untitled design

‘Not my king’: anti-monarchists face UK police crackdown

As thousands of people took to the streets of the UK to remember Queen Elizabeth II after her death last week, critics of the monarchy took the opportunity to protest, holding up signs such as “Not my king” – “Not my king”, a reference to the new King Charles III. Police intervened and, in some cases, arrested protesters, raising serious questions about the way some forces are cracking down on dissent in the country.

Liberty, a civil rights group, expressed its concern, saying in a statement: “It is very worrying to see the police applying their broad powers in such a heavy and punitive way to clamp down on free speech.”

THE CNN spoke to some of those who faced police action this week after publicly criticizing the royal family.

Symon Hill of Oxford was returning from church on Sunday around 12:30. The 45-year-old man told the CNN that the roads in the center of the city were cordoned off for a procession, making it difficult to cross the crowd. Realizing that the accession of King Charles III was about to be proclaimed by the local authorities, Hill decided to listen rather than insist on getting home.

“They started reading about Elizabeth II and expressing sadness at her death,” Hill said. “I certainly wouldn’t interrupt it. I have never intruded on an act of mourning. This is not something I would ever do.”

But when King Charles was declared “our only rightful lord,” Hill said he shouted, “Who elected him?”

“Only the people really close could have heard it. Some people told me to shut up. I replied that a Head of State is being imposed without our consent”, something he found “hard to swallow”.

Hill said he was “shocked” by what happened next, describing how he was pushed around by security. “Then the police intervened, grabbed me, handcuffed me and put me in the back of a police van,” he said. “It’s probably not been more than five minutes since I yelled ‘who elected him?’”

Hill said that once he was in the police van, he repeatedly asked officers under what law he was being arrested. “They didn’t seem to be quite sure, which is quite worrying. Certainly arbitrary arrest is not something we should have in a democratic society.”

Hill said he was given conflicting reasons for his arrest, as the police weren’t sure whether to take him into custody.

“After many officers talking to each other and their superiors through their radios, the officer in the van with me told me that I would be detained and taken home, but that I would be contacted and asked for an interview at a later date. He said I could still be accused of something. Even at this point, they did not respond to my questions about which law I had been arrested under.”

Hill said he was told by officers on the way home that he had been arrested under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act of 2022, a controversial legislation introduced this year that extends police powers to quell protests.

However, a statement from Thames Valley Police to CNN on Wednesday said Hill had been arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act of 1986, which covers crimes that cause “harassment, alarm or distress.”

The confusion shows the uncertainty surrounding the right to freedom of expression in the UK, following the 2022 Act, “widening the range of circumstances in which police can impose conditions on a protest”. According to clause 78 of the new law, it is an offense for protesters to “intentionally or recklessly cause public nuisance” – including causing “serious annoyance”.

Where does this end?

speaking to CNN , Steve Peers, professor of EU law and human rights at the University of Essex, noted how far-reaching these new police powers can be. “All you have to do is find one person – which wouldn’t be difficult in a crowd of people who were mostly paying tribute to the queen – to feel offended by someone who is there to protest the monarchy as a whole.”

“You could just as easily say that anyone holding a sign saying ‘We love the monarchy’ is being seriously annoying to someone who doesn’t like the monarch. Where does it end?”

Paul Powlesland, a London lawyer, was working on Monday when he saw media reports of protesters being arrested for expressing anti-monarchy views. “These times when the consensus is so uniform is when freedom of expression is at greatest risk. I thought it was important to go down and ask a question about freedom of expression,” he told CNN .

Like Hill, Powlesland said he didn’t want to interrupt the expressions of real grief. He did not travel to Buckingham Palace, where people were paying tribute to the Queen. Instead, he went to Parliament Square, a traditional venue for political protest in London, opposite the Houses of Parliament.

Powlesland was left alone and held up a blank piece of paper. Within minutes, he said that “a policeman came and asked for my details. He said if I wrote ‘Not my King’ on it, I would probably be arrested because it’s offensive under the Public Order Act.”

“I couldn’t risk writing anything about it because I couldn’t be arrested as I had to represent my client in court the next morning. This is the crucial point: even the threat of arrest has a very frightening effect on freedom of expression and the right to protest.”

Powlesland posted a video of the interaction with the officer on Twitter, which has been viewed more than 1.4 million times.

THE CNN asked the Metropolitan Police to confirm its position on those who express anti-monarchical views. The Met responded, “People have a right to freedom of expression, and we must balance the rights of protesters with those of others who wish to suffer and respect.”

A dangerous precedent for the future

Meanwhile, in an isolated incident in the Scottish capital on Monday, a 22-year-old man was arrested “in connection with a breach of peace on the Royal Mile”, British news agency PA Media reported.

Thousands of mourners filled the streets of Edinburgh as the Queen’s hearse, accompanied by members of the royal family, made its way from Holyroodhouse Palace to St. Giles. Police in Scotland said a member of the crowd broke the silence by insulting Prince Andrew, calling him “a sick old man”.

Whether the police are cracking down using powers under the Public Order Act of 1986 or the newly created Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act of 2022, there are concerns about freedom of expression.

Liberty said in a statement to CNN : “The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act has made it much more difficult for people to stand up for what they believe in without facing the risk of criminalization… smothering our freedom to protest and setting a dangerous precedent for the future.”

Source: CNN Brasil

You may also like

Get the latest

Stay Informed: Get the Latest Updates and Insights

 

Most popular