The BBC is reporting that terror suspect Hassan Butt, whose arrest last Friday is central to five production orders given to journalists and media outlets in the past month, is to be detained by Greater Manchester Police until week under the Terrorism Act 2000.
On Wednesday GMP have to charge him, bail him or release him without charge.
The orders all relate to interviews with the Manchester-based former spokesman for radical Islamic group al-Mujahiroun.
At a hearing held yesterday in Manchester the BBC, Sunday Times, Prospect magazine and CBS News successfully argued for the case to be adjourned for a week and it will now be held next Friday – after freelance journalist Shiv Malik appears at the High Court to fight his order on Wednesday and Thursday.
That case, a judicial review before the Lord Chief Justice and probably two other senior judges, will have wide-ranging implications on the future of production orders – and could affect the outcome of the Manchester hearing.
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