Statement on PSC Demo - 18 January 2025 in Whitehall
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The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers condemn the arrest of Chris Nineham (Stop the War Coalition) and up to 77 other activists who were peacefully demonstrating in solidarity with Palestine on Saturday 18 January 2025 in Whitehall, London. The Haldane Society further condemn the subsequent charging of Chris Nineham and Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) with public order offences.
The Metropolitan Police had announced a series of draconian conditions on the demonstration earlier in the week, meaning that protestors could not assemble by the BBC headquarters on Portland Place and could not march as planned. The conditions put in place meant the police intended to arrest all those who assembled near Portland Place, meaning the organisers, including PSC, StW and the Palestinian Forum in Britain (amongst others), instead opted for a static rally outside Whitehall instead.
On the day of the demonstration, protestors were met with extremely heavy-handed and aggressive policing, with organisers stating that with less than 24 hours notice, the police continued to impose a series of new complex restrictions preventing protestors from assembling at various points on Whitehall at various parts of the day. It is understood that most of those arrested on the day were arrested for simply standing in the central area at the wrong time.
At the end of the rally, a delegation of organisers and rally speakers, including an 87 year old Jewish Holocaust survivor, walked silently and peacefully towards the BBC as a form of protest, with the plan of not pushing past police lines and instead simply leaving flowers at their feet and dispersing. However, it appears that the police allowed them to proceed past their first line through Trafalgar Square. When the delegation reached the end of Trafalgar Square, they were told they would need to await a response from the police officer in charge as to whether they could proceed. It was at this point that Chris Nineham, the chief steward of the rally, was violently arrested with no warning. Amongst them were MPs Jeremy Corbyn MP and John McDonell, who were both also interviewed under caution by the police following the events.
It was reported that Chris Nineham was released from custody on bail on 19 January 2025 and charged with an offence under the Public Order Act, with reports indicating that his bail conditions ban him from attending any kind of demonstration. Nineham is a national officer and founding member of StW. Ben Jamal, director of PSC, voluntarily attended a police interview on 19 January, and was subsequently charged with a similar public order offence, which he says he will strongly contest.
As lawyers and socialists, we condemn any attempt by the Metropolitan Police to curtail the right to protest as well as the right to free speech. We are alarmed by the police’s continuous attempts to disrupt shows of solidarity with the Palestinian people and their heavy handed arrests of peaceful protestors. We are also concerned that the police seem to have arrested many protestors on flimsy pretexts with no regard of the rule of law, no doubt intended as part of a broader ‘chilling effect’ to discourage further demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine. Moreover, we condemn the police’s actions following the event, which include issuing false statements to mislead the public about the nature of the arrests and their circumstances.
The situation across historic Palestine is bleak and in the face of a ceasefire which took effect on 19 January 2025, we saw thousands of Palestinians returning to their homes in Gaza which had been reduced to rubble. The Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people across historic Palestine as they seek to rebuild their lives and dream of a more prosperous tomorrow, free of war and destruction.
