Fifty-five arrests at Palestine Motion ban protests

[ad_1] Fifty-five arrests have been made at two protests towards Palestine Motion being proscribed a terror group, police have stated.

The Metropolitan Police made 41 arrests on suspicion of displaying assist for a proscribed organisation, with one particular person additionally arrested for widespread assault, throughout a protest in London.

South Wales Police arrested 13 folks throughout a protest close to Central Sq. in Cardiff, all on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation.

Palestine Motion was proscribed by the federal government beneath the Terrorism Act of 2000 as of final Saturday, which means membership of or assist for the group is a prison offence.

Twenty-nine folks had been arrested at the same protest in London final weekend.

Two teams of protesters gathered in Parliament Sq. within the capital shortly after 13:00 BST on Saturday.

Some held placards bearing the phrases: "I oppose genocide, I assist Palestine Motion."

Demonstrators had been additionally seen mendacity on prime of one another whereas cops searched luggage, taking ID playing cards and handmade indicators.

Police carried a few of the protesters away and led others into police vans - with the final protester being faraway from the Nelson Mandela statue simply after 14:30 BST.

Palestine Motion has engaged in actions which have predominantly focused arms corporations for the reason that begin of the present struggle in Gaza.

The transfer to proscribe the organisation got here after two Voyager plane had been sprayed with paint by activists who broke into RAF Brize Norton in June - an incident for which the group claimed accountability.

Four people have since been remanded into custody charged with conspiracy to commit prison injury and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a goal prejudicial to the protection or pursuits of the UK.

One other girl, beforehand arrested on suspicion of helping an offender, has been launched on bail, whereas a person was launched with out cost.

The incident additionally prompted a safety overview throughout UK army airbases.

In July, MPs voted to amend laws to proscribe Palestine Motion as a terrorist organisation.

Residence Secretary Yvette Cooper stated the group had a "lengthy historical past" of prison injury.

"Its exercise has elevated in frequency and severity [since 2024]," she added.

"The UK's defence enterprise is significant to the nation's nationwide safety and this authorities is not going to tolerate people who put that safety in danger."

However critics have accused the federal government of misusing the laws, and have questioned whether or not Palestine Motion ought to be thought-about a terrorist group.

A authorized problem making an attempt to briefly block the proscription failed.

Raza Husain KC, barrister for Palestine Motion's co-founder Huda Ammori, advised a court docket that banning the group would represent an "authoritarian abuse" of energy.

Marketing campaign group Defend Our Juries, which stated it had organised Saturday's London protest, stated different demonstrations had been taking place within the UK together with in Manchester and exterior the BBC's workplaces in Cardiff.

Israel launched a army marketing campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 assault by Hamas, by which about 1,200 folks had been killed and 251 others had been taken hostage.