Thursday, December 16, 2010

UK Martial Law - UK Police Chief Paul Stephenson suggests to ban protests

The UK Police Chief is suggesting the British government to ban protest and place UK under de facto state of martial law, this is after a student riot happened last week where according to reports and in the circulating videos, a disabled man was dragged in the street while other policeman beat other protesters on their heads with batons.

"It is one of the tactics we will look at and something we will keep under review, and if we think it is the right thing to do then we will do it", Chief Paul Stephenson said during the interview. It's main reason is to avoid violent demonstrations in Central London.

The violent demonstration happened after students protested for the rise in tuition fees. A video circulating in Youtube showed how harsh the authorities in their aim to calm the situation.



Chief Stephenson also clarified that the Public Order Act allowed him to do the ban. He said, "When you have got people willing to break the law in this way, what is the likelihood of them obeying an order not to march or complying with conditions on a demonstration? Sometimes putting that power in could just be inflaming the situation further."

Meanwhile, the President of the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom, Aaron Porter said that the peaceful protest is an integral part of student's heritage and it is the responsibility of the police to help facilitate.

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