We also broadcast minute by minute on Index III. Britain’s King Charles was crowned on May 6, and tens of thousands of people followed him personally through the streets of London. However, the historic event – which was the first coronation in 70 years – was celebrated not only by supporters of the royal family and the parliamentary monarchy, but also by republicans who prepared for the big day, with a magnificent demonstration in Trafalgar Square, located on Coronation Road.
According to The Guardian, about two thousand people took part in the counter-demonstration. Next to the statue of the British king, Charles I, executed in 1649, they chanted their anti-monarchy messages in yellow, which they also displayed on a plaque: Charles is not their king, and they also demanded that the institution of the monarchy be abolished.
During the royal couple’s motorcade, London police attempted to cover the protesters with screens so that Republicans, who make up a minority of the audience, could not be seen on television broadcasts.
At the same time, the demonstration turned into a scandal because the police arrested six Republican activists before Karolis left Buckingham Palace.
Graham Smith, leader of the largest anti-monarchist organization, Republica, was among those detained. The police also confiscated hundreds of signs that were on it Revocation of ownership (property abolition) and a It’s not mine The inscriptions (not mine) were legible. The Republican organization led by Smith Republica commented on the arrest on its Twitter page as follows:
“This morning Graham Smith and five members of our team (sic!) were arrested. Hundreds of posters were confiscated. Is this democracy?”
Obscene scenes of police arresting anti-monarchy protesters and stealing their banners
So we are not allowed to show public opposition to a man who is crowned head of state because he was born into unimaginable wealth while people are lining up at food banks and schools are collapsing. pic.twitter.com/klkSjLMAml
– ShellyAsquith (@ShellyAsquith) May 6, 2023
next day advertisement It was published, and it was sharper than that. According to the statement, the arrests are “a direct assault on our democracy and basic human rights.” At one point in the statement Smith wrote, they even note:
The right to peaceful protest no longer exists in the UK.
They then concluded the declaration by promising that they would continue to demonstrate against the monarchy and the king, and to announce their simple message: “Caroli is not our king, and it is time to abolish the monarchy.”
The British police and government are subject to political criticism
At the same time, it wasn’t just Republicans who reacted to the issue. The Labor Party dealt a major blow to the Conservatives in the local elections according to “Something went wrong” during the coronation, and Lisa Nandy, a leading Labor politician, attacked the government led by Rishi Sunak and one of its new legal amendments, the Public Order Protection Act:
According to Nandy, it is not known whether the Tory government was at fault in the law or whether the London police were at fault.
That is, it is not known whether a legislative or operational error occurred. At the same time, Labor is only trying to criticize the Conservatives gently, as it does not want to get out of the situation in such a way as to cause voters to believe that the party fully supports the protesters and their cause, Republican.
The director of the British NGO Human Rights Watch, Yasmine Ahmed, described the police response to the demonstration itself He seesIt is concerning that the police arrested dozens of people during the coronation – including the six Republicans who were preparing for an essentially peaceful demonstration even before the demonstration began – which, according to him,
The kind you’d expect to see in Moscow instead of London.
In addition, he explained that the new law, which will enter into force before the coronation, would systematically weaken the right to assemble and demonstrate, as it would make it easier for the police to act against demonstrations.
For example, the law will remove the upper limit of fines if someone sticks to something or blocks traffic, but this could lead to a prison sentence of up to six months – according to press reports, the government decided to amend the public order law due to awareness demonstrations about the oil halt rebellion and extinction .
The law also authorizes police to search protesters for padlocks, super glue, or any other means of attaching themselves to objects. And if such a thing was found with one of the demonstrators, then criminal proceedings would be initiated against him – which is why the police took action against Smith and his five companions, because they found padlocks on them, but they were released the next day, and the investigation was closed for lack of crime.
Republicans also accused the British government and police of trying to make their demonstration impossible.
According to them, the law was rushed through in the first place so that they could be stopped “with any lame excuse” – according to the police and government, but this is not the case.
The police partially admitted their mistake
Meanwhile, the police issued a statement on Monday evening, explaining that they regretted that the six demonstrators could not participate in the demonstration, that they had already been released, and that no further action would be taken against the demonstrators. Six people, their sponsorship was also cancelled.
Advertising according to The police believed that the arrested protesters wanted to illegally disrupt public order and ceremony with the tools used to install the banners. Finally, the detectives came to the conclusion that they just wanted to fix the signs, so they were released.
In addition, three members of the police personally went to Smith, the leader of the republic, to apologize to him
– claims the leader of the arrested anti-monarchist organization.
However, according to Smith, it wasn’t sincere, so he doesn’t accept an apology. In fact, he even plans to legalize the case, since he and his cohorts were illegally detained.
According to the government, everything went well, Sunak takes matters into his own hands
The British Home Office, Home Office and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the same about the case He saidthat the police operate independently of the government, and therefore the government cannot be held responsible for police activities.
At the same time, Al-Sinak did not respond to a journalist’s question regarding the detention of the Republicans
According to the prime minister, the police made the best decisions based on the information available.
“Indeed, I am grateful to the police and everyone who helped make this weekend a good, successful and safe one,” Sunak said.
Neil O’Brien, the government’s health secretary, who has defended the law as well as the police, used similar language: he said there could be times when the police don’t make the right decision at the moment, but that it was a difficult task, while he said of the law that it was absolutely necessary and that Totally supports it.
(Cover photo: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosts a luncheon in Downing Street to mark the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla on May 7, 2023 in London. PHOTO: RASHID NEGATI ASLAM/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
