United Nations<\/a>, Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have called the ban an overreach that risks stifling free speech.<\/p>\nDirector of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson said the latest decisions were the \u201cfirst significant numbers\u201d from recent demonstrations, adding: \u201cMany more can be expected in the next few weeks. People should be clear about the real-life consequences for anyone choosing to support Palestine Action.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s Equality and Human Rights Commission has also warned against a \u201cheavy-handed\u201d approach, urging the government and police to ensure protest policing is proportionate and guided by clear legal tests.<\/p>\n
The initial three prosecutions earlier this month stemmed from arrests during a July demonstration, with defendants charged under the Terrorism Act. Police said convictions for such offences could carry sentences of up to six months in prison, along with other penalties.<\/p>\n
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley praised the rapid coordination between officers and prosecutors, saying he was \u201cproud of how our police and CPS teams have worked so speedily together to overcome misguided attempts to overwhelm the justice system\u201d.<\/p>\n
Home Office Minister Yvette Cooper defended the Labour government\u2019s decision to proscribe Palestine Action, stating: \u201cUK national security and public safety must always be our top priority. The assessments are very clear, this is not a non-violent organisation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group was banned days after claiming responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England, which the government claims caused an estimated 7 million pounds ($9.3 million) in damage to two aircraft. The home office has accused it of other \u201cserious attacks\u201d involving \u201cviolence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage\u201d.<\/p>\n
Palestine Action has said its actions target the United Kingdom\u2019s indirect military support for Israel amid the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s Liberal Democrats voiced \u201cdeep concern\u201d over using \u201canti-terrorism powers\u201d against peaceful protesters.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated in several UK cities for nearly two years, calling for an end to Israel\u2019s war on Gaza and for the British government to stop all weapons sales to the country.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last month that the UK will recognise the state of Palestine<\/a> by September unless Israel takes \u201csubstantive steps\u201d to end its war on Gaza and commits to a lasting peace process. Many who have been protesting to end Palestinian suffering have said the move is too little, too late.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since the controversial ban on July 7, more than 700 people have been detained at peaceful protests. London\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,18319,20087,30,188,393,299,1234,4884,4582,837,7424,839,12,1144,1814,529,285,2579,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-347645","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-censorship","11":"tag-civil-rights","12":"tag-courts","13":"tag-crime","14":"tag-england","15":"tag-europe","16":"tag-government","17":"tag-great-britain","18":"tag-human-rights","19":"tag-israel","20":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","21":"tag-middle-east","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-northern-ireland","24":"tag-palestine","25":"tag-police","26":"tag-politics","27":"tag-protests","28":"tag-scotland","29":"tag-uk","30":"tag-united-kingdom","31":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115035191698588926","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}