Demonstrators maintain placards throughout a protest in assist of the Palestinian Folks in Gaza, in Parliament Sq., in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.
Alberto Pezzali/AP
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Alberto Pezzali/AP
LONDON — London police stated Sunday that 532 folks have been arrested the day past when supporters of a pro-Palestinian group not too long ago outlawed as a terrorist group deliberately broke the regulation to check the federal government’s capability to implement the ban.
The Metropolitan Police Service launched the up to date figures as protestors demanding the speedy launch of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza held their very own march by central London on Sunday afternoon.
The overwhelming majority of these detained on Saturday have been arrested for displaying placards declaring their assist for the group referred to as Palestine Motion. Police up to date their earlier totals and stated 522 folks have been arrested for supporting a proscribed group in violation of anti-terror legal guidelines. One other 10 folks have been arrested on quite a lot of expenses, together with assaulting and obstructing cops.
Backers of Palestine Motion staged the protest to underscore their perception that the federal government is illegally proscribing freedom of expression by banning a direct motion group that has challenged its insurance policies.
Dwelling Secretary Yvette Cooper, who oversees regulation enforcement in Britain, rejected that characterization, saying Palestine Motion was banned after committing critical assaults involving violence, vital accidents and intensive prison harm.
“The right to protest is one we protect fiercely but this is very different from displaying support for this one specific and narrow, proscribed organization,” Cooper stated in a press release. “Many people may not yet know the reality of this organization, but the assessments are very clear, this is not a nonviolent organization,” she added.
Cops arrest a demonstrator throughout a protest in assist of the Palestinian Folks in Gaza, in Parliament Sq., in London, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2025.
Alberto Pezzali/AP
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Alberto Pezzali/AP
Police launched up to date info on the Palestine Motion protest after the entrance pages of Sunday newspapers featured images of aged protesters being carted off by officers.
A kind of was La Pethick, an 89-year-old retired psychotherapist, who advised the Instances of London that she had the assist of her 5 grandchildren. “We are having our right to peaceful protest being taken away,” she stated.
Nearly half of these arrested have been over the age of 60, in accordance with figures launched by the Met.
Police stated the method of deciding whether or not to file expenses in opposition to these arrested is prone to take weeks as officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command put collectively case recordsdata and search approval from prosecutors, and in some circumstances the legal professional basic.
Parliament voted to ban Palestine Motion after activists broke right into a Royal Air Drive base and broken two tanker planes to protest British assist for the battle in Gaza. Palestine Motion had beforehand focused Israeli protection contractors and different websites in Britain that they imagine have hyperlinks with the Israeli navy.
Supporters of Palestine Motion are difficult the ban in court docket, arguing that the federal government has violated human rights legal guidelines by in declaring the group a terrorist group.
