LONDON: Police have arrested five key spokespeople for Defend Our Juries during dawn raids in London over protests against the Palestine Action ban.
The organisation campaigns against the UK government’s July 5 designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist group under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Defend Our Juries had organised several demonstrations against the contentious ban, resulting in hundreds of arrests under anti-terror laws.
The campaigners postponed an online press conference scheduled for Tuesday following what they called a dystopian crackdown.
“This is scandalous,“ a spokesperson said, calling the arrests an unprecedented assault on free speech in our country.
“This level of political repression is not what we expect in a democracy — it’s the kind of tactic typically associated with authoritarian regimes around the world,“ the spokesperson added.
London’s Metropolitan Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the arrests.
Defend Our Juries vowed to continue with its planned demonstration on Saturday in Parliament Square despite the arrests.
The group claims one thousand people have pledged to hold signs saying “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” at the upcoming protest.
More than seven hundred people have been arrested at previous protests over the last two months for showing support for a proscribed organisation.
Police confirmed on Monday that forty seven more people had been accused of showing support for a banned group.
This brings the total number of charged Palestine Action supporters to one hundred fourteen under anti-terror legislation.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper accuses Palestine Action of orchestrating aggressive and intimidatory attacks against businesses, institutions and the public.
The group’s outlawing followed its claim of responsibility for breaking into a Royal Air Force base in June and spraying two aircraft with red paint.
The incident caused an estimated seven million pounds in damage according to authorities.
Palestine Action said its activists were protesting Britain’s support for Israel amid the war in Gaza.
Critics including the United Nations, Amnesty International and Greenpeace have condemned the group’s proscription as legal overreach and a threat to free speech. – AFP