The Metropolitan Police arrested 29 people at a demonstration in Parliament Square on Saturday, including an 83-year-old reverend who was supporting the newly banned Palestine Action group. The protest began at about 1.10pm, with officers taking demonstrators away shortly after 1.30pm.
Reverend Sue Parfitt, 83, was seen sitting in a camp chair with placards at her feet before being taken away by officers. Another woman was lifted from the ground whilst in handcuffs and placed in a police van.
Police defend arrest of elderly priest
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley defended the arrest when questioned on BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg. He said the law "doesn't have an age limit, whether you're 18 or 80" and that officers enforced it "with great care" whilst trying to preserve the person's dignity.
"If you're supporting proscribed organisations, then the law is going to be enforced," Rowley explained. He described Palestine Action as having committed "really serious criminal offences" over the past 18 months, including millions of pounds worth of damage, assaults and weapons use.
Group loses last-minute legal challenge
Palestine Action lost a Court of Appeal challenge on Friday night, less than two hours before new legislation came into force at midnight. The designation as a terror group means membership or support for Palestine Action is now punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Campaign group Defend Our Juries had said protesters planned to gather in Parliament Square holding signs supporting Palestine Action. In a letter to the Home Secretary, demonstrators wrote: "We do not wish to go to prison or to be branded with a terrorism conviction, but we refuse to be cowed into silence by your order."
RAF attack prompted government action
The ban was announced after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, causing around £7 million of damage according to police. Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the incident.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe the group on June 23, calling the vandalism "disgraceful" and citing Palestine Action's "long history of unacceptable criminal damage". MPs voted 385 to 26 in favour of the ban on Wednesday, with the House of Lords backing the move without a vote on Thursday.
Four charged over airbase incident
Four people have been charged in connection with the RAF Brize Norton incident. Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
They face charges of conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage under the Criminal Law Act 1977.
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
