Yesterday marked one of the most shameful days in the history of the Metropolitan Police as they arrested peaceful protesters including a blind man in a wheelchair, an 81-year-old woman with Parkinson's, a former British army officer, and a bunch of, um, Quakers.
  • vzqq@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    44·
    2 days ago

    Any cop can say “you’re a terrorist/thief/murderer”, put you in cuffs and take you away at any time. However, in a modern democracy they still need to get you in front of a judge relatively quickly and make their case.

    In this case, I’m guessing the prosecution service is not going to bother even charging the large majority of the arrestees. The cases are simply too thin.

    This doesn’t make it right: the cops can and have arrested people they know would not be charged just to harass them. This is also a civil rights violation.

    • als@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      23·
      2 days ago

      These are all arrests under section 13, which if charged can only be tried at a magistrate’s court. In my experience magistrates often say “this isn’t a court of ethics or morals, it’s a court of law. I just enforce the law” which is only a moral thing to say if you think that the system by which laws are decided is fair, which it clearly isn’t.

      Also just saying “yeah I agree with and will enforce whatever the current czar says is right” is a crazily limp-dicked spineless belief to hold.

  • flandish@lemmy.world
    25·
    2 days ago

    can be?

    make no mistake- we all already are considered terrorists. they just have not told us yet.