The defendant, Marieha Hussain, was found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence after a two-day trial at Westminster Magistrates Court.
This ridiculous yet dangerous prosecution concerned a placard held by Marieha at a Palestine protest that depicted a drawing of a palm tree with Suella Braverman and former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak superimposed on coconuts.
The Court examined the term “coconut”, and whether it was even capable of being racially abusive, having heard expert opinion from Professor Gus John and Professor Gargi Bhattacharyya in the case for the defence.
In his closing speech, Rajiv Menon KC said: “This prosecution of Ms Hussain is a disturbing attack on the right to freedom of expression; the right to peaceful protest that did not risk violence or public disorder; the right of anti-racists to criticise members of their own race for pursuing racist policies and using racist rhetoric; the right to satirise our politicians; the right to mock and tease and make fun of our politicians in a light-hearted way.”
This case has received widespread news coverage, including BBC News, the Guardian, The Independent and Sky News.
