Arrests ahead of coronation spark criticism of police action
POLICE have been heavily criticised over the “incredibly alarming” arrests of Republican protesters ahead of the King’s coronation.
Campaign groups said yesterday’s arrests, including that of the chief executive of anti-monarchy group Republic, were “something you would expect to see in Moscow, not London”.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed four people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance on St Martin’s Lane and that lock-on devices were seized – a move described by human rights organisation Liberty as “a dangerous precedent for us as a democratic nation”.
Just after 7am, footage of Republic chief executive Graham Smith was posted on Twitter which showed him among the demonstrators apprehended on St Martin’s Lane near Trafalgar Square.
Just Stop Oil told the PA news agency approximately 13 protesters were arrested on the Mall ahead of the coronation.
A spokeswoman for the campaign group said five demonstrators were also arrested at Downing Street and one at Piccadilly.
Footage from the Mall showed the Just Stop Oil protesters being handcuffed and taken away by a heavy police presence.
The force also said they made a number of breaching-the-peace arrests in the area of Carlton House Terrace and a further three arrests in the Wellington
Arch area on suspicion of possessing articles to cause criminal damage.
Animal Rising said a number of their supporters were apprehended while at a training session “miles away from the coronation”.
Nathan McGovern, spokesman for the campaign group, described the arrests as “nothing short of a totalitarian crackdown on free speech and all forms of dissent”.
Human Rights Watch labelled the arrests “incredibly alarming”, adding: “This is something you would expect to see in Moscow, not London.”
Amnesty International’s chief executive Sacha Deshmukh also raised concerns after police were reportedly given instructions to apprehend people with megaphones.
On Wednesday the Met said they would have an “extremely low threshold” for protests during the coronation celebrations, and that demonstrators could expect “swift action”.
Under the controversial new Public Order Act, protesters who have an object with the intention of using it to “lock on” are liable to a fine, with those who block roads facing 12 months in prison.
Critics previously hit out at plans from the Met to use facial recognition software on crowds to assist their policing operations.
An official letter warning of the new powers was sent to Republic, which said its campaign around the coronation would proceed as planned.