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Protester Haw suffered a facial cut |
Protester Haw injured during demo
Long-term campaigner camped in Parliament Square suffers cuts during action against law
ANTI-WAR campaigner Brian Haw suffered cuts to his face and wrists before being arrested during a demonstration outside Downing Street on Saturday.
The 56-year-old, who has been camped in Parliament Square since June 2001, accused the police of heavyhanded tactics after he sustained the injuries while filming a 100-strong protest.
Mr Haw was arrested with six others for threatening behaviour and breaching the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (Socpa) – the legislation they had been demonstrating against which limits protests within one kilometre of Parliament.
Mr Haw said: “I was just minding my own business, as a legal observer filming the students, who were just lying on the ground. I wasn’t even taking part in the demonstration. I think the police didn’t like me filming them and just rushed me from behind.
“The policeman pushed me so hard that it broke my camera and cut my face.
“The whole thing was so degrading and humiliating.
“They dragged me over 100 yards to the police station, with my head nearly touching the pavement.
I mean, is that really necessary?”
Mr Haw said he would not be making a complaint because “it would fall on deaf ears” but vowed to clear his name in court should he be charged.
He said: “There is no point in me making a complaint because it won’t get me anywhere. We have had this before when all our banners and boards were stolen in the middle of the night.
“I will wait until it goes to court to make my case. Hopefully they haven’t misplaced the film because it should show everything.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “The men were arrested because they did not seek authority from the police for the demonstration. We have not received any complaints regarding the allegations of inappropriate conduct.”
Demonstrators have to apply to the police six days in advance informing them of any plans to protest in Parliament Square, or, if this is not reasonably practicable, then no less than 24 hours in advance.
In 2002 Mr Haw won won a landmark legal case in the High Court, when a judge ruled he was exercising his right to freedom of speech by standing in Parliament Square, his placards did not constitute advertising and that the obstruction to the pavement was not “unreasonable”.
As well as standing as an independent candidate for the Cities of London and Westminster in the 2005 election, Mr Haw was voted most inspiring political figure at the 2006 Channel 4 Political Awards. |
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