Latest news with #publicorder
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Twelfth man charged over asylum hotel protests in Epping
A 12th person has been charged in connection with incidents of disorder linked to protests outside a hotel housing asylum seekers, police said. Essex Police said demonstrations outside The Bell Hotel, Epping, Essex, on Saturday and Sunday were peaceful.A 52-year-old man from Loughton, Essex, has been charged with a public order offence in connection with previous protests. He remains on bail until a hearing at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on 3 October, police said. Ch Supt Simon Anslow said: "As a police force we aren't here to take sides, we are here simply to protect the public and maintain law and order, facilitating peaceful protest but also allowing all people in Epping to go about their lives with minimal disruption."I'm really grateful to the law-abiding majority of attendees at the two most recent protests in Epping."They've got a right to make their views and their voices heard and they've done so in a peaceful way. The engagement I have seen has been largely respectful."However it's really important that we continue to show that previous violence, against our officers, against property and against people at the hotel, is unacceptable and will be dealt with." The protests - against the use of the hotel - have followed a man living in the hotel being arrested, and subsequently charged, with sexual assault, harassment and inciting a girl to engage in sexual Kebatu, 41, from Ethiopia, has denied the offences and is in custody. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Kenya's protests are not a symptom of failed democracy. They are democracy
In Kenya, as in many countries across the world, street protests are often framed as the unfortunate result of political failure. As the logic goes, the inability of state institutions to translate popular sentiment into political, legislative and regulatory action to address grievances undermines trust and leaves the streets vulnerable to eruptions of popular discontent. In this telling, protests are viewed as a political problem with grievances expected to be legitimately addressed using the mechanisms – coercive or consensual – of the formal political system. Like its predecessors, the increasingly paranoid regime of Kenyan President William Ruto has also adopted this view. While generally acknowledging the constitutional right of protest, it has sought to paint the largely peaceful and sustained Generation Z demonstrations and agitation of the past 16 months, which have questioned its rule and policies, as a threat to public order and safety and to delegitimise the street as an avenue for addressing public issues. 'What is going on in these streets, people think is fashionable,' Ruto declared a month ago. 'They take selfies and post on social media. But I want to tell you, if we continue this way, … we will not have a country.' The killing and abductions of protesters as well as the move to charge them with 'terrorism' offences, borrowing a leaf from Western governments that have similarly criminalised pro-Palestinian and antigenocide sentiments, are clear examples of the state's preferred response. At the same time, there have been repeated calls for the protesters to enter into talks with the regime and, more recently, for an 'intergenerational national conclave' to address their concerns. But framing protests as a dangerous response to political dissatisfaction is flawed. Demonstrations are an expression of democracy, not the result of its failures. The Generation Z movement has shown that transparency, mutual aid and political consciousness can thrive outside formal institutions. Activists have made the streets and online forums sites of grievance, rigorous debate, civic education, and policy engagement. They have raised funds, provided medical and legal aid, and supported bereaved families, all without help from the state or international donors. In doing so, they have reminded the country that citizenship is not just about casting ballots every five years. It is about showing up – together, creatively and courageously – to shape the future. The Generation Z movement is in many respects a reincarnation of the reform movement of the 1990s when Kenyans waged a decadelong street-based struggle against the brutal dictatorship of President Daniel arap Moi. Today's defiant chants of 'Ruto must go' and 'Wantam' – the demand that Ruto be denied a second term in the 2027 election – echo the rallying cries from 30 years ago: 'Moi must go' and 'Yote yawezekana bila Moi (All is possible without Moi).' Centring the struggle on Moi was a potent political strategy. It united a broad coalition, drew international attention and forced critical concessions – from the reintroduction of multiparty politics and term limits to the expansion of civil liberties and, crucially, the rights of assembly and expression. By the time Moi left office at the end of 2002, Kenya was arguably at its freest, its spirit immortalised in the Gidi Gidi Maji Maji hit I Am Unbwogable! (I Am Unshakable and Indomitable!)' But that moment of triumph also masked a deeper danger: the illusion that removing a leader was the same as transforming the system. Moi's successor, Mwai Kibaki, hailed then as a reformist and gentleman of Kenyan politics, quickly set about reversing hard-won gains. His government blocked (then tried to subvert) constitutional reform, raided newsrooms and eventually presided over a stolen election that brought Kenya to the brink of civil war. One of his closest ministers, the late John Michuki, had in 2003 revealed the true mindset of the political class: Constitutional change to devolve the power of the presidency, he claimed, was necessary only so 'one of our own could share power with Moi'. Once Moi was gone, he averred, there was no longer need for it. Due to the obstruction from the political class, it took Kenyans close to a decade after Moi's departure to finally promulgate a new constitution. Generation Z must avoid the trap of the transition of the 2000s. Power, in the Kenyan political imagination, has often been the prize, not the problem. But real change requires more than a reshuffling of names atop the state. It demands a refusal to treat state power as the destination and a commitment to reshaping the terrain on which that power operates. And this is where the youth should beware the machinations of a political class that is more interested in power than in change. Today's calls for national talks and intergenerational conclaves emanating from this class should be treated with suspicion. Kenyans have seen this play out before. From the 1997 Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group talks and the negotiations brokered by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan after the 2007-2008 postelection violence to the infamous 'handshake' between President Uhuru Kenyatta and his rival Raila Odinga and the failed Building Bridges Initiative, each of these elite pacts was presented as a way to translate popular anger into meaningful reform. Yet time and again, they only served to defuse movements, sideline dissenters and protect entrenched power. Worse still, Kenya has a long history of elevating reformers – from opposition leaders and journalists to civil society activists – into positions of state power, only for them to abandon their principles once at the top. Radical rhetoric gives way to political compromise. The goal becomes to rule and extract, not transform. Many end up defending the very systems they once opposed. 'Ruto must go' is a powerful tactic for mobilisation and pressure. But it should not be seen as the end goal. That was my generation's mistake. We forgot that we did not achieve the freedoms we enjoy – and that Ruto seeks to roll back – through engaging in the formal system's rituals of elections and elite agreements but by imposing change on it from the outside. We allowed the politicians to hijack the street movements and reframe power and elite consensus as the solution, not the problem. Generation Z must learn from that failure. Its focus must relentlessly be on undoing the system that enables and sustains oppression, not feeding reformers into it. And the streets must remain a legitimate space of powerful political participation, not one to be pacified or criminalised. For its challenge to formal state power is not a threat to democracy. It is democracy. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Police issue update as protest groups gathered outside Essex hotel
Peaceful protests took place outside an Essex hotel this afternoon, police confirmed. Specific measures were put in place by Essex Police as further protests took place outside The Bell Hotel in Epping. A ban on face coverings and designated areas for protestors and counter-protestors were introduced to allow calm procedures. A group of protesters against The Bell Hotel formed at around 1pm and officers facilitated a march by a group of counter-protests from the tube station to their designated area at 4pm before escorting them back a short time later. Chief Superintendent Simon Anslow said: 'I want to thank those who attended for the peaceful nature of both protests. 'Our role is to ensure that you can express your democratic right to protest safely and lawfully and we had a proportionate and robust plan in place to ensure that could happen. 'I am pleased that today has passed off without incident and I am grateful to our colleagues from other forces for their support.' A police spokesman confirmed three arrests were made on Sunday. A 52-year-old man from Loughton on suspicion of a public order offence, a 53-year-old Loughton woman, from the anti-hotel protest group, on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence connected with a previous protest, and a 27-year-old woman, from the counter-protest group, on suspicion of criminal damage and a public order offence. They are all currently in custody.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Two men charged after asylum hotel protest in Diss
Two men have been charged with public order offences following a protest outside a hotel housing asylum-seeking families. They were arrested on Saturday after police reviewed footage from both sides of the protest in Diss, Norfolk on Monday. James Harvey, 22, of Linden Drive in Hethersett was charged with a racially aggravated public order offence. Luke Sharman, 23, of Harcourt Close, Norwich was charged with a racially aggravated public order offence and possession of cannabis. Both were bailed and are due at Norwich Magistrates' Court on 16 September. About 150 protesters gathered outside the hotel, which is currently housing asylum-seeking holding signs that read "refugees welcome" also attended. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Kemumin raid based on credible intelligence, police say
Kelantan police chief Yusoff Mamat advised the public not to spread unverified information and to continue cooperating with the authorities to preserve harmony in the state. (Bernama pic) KOTA BHARU : Police say the recent raid on a private gathering at a homestay in Kemumin was based on valid intelligence and evidence, with no intent of discrimination. Kelantan police chief Yusoff Mamat said the operation was carried out to maintain public order and safeguard moral values. He said intelligence revealed that invitations to the event, 'Majlis Malam Mesra Komuniti & Santai-Santai', were shared via WhatsApp within a select group, with no involvement by any official body such as an NGO or the health ministry. 'On the day of the event, the Kelantan police task force began surveillance at 5pm and observed around 100 individuals gathering to eat and socialise. The raid was carried out at about 1am to ensure public safety,' he said in a statement. He added that 20 individuals at the premises admitted to being part of the gay community, including a man from Perak and a student from a higher education institution in Besut, Terengganu. The rest were locals from Kelantan. Yusoff said checks of the participants' mobile phones found three individuals in possession of pornographic videos involving same-sex acts. 'All three were charged under Section 292 of the Penal Code and pleaded guilty in the Kota Bharu magistrates' court on July 20. They were fined between RM3,000 and RM4,000,' he said. The raid also uncovered hundreds of condoms and several boxes of HIV medication. Yusoff advised the public not to spread unverified information and to continue cooperating with the authorities to preserve harmony in the state. On Monday, the Kelantan government reminded all parties to inform local authorities and the relevant agencies before organising any events, to avoid confusion, misunderstanding, and negative public perceptions. Deputy menteri besar Mohamed Fadzli Hassan said that events, including health-related programmes, should be conducted properly and in accordance with procedures and regulations.
