London police charged nine people with public order offences after dozens were arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest in the British capital, the force said Sunday.
More than 70 people were arrested at Saturday’s march after what London’s Metropolitan Police called a “coordinated effort to breach” protest conditions, including the perimeter of the rally which was meant to be static.
Protest organisers have denied an “organised” breach of conditions and accused officers of heavy-handedness in their policing of the demonstration.
Of the 77 arrested, 25 have been bailed while 48 remain in custody.
Those charged are due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates Court “in the coming days”, police said.
“Yesterday we saw a deliberate effort, including by protest organisers, to breach conditions,” said police commander Adam Slonecki.
“We will continue to work through CCTV footage, videos from social media and our body worn cameras so we can make further arrests and bring forward charges where we identify criminality.”
Among those charged was Christopher Nineham, 62, the vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition (SWC), one of the organisers of the demonstration.
Protest organisers accused the police of arresting Nineham “violently and for no apparent reason” in a statement on X.
“At no stage was there an organised breach of the conditions imposed by the police,” the organisers said, calling the arrests a “direct assault on freedom of assembly and democracy”.
