Barbados: Police Department Hold Pro-Palestine March

May 24, 2024 Hour: 2:58 pm

On Friday, the Barbados Police Department denied the request of a pro-Palestine group, which was preparing to hold a peaceful demonstration in favor of Gaza and condemning the State of Israel.

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The peaceful march was planned to be in front of the Israeli Consulate in the country, which is linked at Harbour Road.

The Secretary of the organization Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine, Lalu Hanuman, said he was considering taking Commissioner Richard Boyce to court for making demonstrators pay a tax to obtain permission to demonstrate, permission that was not granted.

Commissioner Boyce, on Thursday night, sent a letter to Hanuman, stating that he could not hold the demonstration for “pose a security risk in the lead-up to the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup at the nearby Kensington Oval”.

Police deny pro-Palestinian group’s march request https://t.co/dBdyDOA66x pic.twitter.com/sGjpma4yvf

— Barbados Today (@BarbadosToday)
May 24, 2024

“The area which you requested to hold the march is heavily trafficked by motor vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and will pose a security risk if granted.”

Boyce also told Hanuman that holding a march would cause congestion and inconvenience to people using that area.

For his part Hanuman denounced the police decision as a breach of constitutional rights of freedom of speech and assembly.