https://arab.news/8e7a6
- Protests against ban on group held across the UK including in Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol
- Hearing into legal challenge to the group’s terrorism designation to be held Monday
LONDON: More than 50 protesters have been arrested in central London supporting the banned group Palestine Action.
Protests were held across the UK on Saturday, including in Manchester, Edinburgh and Bristol after the group was outlawed as a terrorist organization.
The main demonstration was in Parliament Square in Westminster, where numerous people held up signs reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
Supporting a proscribed group in the UK is illegal. The protesters in London were detained under Section 13 of the UK’s Terrorism Act, which carries a possible jail term of six years.
On X the Metropolitan Police stated: “55 people were arrested in Parliament Square for displaying placards in support of Palestine Action which is a proscribed group.”
Eight people were also arrested in Truro, Cornwall for a similar protest. Several others were detained in Manchester.
Defend Our Juries, the group behind the protests, said before the demonstrations that 120 people in the UK had been arrested for supporting Palestine Action so far.
The group was banned after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton on June 20, causing an estimated £7 million ($9.38 million) of damage to military aircraft.
Membership of direct support for Palestine Action now carries a prison term of up to 14 years. Displaying the group’s name on clothing could lead to a six-month jail sentence.
A hearing into a permission to bring a judicial review into the ban will be held at the High Court in London on Monday.