Pro-Palestine march leaders found guilty of breaching protest conditions

The director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Ben Jamal and Chris Nineham, vice chairman of the Stop the War Coalition, have been found guilty of breaching protest conditions.

The pro-Palestine campaigners were both accused of failing to comply with a condition that required attendees of a protest on January 18 last year to stay on Whitehall in central London in a static rally.

The Metropolitan Police imposed conditions blocking the pro-Palestine march from gathering near a central London synagogue amid concerns it would risk the safety of the Jewish community.

On Wednesday, Jamal, 62, and Nineham, 63, were found guilty after a trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Jamal was also convicted of two counts of inciting other protesters to breach police conditions under the Public Order Act.

Addressing the defendants, District Judge Daniel Sternberg said: “I accordingly find you guilty on each of the charges.”

Sternberg noted  conditions imposed by the police on the march  were “lawful” and said that a speech made by Jamal after the march “constituted incitement” of the crowd.

“Mr Jamal’s speech constituted incitement,” said the judge,  it was a suggestion, persuasion, and inducement encouraging breach of the condition.”

During the trial, the prosecution said the conditions were knowingly breached when protesters marched outside of the designated area, towards the BBC’s headquarters in Portland Place.

Sternberg delivered the judgment on Wednesday saying “the court emphasised that protest rights while fundamental, are not absolute and do not permit breaching lawfully imposed restrictions.”

He added: “The commander acted under valid statutory powers and applied the correct test.

“The commander’s belief in serious disruption was reasonable, based on evidence about business disruption, crowd size, serious disruption to worshippers at nearby synagogues and PSC’s own estimate of 100,000 participants.”

Metropolitan Police Commander Adam Slonecki, who managed the police operation on the day,  told the court that disruption to services at a nearby synagogue was a major factor that contributed to the decision to impose protest restrictions.

The public gallery was full of the defendants’ supporters, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MP John McDonnell  as the judge read the verdicts out.