{"id":348964,"date":"2025-08-16T10:58:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T10:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/348964\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T10:58:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T10:58:11","slug":"police-issue-warning-over-palestine-action-placards-or-clothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/348964\/","title":{"rendered":"Police issue warning over Palestine Action placards or clothing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Police have warned protesters carrying placards or wearing clothing showing support for Palestine Action at demonstrations in Northern Ireland that they may be committing an offence.<\/p>\n<p>PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Anthony McNally urged anyone taking part in protests this weekend in the region to ensure they act within the law.<\/p>\n<p>Last weekend, a 74-year-old woman was arrested for wearing a Palestine Action T-shirt in Belfast at an anti-racism rally.<\/p>\n<p>Palestine Action was proscribed by the UK Government in July, with the ban meaning that membership of, or support for, the group is a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act 2000.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"525\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Police have a role in facilitating freedom of expression such as public protest, but this must be peaceful and lawful and not disrupt the local community. For advice on safe and lawful protest and what police will do visit <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/a5IPmxppiw\">https:\/\/t.co\/a5IPmxppiw<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dbHaj1F8oE\">pic.twitter.com\/dbHaj1F8oE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Police Service NI (@PoliceServiceNI) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PoliceServiceNI\/status\/1956325567109763313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">August 15, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>More than 500 people were arrested last weekend on suspicion of displaying an item in support of a proscribed group as demonstrations took place in central London.<\/p>\n<p>Mr McNally said: \u201cThe right to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are fundamental human rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are protected in law and allow individuals to engage in peaceful protest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHowever, these rights are limited by the need to uphold the rights of others, protect public health and safety, minimise disruption to normal life and by the need to prevent and detect crime.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The senior officer said the PSNI would facilitate \u201clawful, peaceful protest\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cWe will be in attendance at several protests this weekend to ensure the safety of everyone present.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we identify potential criminal offences or unacceptable impact on the rights of others, we will take lawful and proportionate action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf an offence is suspected we will record evidence eg by way of handheld or vehicle mounted-cameras and where possible warn persons suspected of committing an offence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe may arrest and detain anyone suspected of committing an offence. Ultimately, the decision on whether to prosecute will rest with the Public Prosecution Service.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr McNally pointed out that Palestine Action is proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cThis has no impact on other groups\u2019 or individuals\u2019 right to protest about Gaza, but anyone showing support for Palestine Action, including with placards or messages on clothing, may be committing an offence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would urge everyone to consider the seriousness of a prosecution under the Terrorism Act and the very real long-term implications this could have on their future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 74-year-old woman arrested in Belfast last weekend was later released pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service. She had been wearing a T-shirt which said \u201cWe are all Palestine Action\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1755272126698_1.jpg--.jpg\" width=\"640\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Amnesty International has called on the PSNI\u00a0to \u201cuphold people\u2019s right to protest against the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said: \u201cThe police must be clear that they have obligations under the Human Rights Act and international law to facilitate the right to peaceful protest.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCarrying out arrests for peaceful expression on this issue would be a violation of international human rights law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInstead of criminalising peaceful demonstrators, the UK Government should be focusing on taking immediate action to put a stop to Israel\u2019s genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT &#8211; CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<p>          <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police have warned protesters carrying placards or wearing clothing showing support for Palestine Action at demonstrations in Northern&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348965,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[65498,123517,2194,1144,83400,1618,123518,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-348964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-amnesty-international","9":"tag-anthony-mcnally","10":"tag-gaza","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-palestine-action","13":"tag-psni","14":"tag-public-prosecution-service","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115038093708202578","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348964","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=348964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348964\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}