Latest news with #DefendOurJuries
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Divided UK police response to Palestine Action protests exposes 'chaos' of ban
Activists who staged nationwide protests in solidarity with direct action group Palestine Action over the weekend said that widely differing police responses 'exposed a stark divide' and are 'indicative of the chaos' unleashed by the British government's order to proscribe the group. On Saturday, 86 people were arrested under the Terrorism Act for holding signs reading, 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,' at protests in cities across the UK, including London, Manchester, Cardiff, and Derry. 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. But according to the campaign group Defend Our Juries (DOJ), the policing response to the protests varied widely across cities, with police in Kendal and Derry making no arrests, while in Cardiff, the South Wales police treated the protest as if 'it were a serious terrorist incident'. Police officers carry a detained demonstrator during a protest calling for the de-proscription of the Palestine Action group, in Manchester, England, on 12 July 2025 (Reuters)
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Palestine Action protesters arrested in Cardiff released on bail
The 13 people arrested during a protest against Palestine Action being designated a proscribed terror group in Cardiff have been released on bail. The individuals were held on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act at the protest in the vicinity of Central Square on Saturday, South Wales Police (SWP) said. They were among more than 70 people arrested at Palestine Action protests across England and Wales on the same day. BREAKING IN CARDIFF (Caerdydd) – Police are moving in on a group of 13 people who are sat outside the BBC Cymru HQ. The group are holding signs with 'I OPPOSE GENOCIDE – I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION' written on them. 46 arrests have already taken place in London for the same act. — Defend our Juries (@DefendourJuries) July 12, 2025 Protesters sat outside the BBC Cymru HQ and held signs that read 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action', according to campaign group Defend Our Juries, who organised the demonstration. In a statement on Sunday, the force confirmed that the individuals had been bailed but that an investigation into the incident, led by Counter Terrorism Policing Wales, was ongoing. They were detained for an initial 24-hour period in custody before a further maximum of 12 hours extension was granted on Sunday, SWP said. The terror group designation means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The move to ban the organisation came after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused about £7 million worth of damage. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action three days later, saying that the vandalism of the planes was 'disgraceful' and the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'.
Daily Tribune
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Tribune
Rallies spark UK wave of arrests
Police in several British cities yesterday arrested scores of people for supporting Palestine Action, following a second consecutive weekend of protests over the government's decision to the group using anti-terror laws. Campaign group Defend Our Juries, which had announced the rallies 'to defy' the ban, said 86 people had been arrested across five different cities. They included four vicars, a lawyer, a civil servant, a social worker, a mechanical engineer and the daughter of a Polish resistance fighter, as well as veterans of the 1960s civil rights movement, the group added. Accusations 'We will not be deterred from opposing genocide, nor from defending those who refuse to be bystanders,' the group said in a statement, referring to accusations levelled against Israel over its war in Gaza. The protesters were also taking a stand 'against the corruption of democracy and the rule of law', it added. In London, the Metropolitan Police said its officers had made 41 arrests for 'showing support for a proscribed organisation'. Assault Another person was arrested for common assault, the force added. Footage showed police moving in on a small group of protesters displaying signs supporting Palestine Action. They had gathered at lunchtime at the steps of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square. Offence Greater Manchester Police arrested 16 people, while officers in the Welsh capital Cardiff detained 13, all for the same offence under the 2000 Terrorism Act, both forces confirmed. 'South Wales Police supports the right for people to make their voices heard through protest providing it is done lawfully,' said a police statement. The other arrests occurred in the Northern Irish city Londonderry - also known as Derry - and Leeds, in northern England, according to Defend Our Juries. They come a week after 29 similar arrests at protests staged last Saturday, mainly in London. Crime Since the Palestine Action ban kicked in on July 5, police have warned that expressing support for the group was now a crime, after a last-ditch High Court challenge failed to stop its proscription becoming law. The government announced plans for the ban under the 2000 Terrorism Act days after the group's activists claimed to be behind a break-in at an air force base in southern England. Two aircraft there were sprayed with red paint, causing an estimated £7 million ($9.55 million) in damage.
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
Police arrest scores more Palestine Action supporters
LONDON: Police in several British cities on Saturday arrested scores of people for supporting Palestine Action, following a second consecutive weekend of protests over the government's decision to ban the activist group using anti-terror laws. Campaign group Defend Our Juries, which had announced the rallies "to defy" the ban, said 86 people had been arrested across five different cities. They included four vicars, a lawyer, a civil servant, a social worker, a mechanical engineer and the daughter of a Polish resistance fighter, as well as veterans of the 1960s civil rights movement, the group added. "We will not be deterred from opposing genocide, nor from defending those who refuse to be bystanders," the group said in a statement, referring to accusations levelled against Israel over its war in Gaza. The protesters were also taking a stand "against the corruption of democracy and the rule of law", it added. In London, the Metropolitan Police said its officers had made 41 arrests for "showing support for a proscribed organisation." Another person was arrested for common assault, the force added. Footage showed police moving in on a small group of protesters displaying signs supporting Palestine Action. They had gathered at lunchtime at the steps of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square. Greater Manchester Police arrested 16 people, while officers in the Welsh capital Cardiff detained 13, all for the same offence under the 2000 Terrorism Act, both forces confirmed. "South Wales Police supports the right for people to make their voices heard through protest providing it is done lawfully," said a police statement. The other arrests occurred in the Northern Irish city Londonderry – also known as Derry – and Leeds, in northern England, according to Defend Our Juries. They come a week after 29 similar arrests at protests staged last Saturday, mainly in London. Since the Palestine Action ban kicked in on July 5, police have warned that expressing support for the group was now a crime, after a last-ditch High Court challenge failed to stop its proscription becoming law. The government announced plans for the ban under the 2000 Terrorism Act days after the group's activists claimed to be behind a break-in at an air force base in southern England. Two aircraft there were sprayed with red paint, causing an estimated £7 million (US$9.55 million) in damage. Four people charged in relation to the incident remain in custody. Palestine Action has condemned its outlawing – which makes it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison – as an attack on free speech.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
More than 70 Palestine Action supporters arrested as group stages second wave of demonstrations in the capital
More than 70 Palestine Action supporters have been arrested after the group staged a second wave of demonstrations in the capital. Protesters gathered in central London on Saturday for the second consecutive week to oppose the decision to ban the campaign group. At the event organised by campaign group Defend Our Juries (DOJ), They raised handmade cardboard signs reading: 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.' Palestine Action was proscribed by the government under the Terrorism Act 2000 last Saturday. It means being a member of it or supporting it is a criminal offence - punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Some 41 people were arrested by the Metropolitan Police for showing support for a proscribed organisation while one person was arrested for common assault. Meanwhile, officers also arrested 29 people under the Terrorism Act 2000 across similar DOJ events in Manchester and Cardiff this weekend. It marks the second week of these demonstrations against this, after 29 people were arrested for holding the same signs in protests at Parliament Square last weekend. On Saturday, protesters, some of whom looked to be elderly, gathered in Westminster's Parliament Square at around 1pm. They sat on the steps of the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, with many wearing keffiyehs and making peace signs. They were surrounded by police officers, who began recording names, searching them and taking their signs and ID cards from them. All were eventually detained after an hour and a half, taken away into the series of police vans that surrounded Parliament Square. Two protesters lay on the floor and refused to be taken into custody - while the final arrest saw a woman in her twenties, wearing a keffiyeh, having to be carried away. As officers left, a remaining crowd continued to shout and wave Palestinian flags. The Met Police said on X they had already begun making arrests just after the protests began: 'We are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action. 'Officers are in the process of making arrests.' It had issued a warning before the event: 'There are a number of events planned around London this weekend. 'A reminder Palestine Action is now proscribed by the UK Government, and it is a criminal offence to invite or express support for a proscribed organisation. 'As we saw last week, those who do breach the law will face action.' The force has previously said it will act when offences, including by supporting proscribed groups through 'chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles such as flags, signs or logos', are committed. The DOJ protest in London took place alongside similar events in Manchester and Cardiff. South Wales Police arrested 13 people during a protest near the Welsh capital's Central Square, on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation. The force said it 'supports the right for people to make their voices heard through protest providing it is done lawfully'. Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Police took 16 people into custody under the same Act during a demonstration at Manchester's St Peter's Square. Greater Manchester Police took 16 people into custody on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation during a demonstration at Manchester's St Peter's Square. Pictured: A man with a clerical dog collar in the back of a police van after Saturday's protests in Manchester Another independent protest also took place in Derry, northern Ireland. Those taken into custody at events last weekend included an 83-year-old retired priest and an emergency worker. They were all detained for 12 hours before their release on bail without charge. Tim Crosland, a former government lawyer and DOJ campaigner, who took part in last week's protests, said: 'People have not been silenced by the arrests last week; they've not been intimidated.' A DOJ statement read this weekend's protest 'will show if the Met will have to adapt its tactics or clamp down even more strongly on any form of dissent'. The events denouncing government proscription of Palestine Action come after the High Court rejected DOJ's application for a temporary block on the ban pending judicial review. Raza Husain KC, barrister for Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori, said banning the group would be an 'authoritarian abuse' of power. But the High Court's decision was then upheld by the Court of Appeal, less than two hours before the proscription order was due to take effect. After the October 7 attacks by Hamas in 2023, which saw around 1,200 people killed and 251 taken hostage, Israel launched military retaliation. More than 57,800 have been killed in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry has said. Since the war began, Palestine Action has undertaken protests mainly targeting arms companies. But its proscription came when activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire last month to spray paint two aircraft, which the group claimed responsibility for. Four people have been remanded into custody charged with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the UK's safety or interests. Another woman who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender has been released on bail. A man has been released without charge. It prompted an urgent review of the security of other military airbases across the country. As MPs voted to amend legislation to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation earlier this month, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said it had a 'long history of criminal damage'. Denouncing its vandalism as 'disgraceful', she continued: 'Its activity has increased in frequency and severity [since 2024]. 'The UK's defence enterprise is vital to the nation's national security and this government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk.'
