Met apologises for assault and false imprisonment on protesters

According to the BBC five protesters have been awarded a substantial pay out of £85,000 and have been given an apology by the Metropolitan police.

The demonstration in question was in 2006 outside the Mexican embassy where the protesters were concerned at the killing of Indymedia journalist Bradley Will in Oaxaca City. They were assaulted and then falsely imprisoned by police officers.

The police apology includes this;

"It is accepted that your arrest was unlawful and that any forced used on you during your arrest was therefore an assault and battery.”

One of the protesters said;

"This is a democratic country, supposedly, and people have a right to protest and for me it appears that the Metropolitan Police has some sort of policy that prevents people from protesting even if it is perfectly legal and peaceful."

Goods news if we are moving to a point where we are beginning to hold the police to account for their actions.

At the end of the day most people become political activists to make the world a better place, not to get into constant battles with the police. The cops should not be the story - but until these injustices stop they'll unfortunately remain on the news agenda.