The Quakers in Britain group has condemned the arrests of six Youth Demand supporters by more than 30 police officers.
The arrests were the first “in living memory” to occur in a Quaker meeting house, recording clerk for the group Paul Parker said, after the officers detained the Youth Demand supporters at 7.30pm in Westminster on Thursday.
“This aggressive violation of our place of worship and the forceful removal of young people holding a protest group meeting clearly shows what happens when a society criminalises protest,” he said.
“Freedom of speech, assembly, and fair trials are an essential part of free public debate which underpins democracy.”
The detainees were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance, police said. Youth Demand said the meeting was held to “share plans for non-violent civil resistance actions” planned for April.
Met Police said the group had intended to “shut down” London over the month of April using tactics including “swarming” and roadblocks”. Police said they had a “responsibility to intervene” because the protests threatened to cause “serious disruption and other criminality”.
Houses were also raided during the operation on Thursday and Friday, Youth Demand added.
In a statement, Quakers in Britain said: “Quakers support the right to nonviolent public protest, acting themselves from a deep moral imperative to stand up against injustice and for our planet.
“Many have taken nonviolent direct action over the centuries from the abolition of slavery to women’s suffrage and prison reform.”
An elder at the Westminster meeting house, Mal Woolford, described the actions of the police as “ridiculously heavy-handed”.
“There were six very young women of about 20 years old, talking in a circle around a packet of breadsticks and a pot of houmous,” he said.
Youth Demand, the self-described “youth resistance campaign fighting for an end to genocide”, began carrying out acts of civil disobedience last year.
It calls on the government to halt all trade with Israel and raise money from the “super rich and fossil fuel elite” to pay damages for the impacts of fossil fuel burning.
In April last year, the group hung a banner and laid rows of children’s shoes outside Sir Keir Starmer’s home, after which three people in their 20s were issued with suspended prison sentences.
Further arrests were made last July after the group announced plans to disrupt the State Opening of Parliament.
Met Police said: “While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality.
“On Thursday, 29 March officers raided a Youth Demand planning meeting at an address in Westminster where those in attendance were plotting their April action.
“Six people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. Five of those arrested on Thursday have been released on bail and one will face no further action.
“A further five arrests for the same offence were made on Friday, 28 March. Four of the arrests were at addresses in London and one in Exeter. All five of those arrested on Friday have been released on bail.”
