London — Britain is considering setting up secretive courts to make it easier to prosecute terror suspects - and to hold them without charge for longer than the current 14 days - as part of the crackdown following the deadly London bombings, officials said Tuesday.
The Home Office said it was weighing changing the pretrial process to deal with particularly sensitive terror cases, with the aim of "securing more prosecutions." Currently, terror suspects can be held for two weeks without charge; after they are charged, police can no longer question them. Police have asked the government to extend this period to three months.
The anti-terror courts - run by judges with high-level security clearance - would meet behind closed doors to study the merits of the case against terror suspects, rule on highly sensitive evidence and decide how long the suspect could be held, The Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday, citing unidentified Home Office officials.
A spokeswoman for the Home Office, who spoke on condition of anonymity because government policy bars her from being quoted by name, confirmed a new pretrial procedure is under consideration, but couldn't provide any other details.
The July 7 bombings and the failed attacks two weeks later prompted the British government to propose new anti-terrorism laws aimed at rooting out Islamic extremists.
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