Police use anti-terror law at Tamil protest

Tuesday, 7 April 2009 5:35 PM

By politics.co.uk staff

Police have arrested a man under the Terrorism Act 2000 at the pro-Tamil demonstration in Parliament Square, as police continue to surround protestors after scuffles earlier.

The arrest, made at around 12:45 BST this afternoon, was made on suspicion of carrying a flag supporting a proscribed organisation.

Numbers are growing at the demonstration, which is campaigning against international inaction over the war in Sri Lanka.

Up to 3,000 protestors gathered in Westminster yesterday but numbers decreased overnight and are now picking up again. Officers on the ground estimated numbers had again reached up to 3,000.

The largely good-tempered mood changed for the worse this morning.

Siva - student

Police moved the demonstrators off Westminster Bridge after some threatened to throw themselves into the Thames unless they were allowed to meet with the prime minister.

Four lifeboats were placed on standby and two men did manage to jump into the river. They were recovered and taken to hospital.

Protestors complained that at around 08:30 BST police charged them, forcing them back to Parliament Square. Several told politics.co.uk they had suffered minor injuries.

Lavan Rajmohan - student

One person reportedly suffered a heart attack. Two ambulances were dispatched to the scene shortly before 10:00 BST, when a silent vigil was held.

So far police have made five arrests, including one for violent disorder, two for public order and one for breach of the peace.

The fifth person was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000. "Through a member of the protest acting as a liaison with the demonstrators police have issued warnings to those gathered that they are flying flags with images that represent a proscribed organisation," a statement from the Met said.

"Police have repeated requests that these flags are removed."

Niroj Nalliah

Up to 150,000 civilians are trapped in northern Sri Lanka as the country's army closes in on Tamil Tiger rebels.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have been campaigning for an independent homeland in the south Asian island for a quarter of a century.

The Sri Lankan army claims that an end to the war is months away, but aid agencies have warned of the worsening humanitarian situation in the region.

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