Marieha Hussain, who held a placard at a pro-Palestine protest portraying Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as coconuts, has been found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence (The Times).
After she was photographed holding it last November, the 37-year-old teacher denied the placard was “racially abusive”, claiming that it was “satire”. It showed cut-out pictures of the then-prime minister and home secretary alongside coconuts under a tree.
Hussain was acquitted of the charge, prompting claps and cheers from her supporters in the public gallery.
Judge Vanessa Lloyd said: “I find that it was part of the genre of political satire and, as such, the prosecution have not proved to the criminal standard that it was abusive.
“The prosecution has also not proved to the criminal standard that you were aware that your placard may be abusive.”
However, arguing for the prosecution, Jonathan Bryan claimed that the term “coconut” was a “well-known racial slur which has a very clear meaning”.
He said: “You may be brown on the outside, but you’re white on the inside. In other words, you’re a race traitor — you’re less brown or black than you should be.”
Defending Hussain, Rajiv Menon KC told Westminster magistrates’ court that Hussain “quite obviously does not have a racist bone in her body”.
He questioned why the prosecution did not produce either an expert to say the term “coconut” is a racial slur or someone who was offended by Hussain’s placard to give evidence.
Characterising the placard was a “light-hearted piece of political banter”, Hussain told the court it was a way to depict something serious in a “British satirical way”.
Ultimately, Marieha Hussain the judge at Westminster magistrates’ court supported her claim that the placard was satire.
In his closing speech, Menon said: “This prosecution of Ms Hussain is … a disturbing attack on the right of freedom of expression, the right to peaceful protest that did not risk in any shape or form violence or public disorder, the right to anti-racists to criticise members of their own race for pursuing racist policies and using racist rhetoric, the right to satirise our politicians, the right to mock and tease and make fun of our politicians in a light-hearted way that Marieha Hussain attempted to do with her placard.
“That Marieha Hussain of all people is being prosecuted for a racially aggravated offence whilst the likes of Suella Braverman and Nigel Farage and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon — aka Tommy Robinson — and [the Tory donor] Frank Hester are seemingly free to make inflammatory and divisive statements… is, I’m afraid, incomprehensible to many people.”
“It would be a tragedy — I use that word advisedly — for her to be convicted of a racially aggravated offence when she quite obviously does not have a racist bone in her body.”
Worth reading in full.
