Counter-terrorism police have arrested five of Defend Our Juries’ key spokespeople in dawn raids in London this morning (Tuesday 2 September) over Lift the Ban protests under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Defend Our Juries: more arrests

Tim Crosland was arrested just hours before he was due to hold a press conference announcing that the mass action against ‘terror’ ban on Palestine Action will proceed in Parliament Square on Saturday 6 September from 1pm as 1,000 people have pledged to hold signs saying ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’.

Defend Our Juries is announcing that the mass action will go ahead on Saturday despite the targeted arrest of key spokespeople.

The arrests include young law student Paddy Friend, who was due to speak at the press conference alongside Tim Crosland:

The press conference had been well publicised and the authorities knew it was taking place. Organisers for Defend Our Juries were due to announce in the press conference today that they have given the Lift the Ban action the green light after over 1,000 people signed the pledge committing to hold the signs, which is double the number of those arrested on 9 August, presenting a significant challenge for police resources. Based on expressions of interest from thousands of people, organisers expect numbers could be as high as 1,500.

Paddy recently said in an interview with BBC “Palestine Action protest could ruin my career but I felt I had to do it”.

Witnesses of the raid on Paddy Friend’s home said they were told by police that they were arresting Paddy Friend under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act because he had hosted a zoom call with other members of Defend Our Juries, which corresponds with what other key spokespeople arrested were told.

These Zoom calls were public calls to provide legal briefings to those who signed up to take part in actions holding signs saying ‘I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action’. No one has been arrested for joining the Zoom calls – only the hosts of Zoom calls.

The press conference is postponed until 2pm tomorrow. In the meantime, other Defend Our Juries spokespeople are available for interview today.

Scandalous

A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said:

This is scandalous. Locking up our key spokespeople just hours before they were due to hold a press conference announcing more peaceful Lift the Ban protests constitutes an unprecedented assault on free speech in our country. This level of political repression is not what we expect in a democracy – it’s the kind of tactic typically associated with authoritarian regimes around the world.

Despite this dystopian crackdown targeting perceived organisers of peaceful protests, the mass action will go ahead, with 1,000 people pledging to hold signs. The mass defiance of the unjust ban on Palestine Action is unstoppable.

The Home Office and the Met would have known about our press conference today. The counter-terrorism police are clearly targeting people they perceive as organisers, and the key spokespeople arrested were told they were being arrested for hosting public Zoom calls. No one has been arrested for joining the Zoom calls – only the hosts – and we will be holding another Zoom call tonight ahead of our action on Saturday.

Last month ahead of our mass action on 9 August the Home Office and the Met Police tried to disrupt the organising of peaceful protest and deter people from taking part, including by taking down Zoom links for our public meetings, briefing the press that they had freed up prison places ahead of our action, and charging people under terrorism legislation. But it backfired spectacularly, inspiring hundreds more to join our action in Parliament Square and driving thousands to sign up on our website. Yvette Cooper’s scare tactics did not work last time and they won’t work this time. As the world’s leading genocide scholars declare that Israel is waging a genocide, this will only add to the mounting public outcry against the ban on Palestine Action which was disrupting the flow of arms enabling that genocide. A law so blatantly unjust and facing such widespread opposition across the political spectrum, is impossible to enforce and the government will be forced to abandon it.

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