London [UK], May 7: British police have been heavily criticised over the "incredibly alarming" arrests of Republican protesters ahead of the King's coronation. Campaign groups said Saturday's arrests, including that of the chief executive of the 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 7 am (0600 GMT), 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. In one video, an officer said: "I'm not going to get into a conversation about that, they are under arrest, end of." Just Stop Oil told the PA news agency that approximately 13 protesters were arrested on the Mall before 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 several 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 some of their supporters were apprehended on Saturday at a training session "miles away from the coronation". Nathan McGovern, the 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 instructed to apprehend people with megaphones.
Source: Qatar Tribune