Jeremy Corbyn & John McDonnell to be quizzed by cops on pro-Palestinian rally as they demand release of bodycam footage
Police will question former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell about a pro-Palestine demonstration.
On Sunday afternoon, the two 73-year-old Members of Parliament, who are currently independents in the Commons, were scheduled to attend apolicestation voluntarily.
Previously, Corbyn claimed to be a member of a delegation hoping to lay flowers in remembrance of the children killed in Gaza and demanded that police share all bodycam footage.
Whether they have been interviewed or not is unknown. The Met has been contacted by the Sun for an update.
The force is looking into what it says was a concerted attempt by the demonstrators to violate the rules set for the event in London yesterday.
As investigators look into a coordinated attempt by organizers to violate restrictions, three individuals have voluntarily agreed to appear at a Central London Police Station today to be examined under criminal caution, according to the Met.
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“The 75-year-old, 73-year-old and 61-year-old will be interviewed by officers this afternoon.”
In a post on X on Saturday, Corbyn had earlier contested the force’s version of the rally.
Officers were keeping the line at the top of Whitehall to prevent any groups from marching, which would be against the rules, the police added.
“Despite their efforts a large group has forced its way through and are in Trafalgar Square.”
However, the former Labour leader stated: “This is not at all a true account of what happened.
“I was a member of a group of speakers who wanted to honor the dead children in Gaza by carrying and laying flowers in a nonviolent manner.
“The police made this possible. Neither of us pushed our way through.
He went on: “We told the police that we would stop when we got to Trafalgar Square, set down flowers, and disperse.
Chris Nineham, the Chief Steward, was then taken into custody. Then we turned around and scattered.
“I urge the police to release all bodycam footage and retract its misleading account of events.”
McDonnell continued: “We did not force our way [through], the police allowed us to go [through] & when stopped in Trafalgar Square we laid our flowers down & dispersed.”
Additionally, he called for authorities to make public the bodycam video of a chat he had with an officer.
The demonstrators allegedly broke through a police line during their march from a rally in Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, leading to ten people being charged with public order offences.
After police halted organizers’ plans for a march past the BBC and close to a synagogue, and restrictions were placed that barred participants from entering certain areas, Saturday’s Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) protest was changed to a static gathering.
Following remarks at the event, thousands of protesters, including Corbyn and McDonnell, marched from Whitehall towards Trafalgar Square.
77 individuals, including Corbyn’s brother Piers Corbyn, were arrested, according to police on Saturday. This is the most people arrested throughout more than 20 nationwide PSC protests since October 2023.
One person was arrested for inciting racial hatred, another for common assault, another for attack on an emergency worker, one for sexual assault, five for public order offenses, two for obstructing police, and about 65 others for violating conditions.
On Sunday, the force said that 48 persons are still being held and 24 have been released on bond.
Public order offences were brought against Piers Corbyn, 77, of Elephant and Castle, south-east London; Angela Zelter, 73, of Knighton, Powys; Tessa Roe-Stanton, 20; Starr Thomas, 20; Christian Adair, 23; all of Brockley, south-east London; Monday Rosenfeld, 21 of Limehouse, east London; Colin Weedon, 78, of Vauxhall, south-west London; Matthew Brennan, 44, of St George, Bristol; David Ok, 40, of Kilburn, north-west London; and Christopher Nineham, 62, of Bow, east London.
First of three hostages released from Gaza arrives in Israel
Hours after the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold, the military declared on Sunday that the first three hostages freed from Gaza had reached Israel.
Their moms were anticipating their arrival.
In Gaza City, footage showed the three women making their way to Red Cross vans amid a mob that grew into the thousands as people clambered onto cars and held out cellphones.
Armed and masked men wearing green Hamas headbands escorted the cars and fought to protect the transfer.
The three women were taken for a medical evaluation, so no more views of them were anticipated right away.
In brief remarks, President Joe Biden stated that they seemed to be in good condition.
Thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv to see the news on big screens cheered.
People had been gathering in the square for months to call for a ceasefire agreement. The women’s relatives clapped, jumped, and sobbed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked, “You are embraced by an entire nation.”
Doron Steinbrecher, 31, Emily Damari, 28, and Romi Gonen, 24 were freed. The others were taken from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and Gonen was kidnapped from the Nova music festival.
Steinbrecher holds both Israeli and Romanian citizenship, whereas Damari is a dual citizen of Israel and Britain.
In addition to bringing about the first six weeks of peace, the truce increases optimism that the brutal 15-month war will finish and that the approximately 100 hostages still held will be freed.
The spokesman for Hamas’ military wing later stated that the group is committed to the ceasefire, despite the fact that Hamas’ last-minute delay delayed the commencement of the truce by almost three hours.
Celebrations erupted throughout Gaza even before the ceasefire was implemented, and some Palestinians started to leave.
Later on Sunday, 90 Palestinian inmates were released. Families and friends gathered with excitement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as people waved the Palestinian flag and cars honked.
Beginning at 11.15 a.m. local time, the truce is the first step toward a final settlement of the conflict and the return of captives taken during the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 26 individuals were killed by Israeli fire between the scheduled ceasefire period and when it really began. Whether they were fighters or civilians was not specified.
As Israeli forces withdraw into a buffer zone within Gaza, the military has issued a warning to the public to avoid them.
Amidst the ceasefire, Israel’s hard-line national security minister announced that his Jewish Power faction was leaving the cabinet. Netanyahu’s coalition is weakened by Itamar Ben-Gvir’s departure, but the truce will remain unaffected.
Separately, Israel declared that it had conducted a special operation in Gaza and found the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas conflict.
Following the 2014 conflict, Shaul’s and Hadar Goldin’s bodies were still there.
Following a year of mediation by the United States, Qatar, and Egypt, the ceasefire agreement was declared last week.
In the days ahead, they will make an appearance at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Commander Adam Slonecki stated: “We witnessed a concerted attempt yesterday, including by the demonstration organizers, to violate the rules and try to march out of Whitehall.
“We are taking this very seriously since it was a significant increase in criminal activity. To find the people implicated, officers have been working nonstop.”
He claimed that during the demonstration, one cop was beaten and three were spat at.
A protest was held on Sunday in support of one of the 10 charged – Nineham, who is vice chair of the Stop the War Coalition (SWC).
SWC national officer John Rees told around 35 supporters gathered outside Walworth police station in south-east London: “This is a first rank all-out assault on the right to free assembly, of the right to free speech.
“It is unlike anything that has ever happened in British history. It is unprecedented for the police to arrest a senior officer of a major protest organisation inthis country, and to combine that with a sweep of hundreds of actors who have been taken into custody, and some of them already charged with similar offences.
“It is, in short, a state attempt to close down protests on the question ofPalestine.”
Ahead of the demonstration, the PSC had described the Met’s conditions as “repressive” and called for the force to lift them.
The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) criticised the Met’s decision to block the march, calling it “an outrageous assault on democracy, freedom of assembly, and freedom of expression”.
“Silencing peaceful protesters who stand against genocide and in solidarity with the oppressed is not only undemocratic but shameful,” MAB said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism described Saturday’s scenes as “a dark day for London”, adding: “For over a year we have called for these marches to be banned; we reiterated that call yesterday when it was clear that the police would not be able to control the situation.
“Police authorised a static protest for activists who repeatedly declared, ‘#WeWillMarch’. The result was chaos in London.”
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Before Saturday, the Met denied putting a “ring of steel” around Broadcasting House in Portland Place, but blocked protesters from gathering there because of its close proximity to a synagogue and the risk the demonstration could cause “serious disruption” to the Jewish holy day, as people attended Shabbat services.
The protest was adjusted to be a static rally in Whitehall instead.