A cleric cautioned at the anti-racism march in which a 74-year-old grandmother was arrested for wearing a Palestine Action t-shirt has accused the PSNI of double standards.
Marie McNally (74) was carried into the back of a police land rover by officers after attending an anti-racism demonstration in the centre of Belfast on Saturday afternoon.
The west Belfast woman was marked out along with two others by police after she was spotted wearing a t-shirt in support of pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action.
It comes after the British government in July made expressing support for, or being a member of, Palestine Action a criminal offence under terrorism legislation.
On Sunday, over 500 people were arrested in London for carrying messages in support of the group, while more than 400 were arrested for carrying placards in support of Palestine Action earlier in the weekend.
In Belfast, videos shared online show a woman wearing a Palestine Action t-shirt being told by police officers she was being arrested on suspicion of “possessing an article, namely a sign or t-shirt, that indicates support for Palestine Action”.
Police arrest Marie McNally for wearing a Palestine Action t-shirt. PICTURE: MAL MCCANN
Presbyterian minister, the Reverend Bill Shaw, was also cautioned by police at the event along with another unnamed man for wearing t-shirts in support of the group.
He has accused the PSNI of double standards following the incident over an alleged failure to tackle support for proscribed paramilitary groups .
“As several people have pointed out since my caution, you know, people within the loyalist community can display UVF flags, UDA flags. They can march with bands, with paramilitary insignia, all of which are prescribed to organisations, and nothing happens,” he told The Irish News.
“And just look at the situation around bonfires, where in some places they put images and effigies on them in certain places – these are hate crimes in my opinion and it is done with impunity.
“But they target a woman in her 70s for wearing a t-shirt. They throw her in like a slab of meat into the back of a land rover. It’s scandalous.
“Presumably they’re being pressurised by powers that be, particularly Westminster, to clamp down on Palestinian solidarity movements.”
Protesters sat on the grass in Parliament Square during Saturday’s demonstration in London. PICTURE:PA (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
Ms McNally is a long-time human rights activist from the Poleglass area who has previously campaigned for the civil rights struggle in the north.
She also travelled to Cairo earlier this year in an attempt to partake in the Global March to Gaza.
The attempt by activists from across the world was later stopped by Egyptian police and participants were forced to return to their home countries.
A PSNI spokesperson said: A 74-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of possession of an article that indicates support for a proscribed organisation in the Linenhall Street area of Belfast on Saturday, 9th August has been released pending a report to the Public Prosecution Service.”
They added: “A 43-year-old man arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour has been issued with a Community Resolution Notice.”