LONDON (Reuters) – Anti-monarchists on Friday criticized surveillance of Prince Charles’ coronation as stubborn, after dozens of protesters were arrested and jailed late into the night. He said Britain no longer has the right to peacefully protest.
Police have arrested Republican group leader Graham Smith and 51 others in central London, where thousands of royal supporters gathered in the capital for an event, a duty to prevent chaos in protests. The Republic said the release of its members began late Saturday night after nearly 16 hours of confinement.
“This was a brutal act that looks like a pre-arranged arrest regardless of the evidence or our actions. The right to protest peacefully in the UK no longer exists,” Smith said in a statement. rice field. “These arrests were not to save the people from harm, but to save the King from embarrassment.”
Police said on Saturday they understood public concerns following the arrest, but said they acted after receiving information that protesters had decided to disrupt the coronation process.
London police chief Mark Rowley warned on Friday that police would take action if protesters tried to disrupt people’s “enjoyment and celebration”, saying he had “very low tolerance” for disturbances.
Under the new Police Law passed last year and the Public Order Law, which went into effect on May 3, police were given further powers to contain protests.
In another incident, a dispute erupted after police arrested three of him on Saturday morning and seized numerous rape alerts. Police cited intelligence sources saying they planned to disrupt queues with an alarm, but Westminster Local Council expressed concern over the arrests of trained volunteers working on a night security programme.
“We are working with the Metropolitan Police to establish exactly what happened.”
Wes Streeting, a senior lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party, declined to comment on specific arrests while investigations were ongoing, but said London’s police would have to be accountable as to whether their overall approach to the coronation was proportionate.
Tens of thousands of people turned out to catch a glimpse of the newly crowned King Charles and Queen Camilla, who rode in a state coach back to Buckingham Palace after Saturday’s service at Westminster Abbey.
Not everyone who came to watch was there to cheer Charles, with hundreds of republicans booing and waving banners reading “Not My King”.
Culture Minister Lucy Frazer said she had huge confidence in the police and added that they were right to take a tougher line on an event that could have raised questions about national security. “Overall, I think [police] got that balance right,” Fraser told Sky News.
