Police had warned they were trying to block King Charles III’s coronation.
• Also read: LIVE | Today Charles III. crowned
Police arrested “six of our organizers and confiscated hundreds of signs” with the slogan “Not my King,” told AFP a spokesman for the group Republic, where hundreds of supporters had gathered in Trafalgar Square early Saturday morning . on the way of the procession.
Republic President Graham Smith was among those arrested, the group said.
“Free Graham Smith,” shouted the demonstrators on site, noted an AFP journalist.
AFP
“That’s exactly why we’re here today. Because the monarchy represents everything that’s wrong with Britain: privilege, inequality and the lack of democracy,” Martin Weegman, one of the anti-monarchy protesters, told AFP.
Around a hundred activists holding signs reading “Citizens not Subjects” or “Abolish the Monarchy” were answered by half-amused, half-stunned defenders of the royal family with a “God save the King”.
AFP
Environmental group Just Stop Oil also said 19 of its activists had been arrested near the route planned for the procession.
The group had planned to demonstrate against the country’s hydrocarbon exploitation at the time of the coronation.
AFP
Authorities are “suppressing our legitimate right to demonstrate,” but “we will continue to do whatever it takes, without violence, to get out of oil and gas,” the group said in a statement shared with AFP.
London Police have confirmed seven arrests of people “suspected of various offences, including public disorder and conspiracy to disturb public order near the Coronation”.
AFP
The arrests come after a senior police official, Christian Bunt, warned on Friday that protests disrupting the coronation would be treated with “a lower level of tolerance”.
The NGO Human Rights Watch condemned these arrests. “Reports of people being arrested for peacefully protesting the coronation are incredibly disturbing. You would expect something like that in Moscow, not London,” the organization’s UK head, Yasmine Ahmed, said in a statement.
AFP
The republican movement, silent under the reign of Elizabeth II, who died last September, intends to compensate for Charles III’s lesser popularity. use to make themselves heard.
According to a recent YouGov poll, the majority of Britons (58%) still support keeping the monarchy, but this sentiment is declining among young people. Only 32% of 18-24 year olds are in favour, compared to 38% who want an elected head of state (and 30% have no opinion).