Protester's placard depicting Sunak and Braverman was 'racially abusive', court hears

A placard held by a woman at a pro-Palestinian protest showing images of former prime minister Rishi Sunak and ex-home secretary Suella Braverman was "racially abusive", a court has heard.

Warning: This article contains language some may find offensive

Marieha Hussain, 37, of High Wycombe, pleaded not guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday over the placard depicting the politicians as coconuts.

As the trial began, about 40 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the building.

Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan told the court the term "coconut" was a "well-known racial slur which has a very clear meaning".

"You may be brown on the outside, but you're white on the inside. In other words, you're a race traitor - you're less brown or black than you should be," he said.

He argued Hussain had "crossed the line between legitimate political expression" and moved into "racial insult".

"We say that the placard was abusive, it was racially abusive," he told the court.

"There were people present who were likely to have been caused harassment, alarm and distress by seeing what was on that placard."

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An image of the placard, held by Hussain at a pro-Palestinian protest on 11 November, was shown in court.

It showed cut-out pictures of Mr Sunak and Ms Braverman placed alongside coconuts under a tree.

Defending, Rajiv Menon KC, said the placard was a "political criticism" of Mr Sunak and Ms Braverman.

He told the court: "What she is saying is Suella Braverman - then home secretary, sacked two days after - was promoting in different ways a racist political agenda as evidenced by the Rwanda policy, the racist rhetoric she was using around small boats.

"And the prime minister was either quiescing to it or being inactive.

"It was a political criticism of these two particular politicians."

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Metropolitan Police communications manager Chris Humphreys told the court that images come to the attention of the police service if the force's social media account is "tagged in the post".

He added the force "actively monitors" accounts that frequently post protest-related images.

Mr Menon told the court the image of the placard had been posted by an X account with the username Harry's Place.

He asked Mr Humphreys: "Are you aware that Harry's Place is a secretive political blog headquartered in Washington DC that has a particular interest in opposing any criticism of the Israeli state?"

Mr Humphreys replied: "I know Harry's Place is an anonymous political blog."

The trial continues.