The Quakers in Britain group has strongly criticized the recent arrest of six Youth Demand supporters by police at a Quaker meeting house in Westminster. These arrests mark a historic occurrence in such spaces, indicating a troubling trend of criminalizing protest. Quakers emphasized the importance of freedom of speech and peaceful assembly as fundamental to democracy. Youth Demand, a youth-led campaign advocating against socio-political injustices, has been organizing civil resistance actions, maintaining their right to engage in nonviolent protest as part of a broader social movement.
This aggressive violation of our place of worship and the forceful removal of young people holding a protest group meeting clearly shows what happens when a society criminalises protest.
Quakers support the right to nonviolent public protest, acting themselves from a deep moral imperative to stand up against injustice and for our planet.
Youth Demand, the self-described youth resistance campaign fighting for an end to genocide, began carrying out acts of civil disobedience last year.
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