Former Justice Secretary blasts “shameful and insidious attack on civil liberties” following the banning of pro-Palestinian protest group
Speaking at a pro-Palestine demonstration in Edinburgh this afternoon, former Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill condemned what he described as a “shameful and insidious attack on civil liberties” following the recent proscription of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian protest group, by the UK Government.
At the demonstration, the ALBA Party leader said:
“Dissent and protest are not terrorism. Categorising it let alone prosecuting it as such, is shameful and an insidious attack on civil liberties. Our policing is to be by consent not for repression. Yet that is what is happening and in Scotland, not just south of the border.
“The genocide in Gaza is an affront to humanity, but the actions being taken in this country are not just collusion and complicity in it but are also undermining our democracy.”
He also criticised the BBC for its “sanitised” and “distorted” reporting after the organisation pulled a recent documentary due to controversy surrounding a 13-year-old narrator. MacAskill said:
“But we have also to watch what is happening in our own country. As there’s a genocide being perpetrated in Gaza, our democracy is being undermined in this country. Its started with not just sanitised but distorted reporting. The BBC shameful in its false equivalence and in it’s the use of prejudicial language.
“That has moved on to blocking legitimate commentary and reporting. A thirteen-year-old boy cannot be classified as a participant. Pulling an expose of genocide is censorship and shameful.”
Continuing, he accused the UK Government of remaining “silent but complicit” in the genocide unfolding in Gaza, saying:
“We need to speak out when our Government is not just silent but complicit. We need to press them to end arm sales and stop aiding and abetting war crimes. This is not in our name and those who are culpable must be held to account as they have been in past horrors.”
