UK peace activist acquitted of ‘hate crime’ after carrying coconut placard

A peace activist who was charged with a hate crime after carrying a satirical placard depicting the then-UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, as coconuts has been found not guilty.

The 37-year-old teacher denied the charges in court today, with her defence saying the placard she was carrying during a pro-Palestine protest in November was satirical and humorous, not racist.

The Prosecutor, Jonathan Bryan, argued that the placard suggested someone was brown on the outside but white on the inside. “In other words, you’re a race traitor – you’re less brown or black than you should be,” he said.

Hussain’s defence described the decision to bring the court case as a disturbing attack on the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest.

Her lawyer, Rajiv Menon KC, said: “That Marieha Hussain of all people is being prosecuted for a racially aggravated offence whilst the likes of Suella Braverman and Nigel Farage and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon – aka Tommy Robinson – and Frank Hester are seemingly free to make inflammatory and divisive statements … is, I’m afraid, incomprehensible to many people.”

Braverman has previously called pro-Palestine protests “hate marches” and Tory peers have warned her comments on migrant boats and grooming gangs “emboldened racists”.

After a two-day trial, the judge ruled that the placard was “part of the genre of political satire”.

Commenting on the decision, Cage International said: “Marieha’s ordeal highlights the sinister methods the British state is using to silence and intimidate its own citizens’ free speech, in order to protect a foreign nation’s genocidal war. Marieha endured months of harassment, including an abusive police interview, late-night police visits, and a smear campaign in the media that led to her losing her job and temporarily relocating her family for safety.”

“While this is a positive outcome, Marieha’s case remains a stark reminder of the ongoing injustices many face in speaking out against the UK’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza.”

READ: UK charges pro-Palestine protester carrying ‘coconut’ placard