DSEI activist’s charges withdrawn amid questions over arrest
Peace Pledge Union activist has charges for DSEI protest dropped at the last minute
The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) has said that the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service face ‘urgent questions’ after the last-minute withdrawal of charges against a pacifist activist, five months after proceedings began.
Symon Hill, campaigns manager of the PPU, was accused of obstructing the road to the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair in London last September. He was one of over 100 people arrested, including Quakers, while peacefully protesting.
The prosecution dropped the charges as the Christian pacifist was about to stand trial at Stratford Magistrates’ Court in London on 27 February.
Defence barrister Leila Mezoughi pointed out that the road was already obstructed when her client stepped into it and that therefore no case could be made against him.
Symon Hill is now seeking legal advice in regards to challenging the legality of his arrest. Speaking outside the court afterwards, he said: ‘Today’s decision makes clear that I should never have been arrested. My arrest seems to have happened because a police officer became frustrated with my entirely reasonable questions when he accused me, rather than the arms dealers, of breaching the peace.’
The PPU questioned the waste of public money in the five months since the arrest took place, during which Symon Hill has been required to attend court three times while the Crown Prosecution Service pursued the case.
Members and allies of the PPU, the Campaign Against Arms Trade and other groups joined a peaceful demonstration outside the court on 27 February, leafleting passers-by as it snowed.
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