States in the Ninth Circuit case, United States v. Kuchinski.^[1] Partly at issue in the appeal was whether more than 13,000 images stored in a computer’s cache should be used to enhance an individual’s sentence.^[2] The Ninth Circuit held that a person who does not knowingly receive and possess images of child pornography cannot be subject to enhanced sentencing provisions if he is not a sophisticated user and does not attempt to access those images which are stored in his cache.^[3]

Whether Bouchra El-Hor and her husband, Yassin Nassari, can claim the same sort of thing is unclear. What is clear is that they were arrested earlier this year while trying to enter the United Kingdom from Holland.^[4] Mr. Nassari is alleged to “have had material on how to make homemade rockets and information about mines and detonators,” and Ms. El-Hor is “charged with failing to inform the authorities that her husband and father of their young child … was allegedly preparing to carry out acts of terrorism.”^[5]

The information in question was found on a computer in their luggage; on the computer’s hard drive, it is alleged that investigators found “documents on how to build homemade rockets and information about mines and detonators.”^[6] Though it is not clear from reports just where the information on the explosives were located, it is important to realize that it is very easy to fine information on the internet on how to build homemade rockets and to gather information on landmines and detonators. Searching for this information will typically cause this information to end up in the computer’s cache, potentially leading to criminal liability.

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[1] United States v. Kuchinksi, No. 05-30607 (9th Cir. 2006).
[2] Id. at 18794.
[3] Id. at 18804-05.
[4] Husband and Wife Suspect Deny Terrorism, National News (UK) (via Lifestyle Extra), Dec. 11, 2006.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.