LONDON: Police in London said they had arrested more than 500 pro-Palestinian protesters at a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action on Saturday.
Officers carried away activists to cheers and clapping from other demonstrators who gathered for the sit-down demonstration in the capital’s Trafalgar Square.
The protesters held placards in support of the banned group Palestine Action, making them liable for arrest.
London’s Metropolitan Police said on social media platform X just before midnight that they had arrested 523 people aged between 18 and 87.
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The High Court in London upheld a challenge to the ban in mid-February, saying it had interfered with the right to freedom of speech.
The government has been granted leave to appeal against the decision.
London’s Metropolitan Police paused arrests in the wake of the High Court ruling before announcing in late March that they would resume.
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