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Middle East Eye
6 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
UK: Protesters prepare to defy Palestine Action ban in shows of support
Activists are set to stage a second wave of protests across the UK this weekend, demanding the government reverse its proscription of the direct action group Palestine Action. On Saturday, groups of activists will gather for a series of protests coordinated by the campaign group Defend Our Juries (DOJ) in London, Manchester and Cardiff. An independently organised protest will also be staged in Derry in Northern Ireland. Protesters plan to hold signs reading: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action." This follows the arrest of 29 people under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act, including an 83-year-old retired priest and an emergency worker, for holding the same signs in Parliament Square last weekend. The participants were detained for 12 hours before being released on bail without charge. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters The government passed legislation banning Palestine Action as a proscribed group on 4 July, making membership of and support for the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. A bid by the group to apply for interim relief to temporarily block the ban pending a judicial review was rejected by the High Court on Friday. The court's decision was later upheld by the Court of Appeal in a judgement issued less than two hours before the order banning the group was due to take effect at midnight on Saturday. DOJ said in a statement that Saturday's protest 'will show if the Met will have to adapt its tactics or clamp down even more strongly on any form of dissent', noting that its actions could incur custodial sentences of up to 14 years. "People have not been silenced by the arrests last week; they've not been intimidated. So it's quite interestingly poised for Saturday," Tim Crosland, former government lawyer and DOJ activist, told Middle East Eye. The Metropolitan Police drew widespread criticism over the arrest of 83-year-old Sue Parfitt during Saturday's protest, with Laura Kuenssberg asking Met commissioner Mark Rowley in a BBC interview on Sunday if this was a good use of police time. "Let's assume that there's more people in Parliament Square tomorrow, and Mark Rowley does the same thing. Spends even more public money on suppressing basic democratic rights, he's going to look like he has tin ears, like he's not listening," Crosland said. "But if he doesn't do anything, then it looks like the law doesn't mean anything," he added. "I think Rowley will feel there's a real political danger for him around this, if he just does more of the same. But my guess is there will be more arrests, because it would be too big a climb down." MEE has asked the Metropolitan Police for comment. The tip of the iceberg Palestine Action's proscription has drawn condemnation from several UN special rapporteurs, multiple NGOs and hundreds of lawyers, who signed two letters to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper from the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) lawyers' group and the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, warning that the group's ban could set a dangerous precedent. DOJ said that the protests against the ban are 'just the tip of the iceberg', and that since it has come into force, 'people have been taking democracy into their own hands'. According to the campaign group, 110 people have been arrested for showing support for Palestine Action in the aftermath of the group's proscription. Protests have also been staged at British embassies in The Hague, Netherlands, and Copenhagen, Denmark, resulting in dozens of arrests. Crosland said more protests are expected, with actions scheduled for 21 July to coincide with a court hearing in which Palestine Action will apply for a judicial review of the proscription order. According to Crosland, increasing numbers of people will be driven to join these actions as they understand that "this is a major moment" extending "way beyond Palestine Action". "People are watching this and thinking: once you separate the idea of terrorism from violence against the civilian population, and you expand that definition to include people causing economic damage, for example, to Elbit Systems, the defence industry, to people causing embarrassment to the government in its defence strategy - well, then that's all of us, as in, everybody who looks to hold power to account," Crosland said.
The Guardian
30-01-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Hundreds protest in London as jailed climate activists' appeals are heard
Hundreds of protesters have blocked the road outside the high court in London, where the appeals of 16 jailed climate activists are being heard, in condemnation of 'the corruption of democracy and the rule of law'. As England's most senior judge heard arguments in the appeal of the sentences of the Just Stop Oil activists, who are serving a combined 41 years in jail, their supporters sat on the road in silence holding placards proclaiming them 'political prisoners'. Tim Crosland, of the campaign group Defend Our Juries, who had organised the protest, said 1,000 had signed up to take part in the days leading up to Thursday, but a visual assessment suggested numbers were even higher. 'This is hundreds of people turning out to send a message to this court that silencing and jailing people trying to get good information to the public is not OK,' Crosland said. 'That is the corruption of democracy and the rule of law. It's not upholding a rule of law. 'What those people who've been jailed for is trying to get information to the public that the fossil fuel companies have been systematically concealing from the public for decades and decades. And good information is the lifeblood of democracy and that's why those people have been jailed, for trying to get that to the public.' Protesters held placards showing the photos of jailed activists, including those whose cases were being heard in court on Thursday, as well as photos of famous political prisoners such as Angela Davis and Nelson Mandela who had, said Crosland, 'fought for the freedoms that we enjoy'. The broadcasters Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Chris Packham were among those who joined the protest. 'We feel our basic democratic rights to protest peacefully are being eroded,' Fearnley-Whittingstall said. 'We are here in solidarity with the 16 defendants who were given draconian sentences last year for entirely peaceful protest, that they did because their consciences demanded it from them, not for personal gain. Now we seem to have a judicial situation where acting on your conscience is almost seen to be an aggravating factor in your sentence – it used to be a mitigating factor.' Soon after protesters occupied the Strand they were surrounded by yellow-jacketed police officers, who warned them that if they did not move, a section 14 order would be imposed and they would be arrested. However, police delayed imposing the order, with the protest thought to be planned to end at 1.45pm. The Metropolitan police did not respond to a request for comment. Inside court four of the Royal Courts of Justice, Jocelyn Ledward KC led the crown's response to the appeals. Last year Ledward led the prosecution of five activists who received the longest-ever sentences for peaceful protest, for a conspiracy to block the M25. Roger Hallam, the co-founder of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, was sentenced to five years for his part in the conspiracy, while his four co-defendants received four years each. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion 'The sentences were neither wrong in law nor manifestly excessive,' Ledward told the panel of judges, led by Lady Chief Justice Carr. Fiona Robertson, another lawyer from the crown's team, added: 'These five defendants were the pinnacle of the organisation of what was intended to be the greatest disruption in British history.' In court filings, the crown's lawyers disputed the appellants' claim that judges erred by failing to discount their sentences because of their conscientious motivation, insisting that such a consideration was 'conditional on the protesters exercising moderation in the harm they cause'. Citing Carr's previous refusal to quash the sentences of Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker, the lawyers said: 'The repeated use of the word 'may' demonstrates it is a discretion, not an obligation, to temper the sentence imposed to reflect a conscientious motive.' The ruling is expected in one to six weeks.
