Police arrested 325 people during Saturday’s demonstration outside the US embassy in London against the ban on Palestine Action, The Guardian reports, citing police. In an updated tally, the Metropolitan Police said 320 of those arrested were suspected of expressing support for the proscribed organisation.
The protest took place on 31 October in Battersea, south London. The Metropolitan Police, London’s police force, released the updated figures on Sunday 1 November. It said the 320 arrests related to suspected support for an organisation proscribed under the Terrorism Act. Arrest on suspicion of an offence does not establish guilt or amount to a conviction.
The Guardian’s report does not explain the grounds for the other five arrests. The same suspicion therefore cannot be attributed to all 325 people arrested.
Protest ahead of planned court hearing
The demonstration formed part of a campaign of mass civil disobedience against the Palestine Action ban organised by Defend Our Juries. According to the group, Saturday’s protest brought the total number of arrests for alleged support for the organisation since the ban was introduced to 4,200. That figure is the organisers’ tally, quoted by the newspaper, rather than a total supplied in Sunday’s police update.
The dispute over the ban is due to go before the UK Supreme Court. The Guardian reports that the hearing is scheduled to begin on the Wednesday following publication and conclude on Thursday, with a judgment to be issued later. The scheduled hearing does not determine the outcome of the case or change the ban currently in force.
