Apparently, the killers of Drummer Lee Rigby could, by law, face the death penalty.
A law passed in 1848 defines the separate offence of treason felony as proceeding ‘to levy war against the sovereign in order by force or constraint to compel her to change her measures or counsels, or in order to put any force or constraint upon or in order to intimidate or overawe both houses or either House of Parliament’.
With this definition in mind, consider the words spoken by one of Drummer Lee Rigby’s assassins in Woolwich: ‘You people will never be safe. Remove your governments, they don’t care about you . . . get rid of them. Tell them to bring our troops back so all can live in peace. So leave our lands and we can all live in peace.'
As they are Britons, Michael Adeboloja and Michael Adebowale could therefore face trial for treason for killing a British soldier. It was the murder of a man who was targeted precisely because he was a member of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces.
His killers, and those who support them, regard what they did as an act of holy war, or jihad.
This would mean that they are Britons waging war on other Britons, and on the British state.
Such people are the self-appointed, and self-declared, enemies of the sovereign. They are levying war against her, hoping to force her to change her measures and counsel.
Thus, in recognition of the enormity of their crime and in seeking to force the government of their own country to change its policies, they should be put on trial not just for murder, but for treason.
In terms of their sentence, this would make no difference. The death penalty for treason is in abeyance under the terms of the 1998 Human Rights Act, yet it can be reinstated ‘in time of war or of imminent threat of war’.
Read more: Why Drummer Rigby's killers should be charged with treason | Mail Online

A law passed in 1848 defines the separate offence of treason felony as proceeding ‘to levy war against the sovereign in order by force or constraint to compel her to change her measures or counsels, or in order to put any force or constraint upon or in order to intimidate or overawe both houses or either House of Parliament’.
With this definition in mind, consider the words spoken by one of Drummer Lee Rigby’s assassins in Woolwich: ‘You people will never be safe. Remove your governments, they don’t care about you . . . get rid of them. Tell them to bring our troops back so all can live in peace. So leave our lands and we can all live in peace.'
As they are Britons, Michael Adeboloja and Michael Adebowale could therefore face trial for treason for killing a British soldier. It was the murder of a man who was targeted precisely because he was a member of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces.
His killers, and those who support them, regard what they did as an act of holy war, or jihad.
This would mean that they are Britons waging war on other Britons, and on the British state.
Such people are the self-appointed, and self-declared, enemies of the sovereign. They are levying war against her, hoping to force her to change her measures and counsel.
Thus, in recognition of the enormity of their crime and in seeking to force the government of their own country to change its policies, they should be put on trial not just for murder, but for treason.
In terms of their sentence, this would make no difference. The death penalty for treason is in abeyance under the terms of the 1998 Human Rights Act, yet it can be reinstated ‘in time of war or of imminent threat of war’.
Read more: Why Drummer Rigby's killers should be charged with treason | Mail Online
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