A protest outside Westminster Magistrates' Court, February 13, 2025 (Photo via social media)
London, February 15 (RHC)-- Pro-justice demonstrators in London are calling on the Westminster Magistrates' Court to drop the charges against a man they believe was unjustly arrested and charged.
Chris Nineham, the founder of the anti-war group 'Stop the War Coalition', was apprehended, and later released, during a pro-Palestine march in central London on January 18, 2025.
One demonstrator outside the court, Kevin Courtney, the former General Secretary, National Education Union, told reporters: "I was on that demonstration with Chris. We broke no laws. This is an attempt to shut down the right to demonstrate, in particular to shut down the right to demonstrate about the outrage in Gaza."
Courtney went on to say that the arrests prompted clashes between demonstrators and the Metropolitan Police, who handcuffed 77 of them under the so-called Public Order Act, legislation which the demonstrators assert has given police too many powers.
Another protester, John Rees, a writer and activist, said: "[British] Police have been granted excessive powers, which are a threat to the right to free assembly, and that is a fault in the legislation, and it's a fault in the way in which the police are applying the legislation, they've overstepped the mark, even that [which] a bad piece of law gave them."
The reason behind the whole episode was the reversal on an agreement by the Metropolitan Police with the Palestine Solidarity demonstration organizers who had planned to march from the BBC building to White Hall, where the government offices are located. The Met's justification was the purported disruptions to a synagogue in the vicinity of the public broadcaster.
According to eyewitnesses, there's been no evidence of any threat to any synagogue.
The United States has given the green light for Israeli military plans to forcibly remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, sparking international backlash.
Ben Jamal, who was also charged with public order offenses, believes the aim of the police crackdown was to distract the public from the real reason for those demonstrations, which he says are now more crucial given US President Donald Trump's plans to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza.
The violent arrests in January came after 15 months of demonization by pro-Zionist politicians and the media in Britain. It is feared that, at this rate, Britons could find themselves in a situation where they may be arrested for simply expressing solidarity for Palestinians.
