2023-05-08 21:25:42
Coronation Charles III
Police ‘regret’ arrest of anti-monarchy protesters
London police said on Monday evening they “regret” that the six anti-monarchy protesters arrested on Saturday were unable to demonstrate as they had planned.
Published
Anti-monarchy protesters hold signs near the ‘King’s Procession’, a 2 kilometer journey between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, in London on May 6, 2023.
AFP
Early Saturday morning, six members of the anti-monarchy group Republic, including leader Graham Smith, were arrested in central London as they marched to Trafalagar Square to demonstrate at the King’s Pass. The police had also seized their placards. They were released late on Saturday, more than sixteen hours after their arrest, drawing heavy criticism.
In a press release Monday evening, the London police justified themselves by explaining that they had arrested six people “suspected of being equipped to chain themselves”. Under a law that came into force on Wednesday, criticized at the UN, British police can arrest people in possession of equipment that could be used to chain themselves on public roads.
London police add, however, that “the investigation could not prove the intention to use (the seized objects) to chain themselves and disrupt the demonstration.” “We regret that the six people arrested were unable to join the group of demonstrators in Trafalgar Square and elsewhere on the route of the procession,” concludes Scotland Yard, stressing that no prosecution would be initiated.
sharp criticism
The arrest of Graham Smith and five other Republic members on Saturday was heavily criticized by the hundreds of anti-monarchy protesters who had gathered to boo the carriage carrying Charles III to Westminster Abbey.
“It’s something you expect to see in Moscow, not London.”
Human Rights Watch
“It’s something you expect to see in Moscow, not in London,” the human rights organization Human Rights Watch also reacted. Graham Smith tweeted that three police officers attended his home on Monday evening and issued an apology. “The excuse is not accepted,” he said.
Earlier in the day he had criticized the new Public Order Act, which he said was introduced ‘to give them the power to arrest us on any frivolous pretext’. “We no longer have the right to demonstrate in this country, we only have the freedom to demonstrate with the permission of the police and politicians,” he told the BBC.
In total, London police made 64 arrests on the day of the King’s coronation, including environmental activists.
(AFP)
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