Marieha Hussain, 37, who had carried a picture showing the faces of the then prime minister Rishi! Sunak and home secretary Suella Braverman superimposed on coconuts under a palm tree in November 2023,and denied the prosecution’s allegation that the placard she held at a pro-Palestine protest was “racially abusive”, has been found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence.
Outside court after the hearing, the teacher, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said: “The laws on hate speech must serve to protect us more but this trial shows that these rules are being weaponised to target ethnic minorities. Nearly a year on from the genocide in Gaza, and despite this trial, I’m more determined than ever to continue using my voice to defend Palestine.”
In his closing speech, Rajiv Menon KC, defending, said: “This prosecution of Ms Hussain is … a disturbing attack on the right of freedom of expression; the right to peaceful protest that did not risk in any shape or form violence or public disorder; the right to anti-racists to criticise members of their own race for pursuing racist policies and using racist rhetoric; the right to satirise our politicians; the right to mock and tease and make fun of our politicians in a light-hearted way that Marieha Hussain attempted to do with her placard. 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.”
Apart from the Usual Suspects in this forum, obviously.