On 22 June, political comedian Mark Thomas, members of CAMPACC and other groups and individuals were given police permission to demonstrate in support of a proscribed political organisation and against the new ‘glorification of terrorism’ clause.
The Metropolitan Police approved the demonstration in Parliament Square, which was called ‘to support the PKK’s [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] objectives of human and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey’ and highlight inconsistencies in UK anti-terror legislation, including the offence of ‘glorifying terrorism’, which has been in effect since April this year.
Wearing T-shirts pronouncing ‘I am the PKK’, many of those present at the demonstration waved flags showing the organisation’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan – acts which might be construed as illegal under anti-terrorism legislation for the reason that the PKK is a proscribed organisation in the UK.
Expressing the contradiction in the police’s approval of a demonstration in support of a banned organisation, Mark Thomas voiced his concern that the validity of the legislation was dubious and its definition hazy.