Chris Nineham, the vice chair of the Stop the War Coalition and chief steward of the national Palestine demonstrations is to stand trial on 7 and 8 July charged under the Public Order Act with breaking protest restrictions after being arrested at the 18 January Whitehall protest.
He will appear alongside Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal, who faces similar charges. Both pleaded not guilty at plea hearings in February.
A demonstration to defend Chris and Ben and the right to protest has been called for 9.30am on 7 July outside City of London Magistrates’ Court before the trial starts.
Chris was violently arrested as he carried out his duties, liasing with the police over a request by a delegation of high-profile protestors, including 87-year old Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos, actors Khalid Abdalla and Juliet Stevenson and MPs Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell, to walk towards the BBC to lay flowers in commemoration of the tens of thousands of people in Gaza, the majority women and children, slaughtered in Israel’s genocide.
They had anticipated being stopped at the police line at the top of Whitehall but were instead invited by police officers to “filter through” into Trafalgar Square.
Chris was suddenly dragged to the ground by a number of officers, kicked and had his glasses broken. He was then held in police custody for nearly 24 hours. Some 77 people were also arrested on the day, after the Met imposed late and draconian restrictions on the protest after banning a previously approved route from the BBC and then also banning a proposed route towards the BBC.
The arrests, and the subsequent calling in for police interview of a number of those who were part of the flower-carrying delegation – including Kapos, Abdalla, Corbyn and McDonnell – almost certainly came as a result of political pressure from supporters of Israel’s pro-genocide policies on both the government and police.
Justification for the ban on the original and then revised routes from and to the BBC was its proximity to a synagogue – which is several streets away. Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley openly met with the Board of Deputies the day after the protest and arrests, although he continues to refuse to meet with the Palestine coalition.
The government has subsequently introduced an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill preventing any demonstration in the “vicinity” of a place of worship.
Chris Nineham said: “This is clearly a concerted attack on the right to protest over the Israeli genocide on the people of Gaza. The police have admitted to being under political pressure and it is an attack that will inevitably be extended to others wishing to protest against government policy – as we are now seeing with government amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill.
“Thank you to the thousands of people who have made it clear that they stand with me, with Ben Jamal, with everyone arrested on that day, and with those on that delegation hoping to lay flowers at the BBC who have subsequently been called in for questioning.
“I’m looking forward to making my case in court. Our campaign to defend the right to protest is one we need to win.”