LONDON: Leading Republican opponents of the monarchy were detained by UK police on Saturday as they planned to demonstrate alongside a procession marking King Charles III’s coronation, according to the group.
A Republic activist in London’s Trafalgar Square told AFP, “They won’t tell us why they’ve detained them or where they’re being held. They’ve arrested organisers and seized hundreds of placards.”
Graham Smith, the CEO of Republic, was taken into custody before the group could hold up signs reading “Not My King.” Some bystanders yelled, “Free Graham Smith,” while others yelled, “God save the king,” and waved UK flags.
A senior police officer was questioned by a camera crew from the Alliance of European Republican Movements, who were present for the incident, regarding why the group had been detained. They have been arrested. According to a video the group posted on Twitter, the officer told them, “End of,” before leaving.
According to a new law hastily passed this week, the government has controversially given UK police forces unprecedented anti-protest powers. Republic confirmed the arrests and placard seizures on its Twitter page. It questioned, “Is this democracy?” Last week, Smith assured reporters, “We certainly have no plans to disrupt the procession.”
The founder of the Republic declared that yelling and waving of signs would demonstrate “to the world’s press that we are not a country of loyalists, that there is a growing opposition.” After months of disruptive tactics used by parties opposed to fossil fuels in Britain, the new law was passed. It calls for harsher penalties for activists who padlock and glue themselves to stationery items.
A reporter from AFP observed 13 groups of Just Stop Oil members being detained and shackled by police on The Mall between Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square on Saturday.
Only seven arrests were made early on Saturday, according to the Metropolitan police’s statement, “on suspicion of offences including breaking the peace and conspiring to cause public nuisance near to the coronation.” According to the report, police nearby Trafalgar Square confiscated “lock-on devices” from one group.
