A former Sussex student whose police file identifies him as a leftwing extremist is suing Sussex Police after he was refused security clearance for last year’s Labour conference in Brighton.
Michael Segalov has previously successfully taken legal action against Sussex University for suspending him over his alleged role in student protests against privatisation in 2013, which resulted in the university apologising to him and four other students and paying him £20,000 in compensation.
Now, he is taking his fight against Sussex and Greater Manchester Police to the high court, claiming the intelligence they contributed to his file is inaccurate.
The Guardian reports that his file, which he obtained via a subject access request, includes a statement from a Sussex police sergeant who said he Segalov was willing to motivate others to carry out criminal damage and other criminal acts during protests. He said Segalov had directed anarchists to disrupt shops during a student protest in Brighton in 2015.
Segalov, who has become a successful left-wing journalist, interviewing Jeremy Corbyn several times, and is now news editor for Huck magazine, denies these allegations.
He told the Guardian: “This is an important case to determine how the press can operate freely. To be labelled an extremist for carrying out my work as a journalist is incredibly distressing”.
A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: “We can confirm Mr Segalov has made an application to the High Court for a Judicial Review against Sussex Police and this application is being contested. It would not be appropriate for us to comment further at this stage due to the ongoing proceedings.”
