CAMPAIGNERS urged Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley today to restrain his officers from arresting protesters at tomorrow’s rally against the ban on Palestine Action.

Hundreds are expected to gather in London, Belfast and Edinburgh, with more than 1,000 pledging to sit silently in Parliament Square holding placards reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”

Defend Our Juries (DOJ), organiser of the protests, said it has sent a letter to Mr Rowley ahead of the Westminster action.

Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July after it admitted damaging two Voyager planes at RAF Brize Norton.

At the time, Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint said that the use of police powers and the management of protests “are matters for the police, who are operationally independent of government.”

Today after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was moved to the Foreign Office, DOJ called on the government to let the ban she introduced die with her tenure.

The letter to Sir Mark said: “You do not need to endlessly repeat the embarrassing charade of arresting people who are acting peacefully and lawfully in front of the world’s press, bringing policing into disrepute.

“As the hundreds start to become thousands, maybe it’s time to put a cap on your losses and give your hardworking and overstretched men and women some well-deserved rest?

“No more violations of international law, no more officers wondering how long they can tolerate serving in a force that compels them to carry away elderly, frail vicars into police vans and police cells.

“No more officers, facing burnout, feeling ‘ashamed and sick’ for arresting people with disabilities for terrorism.”

DOJ noted that police forces in Edinburgh, Totnes, Derry and Kendal had already decided not to arrest silent placard-holders.

It also reminded Sir Mark that government barristers have acknowledged in Royal Courts hearings that it is lawful to campaign for the de-proscription of a banned group.

The call came after six DOJ members appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, denying terrorism charges over alleged attempts to organise mass gatherings aimed at challenging the ban.

Prosecutors say they planned meetings in London, Cardiff and Manchester through Zoom calls.

Amnesty International UK campaigns director Kerry Moscogiuri said: “The use of courts and prisons to punish peaceful protesters under terrorism laws is a blatant violation of the UK’s obligations under international human rights laws.”

The Metropolitan Police was contacted for comment.