- Niyak Ghorbani was wrestled to the ground by four Met officers and handcuffed
- The 38-year-old was counter-protesting the pro-Palestine march in London
The Metropolitan Police has been slammed by campaigners after denying its officers arrested a man because he was holding an anti-Hamas sign at a pro-Palestine protest.
The force has been heavily criticised after video emerged showing four officers wrestling Niyak Ghorbani to the ground and handcuffing him as he held a counter-protest in London yesterday.
The 38-year-old had been holding a banner saying ‘Hamas is Terrorist’ when he was confronted by multiple pro-Palestine demonstrators who tried to rip the sign from his hands, with police then dragging him away.
Police claimed officers had arrested him on suspicion of assault, although he was later de-arrested and shocking footage released showed one of the officers involved ripping the sign out of the Iranian dissident’s hands and screwing it up.
Activist group Campaign Against Antisemitism has blasted the Met’s treatment of Mr Ghorbani as ‘outrageous and disproportionate’, and accused the force of ‘failing to enforce the law’.
During yesterday’s rally thousands of people marched through the capital, a small number of whom were seen appearing to celebrate Houthi terror attacks in the Red Sea.
While he was later de-arrested and released, video of Mr Ghorbani’s initial arrest was shared on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, sparking a fierce backlash.
As he was held down by police the IT professional was seen shouting: ‘Shame on you… I wrote down Hamas is a terrorist organisation… but they arrested me.’
Last night, Mr Ghorbani told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I think the police are totally wrong. It is a total double standard. It is one rule for the Palestinian protesters and another for me. It is hypocrisy.’
In statement the Met Police denied he had been handcuffed as a result of having a banner decrying Hamas.
‘A video has been posted on X alleging officers arrested a man for having an anti-Hamas placard,’ a spokesperson said.
‘This isn’t accurate. He was arrested after an altercation was ongoing, and officers intervened to prevent a breach of the peace. He was arrested for assault.
‘Officers then fully reviewed footage provided of the incident, and he was later de-arrested. The arrest was not made in relation to the placard.’
However, the Campaign Against Antisemitism said it was ‘reviewing all the footage available’ regarding the incident and its lawyers are ‘examining options’.
Writing on X, it said: ‘James Cleverly and Sadiq Khan, how confident are you that under Sir Mark Rowley understands the law, let alone that it can enforce it?
‘The police response appears to have been not only outrageous and disproportionate but potentially legally actionable.
‘For a phalanx of police officers to violently arrest a man who was verbally and physically attacked for observing that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist group while taking no action against his assailants is a breathtaking inversion of the law.
‘Not only are the police failing to enforce the law but they appear to be punishing those who are daring to point out what the law is.’
Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith last night reacted to Mr Ghorbani’s treatment by saying: ‘I will be demanding a full inquiry with a public apology from the police. This Iranian man has done nothing wrong at all.
‘For a man to be arrested and bundled to the floor by officers, who do not seem to know the difference between a peaceful organisation and a terrorist one, is astonishing.’
Jewish Tory MP Andrew Percy said: ‘For months the police have ignored support for actual terrorist groups on our streets yet they find time to arrest someone pointing out a simple statement of fact.’
MailOnline has contacted the Met Police for further comment.
Onlookers criticised the heavy-handed treatment of Mr Ghorbani compared to the softly-softly approach towards those glorifying Houthi terror attacks on British ships.
A man with a megaphone repeatedly screamed, ‘Yemen, Yemen, do us proud’ while a crowd chanted in response, ‘Turn another ship around.’
Last week three sailors were killed on their ship by missiles launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen. The Houthis say the attacks are in support of the Palestinians.
Despite witnessing the chanting, two Metropolitan Police officers declined to take action when challenged by an onlooker, who asked: ‘Guys, you know what that reference is, the Yemen reference… the Houthis, proscribed terror organisation?’
One of the officers shook his head while the other said: ‘I am listening to my earpiece, sorry.’
The incidents took place during the latest national protest against Israel’s bombing of Gaza – and follow claims that London has become a ‘no-go zone for Jews’ during weekend protests.
For the first time since the conflict began, an official counter-demonstration was staged in solidarity with both Israel and British Jews who have felt intimidated by the weekly protests.
Organisers said they wanted to reclaim London as ‘a bastion of democracy, diversity, and multiculturalism’.
Police said four other arrests were made at yesterday’s march.
The UK Government officially designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation in 2021.
Membership and expressing support for Hamas is an illegal act in the UK, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
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Matthew Lodge
