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Activist ‘victimised for corruption fight’
Former top Lib Dem faces assault trial after democracy demo

A FORMER deputy chairman of the Liberal Democrats said he was victimised for battling corruption inside the party as he prepared to face trial tomorrow on charges of assault by beating.

Donnachadh McCarthy, who left the Liberal Democrats in 2007, will appear at Westminister magistrates’ court following his arrest during a democracy protest last year.

The environmental campaigner is accused of assaulting a Great London Authority heritage warden in Parliament Square, but he disputes the claim.

Mr McCarthy was holding a placard reading: “Arrest Nick Clegg for Selling Stolen Peerages” at the time of the alleged assault on December 20, as he was protesting against the “corrupt patronage system.”

On social media, Mr McCarthy has previously claimed that he was trying to protect another protester.”

Footage of Mr McCarthy’s arrest shows him calmly talking to the press an hour after the incident allegedly took place, still holding his placard.

He is then surrounded by officers who handcuff him and drag him into a van as people shout demands for his release.

Explaining his presence at the demonstration, the campaigner added: “Having exhausted all political and procedural means at my disposal, I was left with nothing but my democractic right to protest, which is why I ended up standing there with that banner calling for Nick Clegg’s arrest — on the night I was arrested.”

Last year’s occupation of Parliament Square, which ran from October to December, led to the arrest of dozens of democracy campaigners.

The cases brought against 13 of those charged were dropped ahead of trial or dismissed in court.

Occupy Democracy, which organised the protest camp, estimated that almost £2 million had been spent by the London authorities on policing operations in the square between mid-October and mid-February.

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