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Probe into 'racialised treatment' of pro-Palestine doctor launched

9th July

Palestine

Palestine protest

Surrey Police

Crime

By
Jamie Calder

Multimedia Reporter

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The protest at HMP Bronzefield (Image: Supplied)

This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today,
and has been written by our American colleagues.
It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald.

A LEADING advocacy organisation has raised concerns over alleged racialised treatment of a pro-Palestine protester by arresting police officers.

The Good Law Project has said that it has "teamed up" with Ayo Moiett, a black NHS doctor, after he was arrested outside HMP Bronzefield, where a pro-Palestine hunger strike was taking place.

The organisation explained that Moiett had spoken to Qesser Zuhrah, one of the hunger strikers, via telephone, to determine the state of her health on the 46th day of the protest.

READ MORE: Young neo-Nazi who planned mass gun attack jailed for over 13 years

"In his professional medical opinion, Zuhrah could have been just hours from death," the Project said in a statement, with reports indicating she was too weak at this stage to stand up. In 1981, Irish Republican Martin Hurson died on his 46th day of hunger strike.

On the day, Moiett had spent eight hours making the case that Zuhrah required urgent medical attention, alleging that the prison staff had initially refused to call an ambulance to attend.

Soon after the ambulance arrived Moiett was arrested, with videos from the day showing him being surrounded by police officers while being marched away. Various protesters are then seen attempting to intervene or filming the incident, with multiple protesters seen being thrown to the floor by police officers. The doctor was then held in custody for a further five hours.

In total, three people were arrested during the protest after Surrey Police received reports of people "attempting to gain entry to restricted areas of the prison."

The force confirmed to The National that "Mehvish Khan, 22 was charged with criminal damage following damage to a police van. She has been bailed ahead of her next court appearance in January 2027.

"A 28-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm. He remains on police bail while the investigation continues.

"A 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of common assault. This investigation has since been filed."

It is understood that the Crown Prosecution Service informed Moiett that they were taking no further action six months after his arrest.

READ MORE: BBC apologises for 'wrong' claim that 'Israel did not start Six-Day War'

Moiett has said that he now intends to investigate, alongside the Good Law Project, whether his arrest was "influenced by racially discriminatory factors."

He explained that during the incident he "felt surrounded, restricted and so claustrophobic. I do feel the manner I was arrested in was racist and it was disproportionate".

"When I think of myself as a black man and the racist and negative stereotyping that we all go through – criminal, aggressive, angry, violent – I do feel that was projected on to me.”

Commenting on the investigation, Good Law Project’s campaigns manager Charlene Pink, said: “People of colour are bearing the brunt of the government’s brutal crackdown on protest rights. But arresting a doctor and bundling him into the back of a van for trying to call an ambulance is a new low.

"We’re pushing back against Labour’s authoritarian streak, which puts all of us and our freedoms to protest at risk."

A Surrey Police spokesperson said: "We have not received a complaint from Dr Moiett to date.

"We encourage anyone who is concerned about the way they were treated by police to submit a formal complaint to our Professional Standards Department using the online reporting form on our website: Complaints | Surrey Police / https://www.surrey.police.uk/fo/feedback/complaints/complaints/".

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