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LONDON: Police in the UK have apologized to a protester wrongly threatened with arrest under terrorism legislation.

Laura Murton, 43, had held signs saying “free Gaza” and “Israel is committing genocide” on July 14 in the English city of Canterbury. 

She was accosted by armed officers who claimed she was supporting banned group Palestine Action, and who threatened to arrest her unless she provided her name and personal address.

Murton filmed the incident as it happened, during which an officer told her: “Mentioning freedom of Gaza, Israel, genocide, all of that all come under proscribed groups, which are terror groups that have been dictated by the government.”

The officer added that stating “free Gaza” was “supportive of Palestine Action” and that “to express an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organization, namely Palestine Action, is an offence under section 12(1A) of the Terrorism Act.”

Palestine Action was proscribed earlier this year after a series of incidents, including a break-in at a Royal Air Force base.

Subsequent protests across the UK have featured demonstrators holding signs explicitly stating their support for the group, which is a criminal offense.

Kent Police apologized to Murton, including for “unlawful false imprisonment” and processing of her personal data, and agreed to delete the data and pay her damages and legal costs.

Chief Constable Tim Smith admitted in a letter to Murton that his officers had breached her rights to free speech as well as national counterterrorism policing guidelines.

“The chief constable apologises for any distress you may have suffered as a result of this incident and confirms that any materially similar protest to that which you undertook on 14 July 2025 would not give rise to any grounds to suspect an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000,” the letter said.

Murton said she would donate any damages received to pro-Palestine causes. “People should continue to exercise their lawful right to protest in support of Palestinian people despite the proscription of Palestine Action,” she added.

“I hope this case serves as a reminder to chief constables across the country that there should be no unlawful interference with those protest rights.”

Her lawyer Shamik Dutta said: “This is the first time a chief constable has been compelled to pay damages and offer an apology arising from the unlawful policing of the proscription of Palestine Action.

“Regrettably, Ms Murton’s experience is not unique and given the national failure of police forces to respect rights to free speech in this context, her case is unlikely to be the last.”

MANILA: Half of Filipinos believe former President Rodrigo Duterte should be held accountable at the International Criminal Court over his controversial anti-drug campaign, an opinion poll showed on Monday.

Duterte, 80, has been in ICC custody since March, awaiting trial in relation to his administration’s “war on drugs” from 2016 to 2022, which ICC prosecutors estimate had resulted in the extrajudicial killing of 30,000 people.

The new survey, conducted by Social Weather Stations, an independent Philippine polling group, asked respondents how much they “agree or disagree that former President Rodrigo Duterte should be held accountable in the International Criminal Court for the killings related to illegal drugs during his administration?”

It found that 50 percent of respondents agreed Duterte should be held responsible, 32 percent disagreed, 15 percent were undecided and 4 percent said they did not know enough to answer.

Support for accountability was highest in Visayas, 54 percent, and Metro Manila, 53 percent. In Mindanao – where the former president traces his political roots and despite detention won the mayoral election in May – the support for his trial was the lowest at 39 percent.

The survey was conducted nationwide from Sept. 24-30, sampling 1,500 adults with a margin of error of three percentage points.

It comes as the ICC last week rejected Duterte’s appeal for interim release.

In a ruling issued on Friday, the court’s pre-trial chamber said it found that Duterte’s detention “remains necessary” to ensure his appearance at trial, prevent him from obstructing the investigation or proceedings and to stop potential commission of further crimes.

It cited Duterte’s repeated rejection of the court’s authority and public statements by his family, including Vice President Sara Duterte, and supporters.

“More specifically, the chamber notes that on July 19, 2025, Mr. Duterte’s daughter mentioned in public speeches the idea of breaking Mr. Duterte out of the ICC Detention Center,” the ruling said.

The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019, as the court’s prosecutors began to investigate Duterte’s “war on drugs.” Despite the withdrawal, the court has issued an arrest warrant against the former president, as it still keeps jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while the country was a member.