[ad_1]
Anti-blockade protesters have clashed with police in central London.
Police had been trying to disperse the protesters, arguing that the rally was illegal under the coronavirus ban on gatherings.
Officers faced boos from protesters and shouts of “what a shame” as they intervened. Traffic was temporarily blocked on Regent Street when officers attempted to handcuff people to the ground in the middle of the road.
A statement from the metropolitan police said: “The protest is currently not a permitted exemption to the ban on gatherings under current coronavirus regulations.
“The government has introduced strict regulations at the national level to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. This means that anyone who comes together to protest runs the risk of officers taking action to enforce the law. ”
Anti-blockade protest groups had asked supporters to travel to Kings Cross, London, for the mass protest at noon on Saturday. However, at 11 a.m., the location had changed after the police arrested those arriving at the main train station.
“Please make sure you have access to social media throughout the day as the demonstration will need to be reactive to the circumstances,” StandUpX, an anti-blockade group, said in a flyer posted on Telegram. “Bring pots, pans, whistles, party horns and whatever you can for them to hear.”
The potential number of people planning to join the protest was unclear, but previous similar demonstrations have drawn tens of thousands. The protests earlier this month have been forcibly broken up by the police. On November 5, the police arrested 190 people in a protest.
A police spokesman declined to discuss the protest, according to the Palestinian Authority news agency, but said officers would be monitoring trainers traveling to the capital.
Ch Supt Stuart Bell said: “This type of behavior not only breaks the law, it also runs the risk of spreading the virus between multiple areas of the country. It is for this reason that we urge people not to travel to London and it is also why we will take appropriate enforcement action if this happens. “
Silkie Carlo, the director of Big Brother Watch, which has campaigned for civil liberties during the coronavirus emergency, described the police claim about the current law on protests as “outrageous.”
“In practice, the police are increasingly treating protests as prohibited,” he said. “The right to protest is the cornerstone of any democracy. It’s clear to me that there is a deliberate attempt to chill that right and misrepresent the law. “
He said that his organization was working with several people who had been unfairly denied their right to protest.
