Woman cleared by court for coconut placard at rally
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2x202v2ejo
A teacher who carried a placard at a pro-Palestinian protest depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as coconuts has been found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence.
Marieha Hussain, 37, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire denied the charge at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday.
She carried a picture showing the faces of the then Prime Minister and Home Secretary superimposed on coconuts under a palm tree in November 2023.
Her defence said the placard was not racist, but satirical and humorous.
Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan argued coconut was a well-known racial slur, suggesting that someone was brown on the outside but white on the inside.
Ms Hussain's defence described the decision to bring the court case as a disturbing attack on the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protest.
In a statement read to the court, Ms Hussain said: "I find it astonishing it could be conceived as a message of hate."
Rajiv Menon KC, defending, said: "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 Frank Hester are seemingly free to make inflammatory and divisive statements ... is, I'm afraid, incomprehensible to many people."
After a two-day trial, judge ruled that the placard was "part of the genre of political satire".