MADRID, May 7th. (EUROPEAN PRESS) –
Republican groups protesting on Saturday on the occasion of Carlos III’s coronation denounced the repression and arrest of more than fifty people.
“The right to peaceful protest no longer exists,” complained the organizing group, Republic, after the arrests of 52 people during the protests.
The leader of the group, Graham Smith, was one of those arrested and criticized the situation after 16 hours in detention. “I have just left the police station. I am still waiting for my colleagues. Make no mistake. There is no longer any right to peaceful protest in Great Britain,” he said.
“I have been told many times that the king is there to defend our freedom. Now our freedom is being attacked in his name,” Smith said.
London’s Metropolitan Police found its response “proportionate” and its boss, Karen Findlay, has made clear that agents have a duty to intervene “when protests become criminal and can cause serious trouble.”
The police themselves had warned on Twitter that they would have an “extremely low tolerance” for anyone trying to “ruin” coronation day events.
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