UK: Protestors prepare to defy Palestine Action ban in shows of support
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.
The protestors plan to hold signs reading: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."
This follows the arrest of 29 people under Terrorism Act Section 13, 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.
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DOJ said in a statement that the arrests will not deter further expressions of support for Palestine Action, emphasising that 'even more people have been emboldened by the Metropolitan Police's absurd overreach, and there are more waiting to take the same action the following Saturday'.
The government passed legislation banning Palestine Action as a proscribed group on 4 July, making membership of and support for it 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 local time on Saturday.
The move 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 DOJ, 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.
DOJ said 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 their actions could incur custodial sentences of up to 14 years.
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