Police to question Muslim Association of Britain chair over Palestine solidarity protest
The Metropolitan Police has summoned one of the key organisers of the UK's Palestine solidarity protests over an alleged public order breach that took place at a rally earlier this year.
Raghad Altikriti, who chairs the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), told Middle East Eye that she received a letter from the police requesting she attend a formal interview on Wednesday over a protest held in London on 18 January.
Altikriti is one of several individuals who have been summoned by police over alleged public order offences. Letters were also issued to Stop the War coalition officers Lindsey German, Alex Kenny and Andrew Murray, and Friends of Al-Aqsa chair Ismail Patel.
Altikriti described the upcoming police interview as an "act of intimidation" and claimed it was aimed at "making it difficult for people to speak out against this genocide."
"We have a right to protest and it's important to defend our freedom to mobilise and speak up," she said.
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During the January protest, police banned protesters from gathering outside the BBC's Broadcasting House because of its close proximity to a synagogue.
Police arrested the march's chief steward, Chris Nineham, and charged him with two counts of breaking the Public Order Act.
Ben Jamal, the director of the UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign, was also among those arrested.
Both pleaded not guilty to allegedly breaking the Public Order Act.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said it was unable to confirm the identity of individuals being investigated.
"As part of our ongoing investigation into alleged breaches of Public Order Act conditions on Saturday, 18 January we have invited a further eight people to be interviewed under caution at a police station," the spokesperson told MEE.
"While we are aware of names being attributed to those who have been invited for interview, we do not confirm the identity of anyone under investigation."
Criticism of protest policing
At the time, police accused demonstrators of breaking through a police cordon in Trafalgar Square, a claim that organisers and protestors, including prominent politicians, strongly denied.
Other individuals that were summoned included British-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla, 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell.
Following the protest, more than 50 MPs and members of the House of Lords called on the government to order an investigation into the policing of the January protest.
They said they were "deeply troubled" by obstacles put in place by the police ahead of the demonstration, and "aghast" at comments made by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley in which he said his force had "imposed unprecedented restrictions" on the protest.
Signatories include Labour MPs Diane Abbott, Clive Lewis and Ian Lavery; Green MPs Sian Berry and Carla Denyer; and independent MPs, among them Zarah Sultana, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain and Imran Hussain.
At the time, Green Party deputy leader Zack Polanski, a speaker at the rally, told MEE that the police's handling of the protest was a "shambles", adding that he "and thousands of others have been smeared by claims that we forced our way through" the police cordon.
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