body: I just read the following in [an article](https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/aug/02/three-musketeers-convicted-of-plotting-terrorist-attack) in The Guardian (emphasis mine):
  
  
  
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  > In prison they met their co-defendant Rahman, 32, one of nine men prosecuted in connection with a plan to attack the London stock exchange, **who was serving five years for owning copies of an al-Qaida magazine**. On the witness stand, Hussain said Rahman was “domineering, paranoid, weird and had a lot of contact with MI5”.
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  Is there really any law that makes it illegal to own copies of a publication? We punish thoughtcrime, these days? Is this an error in the newspaper or is there actually a law that permits people to be prosecuted (and even jailed for years!) for simply possessing a document?
  
  
  Please note that I am not asking about cases where the possession of the document was presented as evidence of someone's worldview when they have been caught committing a crime. I am asking if the possession of a document1 can ever be considered criminal.
  
  
  
  
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  1Obviously, I am not talking about stolen documents or even certain classes of pornography whose very existence (photographs) implies an illegal act took place. 
  
  
  
title: Is there a law in the UK that makes possession of specific publications illegal?