Students at bomber's university tried to sabotage Prevent anti-terror scheme because it 'demonises Muslims'
- Salford University students tried to sabotage the Prevent anti-terror scheme
- The student union boycotted the initiative and claimed it ‘demonises Muslims’
- Abedi began a business and management course there but dropped out in 2016
Students at the university attended by the Manchester bomber have tried to sabotage the Prevent anti-terror scheme over claims it ‘demonises Muslims’.
The student union at Salford University, where Salman Abedi studied, passed a motion last year to boycott the initiative and ‘educate’ undergraduates about its ‘dangers’.
The boycott was part of a ‘Students not Suspects’ campaign, run by the National Union of Students, which has been linked with controversial terror apologist group CAGE.
Students at the university attended by the Manchester bomber Salman Abedi have tried to sabotage the Prevent anti-terror scheme over claims it ‘demonises Muslims’
The student union at Salford University, where Salman Abedi studied, passed a motion last year to boycott the initiative and ‘educate’ undergraduates about its 'dangers'
Even yesterday, other Muslim student leaders in other Manchester universities have been calling for Prevent to be scrapped.
The Muslim chaplain for both Manchester University and Manchester Metropolitan University, said the scheme needed to be ‘wrapped up’ and said society should ‘move on’
Prevent places a legal duty on universities to report any signs of students becoming radicalised to the authorities.
The purpose of the initiative is to stop students being groomed by extremists before it is too late, with teams of experts deployed to help those identified as at risk.
The duty began as a voluntary scheme and was made law in 2015 – one year after Abedi began his business and management course at the university.
He dropped out in 2016 and it is not known whether he was radicalised during his time there or afterwards.
It is understood he was ‘off the radar’ while at university and was unknown to the campus Islamic Society.
Yesterday, it emerged Martin Hall, the university’s former vice chancellor who retired in 2014, said in a blog two years ago that he was sceptical about implementing Prevent.
He warned that it ‘raises issues’ and that the programme could ‘anger and radicalise students’.
Sunshine holiday: A young Salman Abedi, far right, poses on a beach with friends in Libya
Manchester concert bomber Salman Abedi (third from left) dropped out of uni in 2016
The Students not Suspects campaign has been criticised for its links to CAGE, which described Isis butcher Mohammed Emwazi – known as Jihadi John – as a ‘beautiful young man’
‘This is because of the implication that, simply by virtue of holding Islamic beliefs, a person is more likely to become a terrorist,’ he said in a piece for the Times Higher Education website.
Students at Salford have also been holding protests around campus using ‘Students not Suspects’ placards to encourage their peers and staff not to comply.
Minutes from a 2016 meeting of Salford University’s student union show members voted in favour of boycotting the scheme.
Union leaders warned at the time it ‘demonised’ and ‘criminalised’ Muslim students.
They resolved that the union and its officers would ‘not engage with the Prevent strategy’ – effectively meaning they would not report any radicalised students to the police.
Bomber Salman Abedi was teased at school
They also vowed to ‘educate students on the dangers of the Prevent Strategy’.
The Students not Suspects campaign has been criticised for its links to CAGE, which described Isis butcher Mohammed Emwazi – known as Jihadi John – as a ‘beautiful young man’.
The group’s outreach director, Moazzam Begg, has appeared as a speaker at many of the campus events held across the country by the NUS-run campaign.
Yesterday, it also emerged that other Muslim student leaders in other Manchester universities have been calling for Prevent to be abolished.
During a phone-in with Radio 5 Live, Mohammed Ullah, Muslim chaplain for Manchester University and Manchester Metropolitan University, said: ‘As it stands [Prevent] is a toxic brand.
'It isolates the very people it is supposed to help. Because it turns people into spies against their own community.’
He said he had never reported anyone to Prevent but would have to do so if the situation arose because he was ‘duty bound’.
‘The Muslim community in Manchester are especially against it,’ he said. ‘We need to work with the Muslim community instead of turning them into suspects constantly.’
Yesterday, the University of Salford said Mr Hall’s comments represented his personal views and not those of the university.
They added that the student union is a separate entity to the university.
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