Five arrested before protest against Palestine Action ban

More than 1,000 people have pledged to risk arrest this Saturday at a protest against a ban on the group Palestine Action as police detained five spokespeople for the event's organisers.

- Ben Quinn Diane Taylor Pippa Crerar

Tim Crosland, an ex-government lawyer who is a co-founder of the Defend Our Juries group, was among those arrested hours before he was due at a press conference yesterday.

Defend Our Juries confirmed the mass action would go ahead after 1,000 people pledged to attend.

It will be the second large protest outside parliament at which people have defied terrorism laws by deliberately expressing support for the group, and the fifth gathering there since its proscription in early July.

The award-winning Irish author Sally Rooney had been due to join Crosland and others in an online press conference at 2pm yesterday but it was postponed until today.

The Metropolitan police said yesterday five people had been arrested as part of a "proactive" investigation led by the force's counter-terrorism command into suspected activity linked to Palestine Action. They were arrested on suspicion of encouraging support for a proscribed organisation, contrary to section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.