Protesters opposing the banning of a pro-Palestine group have been told not to give police officers their details at a demonstration next month, with organisers saying it will not be “practically possible” to arrest all of them.
Defend Our Juries, which is behind the planned protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square on September 6, has also briefed attendees to “go floppy” if arrested so officers must carry them away.
The group says the action will go ahead if 1,000 people sign-up online to attend, with signees required to pledge “I understand that joining this action comes with risk of arrest and other legal consequences”.
Close to 3,000 have expressed interest in joining, organisers say.
Previous Defend Our Juries protests have seen demonstrators peacefully holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
Earlier this month, a demonstration in Parliament Square saw 521 people arrested for displaying placards in support of a proscribed organisation, the Metropolitan Police said.
The majority of those arrested, 348, were aged 50 or over.
A briefing document for September 6 has recommended that attendees refuse to comply with the “charade” of street bail, in which officers arrest demonstrators and bail them to attend a police station on another day.
Organisers say officers will have to take protesters to a police station if they do not give their details to them.
They also suggest that demonstrators do not walk with police if arrested, adding: “If they insist on arresting us, they will have to carry us.”
The document reads: “It will not be practically possible for the police to arrest 1,000 non-compliant people on the same day, and that is the strategic rationale behind non-compliance, it increases pressure on the state.”
Defend Our Juries spokesman Tim Crosland said: “We’re not setting out to manipulate the system, we’re trying to preserve due process rights, which is what normally happens.
“It’s a very bizarre state of affairs that people should be arrested for a Terrorism Act charge and then five minutes later they’re back on the street, and they haven’t even been interviewed. It’s not serious. It’s not real.”
Protests are set to continue until a High Court challenge over Palestine Action’s ban in November.
The move to ban the group came after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, which police said caused about £7 million worth of damage.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action three days later, saying the vandalism of the planes was “disgraceful” and the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage”.
Membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act 2000.
It comes as Amnesty International UK said it has written letters addressed to the UK’s chief prosecutors, calling for no further action against all those arrested at Defend Our Juries protests.
Its chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said: “The UK’s prosecutors must end the prosecutions of these peaceful protesters and make clear that they won’t be bringing charges against those arrested.
“Peaceful protest is a fundamental right. People are understandably outraged by the ongoing genocide being committed in Gaza and are entitled under international human rights law to express their horror.”
