LONDON: British armed police threatened a peaceful protester with arrest under the Terrorism Act after accusing her of supporting Palestine Action, the activist group that was banned earlier this month.
Laura Murton, 42, held signs saying “Free Gaza” and “Israel is committing genocide” at the demonstration in the city of Canterbury, The Guardian reported on Thursday.
Officers told her that she had expressed views supporting Palestine Action. Neither of the signs held by Murton mentioned the group by name.
Murton, who filmed her encounter with the armed police officers, asked whether she supported any banned groups and replied: “I do not.”
One officer told her: “Mentioning freedom of Gaza, Israel, genocide, all of that — all come under proscribed groups, which are terror groups that have been dictated by the government.” He added that the phrase “Free Gaza” expressed support for Palestine Action.
The government’s proscription of the group means it is an offense to express support for it and is punishable by law.
The officer accused Murton of committing that offense, and said she would be arrested unless she provided her name and address, which she did.
Murton told The Guardian: “I don’t see how anything I was wearing, how anything I was displaying, anything I was saying, could be deemed as supportive of the proscribed group.
“It’s terrifying. I was standing there thinking, this is the most authoritarian, dystopian experience I’ve had in this country, being told that I’m committing terrorist offenses by two guys with firearms.
“I ended up giving my details, and I really resent the fact I had to do that because I don’t think that was lawful at all.”
Lawyer’s representing Palestine Action’s co-founder, Huda Ammori, said in court submissions that the group’s proscription would likely produce a “wide chilling effect on speech and assembly of those seeking to speak out against Israel’s serious violations of international law.”
One of the officers who confronted Murton said: “We could have jumped out, arrested you, dragged you off in a van.” The police were “trying to be fair” in dealing with her, he added.
Murton said she was motivated to protest because “day to day, people are getting killed (in Gaza), and I can’t handle that … I can’t handle sitting and doing nothing.”
Amnesty International UK’s law and human rights director, Tom Southerden, described the footage as “very concerning.”
He added: “We have long criticized UK terrorism law for being excessively broad and vaguely worded and a threat to freedom of expression. This video documents one aspect of exactly the kind of thing we were warning about.”
