Campaigners censure UK protest ban

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155840.html


British civil liberties activists and student groups strongly condemn senior police commissioner's comments over a possible total ban on anti-government protests in Britain.

Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson said Wednesday he was considering to ask the Home Secretary to enforce a total ban on student protests all across the UK.

“That's one of the options we have got. Banning is a very difficult step to take, these are very balanced judgments”, Sir Paul said, when asked about the possibility of a ban.

He said protest marches could be banned altogether provided that it receives an approval from the Home Secretary, Theresa May.

He admitted, however, that campaigners would be likely to march in defiance of a ban, which could “just be inflaming the situation further”.

The police commissioner said he did not favor a “paramilitary model” of policing, adding the police are considering whether they should use water cannons in their attempts to contain protesters.

The remarks were made after tens of thousands of students from universities, colleges and schools poured into the streets in London and other UK cities to protest a decision by the government to triple university tuition fees in England to £9,000 per year.

The motion was narrowly clinched by lawmakers last week on December 9 at the parliament in defiance of violent clashes between the police and protesters outside the parliament building that left 14 police officers and dozens of protesters injured.

Police said they have arrested more than 180 people in London in the aftermath of the protests for instigating public disorder after the police reviewed the footages.

Matt Horne, a Detective Chief Superintendent, said that the number of arrests is likely to increase as police study footage of the protests.

“I would urge those who turn up for protests to think about the impact this could have on their future careers”, he warned.

Simon Hardy of the National Union of Students (NUS) warned Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights that if the authorities “increase the police repression” then it would be “only a matter of time” before a protester or passer-by is killed.

Police mull banning all UK protests

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155603.html


The British police chief says he is weighing up an option to ask the Home Secretary to enforce a ban on any future protest gatherings altogether across the UK.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson referred to the level of violence in recent student protests against the rise in tuition fees, saying that he does not rule out banning all future student protests across the country, the daily Independent reported.

Tens of thousands of student protesters from universities, colleges and schools have been marching across England in protests against the huge hikes in tuition fees, together with the scrapping of Educational Maintenance Allowance and proposed cuts in college funding.

Police have arrested more than 180 people in London after four protests against the government's plan to increase the fees.

The motion was voted on and approved last Thursday in defiance of the most violent protest scenes in and around Parliament Square where the clashes between police and protesters left 12 officers and more than 40 protesters injured.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner said banning students from marching was a power he had not ruled out using.

"It is one of the tactics we will look at and something we will keep under review, and if we think it is the right thing to do then we will do it," said Sir Paul Stephenson.

The head of the National Union of Students (NUS) dismissed the police chief's idea as in clear contrast to civil freedoms.

"Peaceful protest is an integral part of our heritage and it is the responsibility of the police to help facilitate that", said the NUS president, Aaron Porter.

Speaking about the suggestion that water cannons could be used to control crowds in the future, Sir Paul said that the force had ruled that option out three years ago but that officers were taking advice from colleagues in Northern Ireland about its efficacy in London.

Plain-clothes police were in protests

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/155600.html


A British civil rights activist says there are eye witnesses saying plain clothes police officers were present in last week student protests in London.

Chris Dowdeswell, who earlier released his own footages of officers without ID and badge numbers in the demonstrations, said some of his colleagues have seen a number of police officers in plain clothes among the protesters and that they occasionally went to uniformed officers to talk.

Dowdeswell who runs the Brutal Cops website told Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency (IRNA) he has been covering public protests in Britain for the past seven years but the police have been exceptionally violent during past weeks' demonstrations.

He said he witnessed the most brutal of such scenes in the Thursday rallies during which the police beat up protesters.

Dowdeswell also lashed out at the 'kettling' operations carried out by the police during the rallies and said it is natural for the people to become angry and aggressive when they are penned in for several hours in freezing cold temperatures without access to food and water.

He described kettling technique as a provocative act by the police, which is unacceptable and unlawful and pushes demonstrators toward violence.

Also on the violent treatment of a police officer with the disabled journalist Jody McIntyre who was pushed off his wheelchair and dragged on a pavement during Thursday rallies, Dowdeswell said the British police is essentially brutal and violent.

He added he has posted many examples of police rough treatment of people who were not even demonstrators in different occasions on his website.