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Greater than 50 folks have been arrested in central London the place protesters gathered to indicate help for Palestine Motion after the group was labelled a terror organisation.
Organisers Defend Our Juries stated as much as 700 folks have been in Parliament Sq. for the demo.
The Metropolitan Police had warned beforehand it might arrest anybody expressing help for Palestine Motion.
The group, sat on the grass contained in the sq., held placards studying ‘I oppose genocide, I help Palestine Motion’, with the overwhelming majority remaining silent.
Different clusters of protesters who weren’t holding placards gathered across the Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela statues within the sq. singing pro-Palestinian chants.
Officers have been holding particular person demonstrators sat on the sting of the grass earlier than escorting them by means of swelling crowds to police vans parked on the sting of the sq..
A separate group of officers attended a protester mendacity subsequent to the fenced-off Emmeline Pankhurst statue.
They later started arresting protesters sat in the course of Parliament Sq..
The officers lifted the protesters – some sitting and a few mendacity flat – off the bottom earlier than escorting them away.
Onlookers applauded the protesters and shouted ‘Disgrace on you’ on the police making arrests.
Protesters who have been nonetheless sat in the course of Parliament Sq. stood up collectively at 2pm and held their placards within the air.
One particular person was additionally arrested at a separate Palestine Coalition march, which set off from Russell Sq. heading to Whitehall through Aldwych and the Strand.
The arrest was ‘for a placard displaying help for Palestine Motion’, Scotland Yard stated.
Membership of, or help for, Palestine Motion is a legal offence punishable by as much as 14 years in jail below the Terrorism Act 2000.
Earlier this week, the primary three folks to be charged with supporting Palestine Motion in England and Wales have been named.
Jeremy Shippam, 71, Judit Murray, 71, and Fiona Maclean, 53, have all been charged with displaying an article in a public place, arousing affordable suspicion that they’re a supporter of a proscribed organisation after their attendance at a earlier demonstration final month.
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Lots of have been arrested within the wave of Defend Our Juries protests throughout the UK for the reason that ban was carried out by Residence Secretary Yvette Cooper final month.
A Residence Workplace spokesperson stated: ‘The Residence Secretary has been clear that the proscription of Palestine Motion isn’t about Palestine, nor does it have an effect on the liberty to protest on Palestinian rights.
‘It solely applies to the particular and slim organisation whose actions don’t mirror or symbolize the hundreds of individuals throughout the nation who proceed to train their basic rights to protest on totally different points.
‘Freedom to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy and we shield it fiercely.
‘The choice to proscribe was based mostly on sturdy safety recommendation and the unanimous advice by the professional cross-government proscription overview group.
‘This adopted critical assaults the group has dedicated, involving violence, important accidents and intensive legal harm.’
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