Marieha Hussain says ‘coconut’ trial highlights institutional reality of racism in UK

LONDON: British Pakistani school teacher and activist Marieha Hussain has expressed relief after being acquitted of a racially aggravated public order offense over the ‘coconut’ placard. However, she questioned the role of British institutions in prosecuting her for criticizing former prime minister Rishi Sunak and former home secretary Suella Braverman.

Last week, a judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court said Hussain was not guilty of the racially aggravated public order offense and had been honest and consistent in her account and views.

In November last year, the Metropolitan Police released a photo of herself holding the ‘coconut’ placard — taken during a pro-Palestine march and first published by the pro-Zionist blog Harry’s place — asking the public for help in her recognition.

Soon after, she was charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), lost her job, her family’s home address was leaked to the right-wing media and her home was besieged, causing her entire family to be harassed.

Speaking to The News and Geo News at her home in High Wycombe, Hussain said she did not regret carrying the placard, would continue to campaign for justice for the Palestinians and would never shy away from calling out racism and Islamophobia.

She said: “I made the poster myself, showing a palm tree with coconuts, Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman underneath. This meant that Rishi and Suella were coconuts, brown on the outside and white on the inside. The court accepted that it was political criticism and not racist. The poster was a critique of their racist and Islamophobic policies that were only harmful to black, brown, immigrant and especially Muslim communities.”

Mother-of-two Hussain, who was dragged into court last week while nine months pregnant, said the whole ordeal had been extremely stressful for her and her family.

She shared: “It was very stressful. We were scared and scared. We were besieged by the right-wing, racist media. Our lawyers and the campaigns team at the CAGE charity have been very supportive. They understood that we had done nothing wrong and that we would win in the end.”

Right-wing media published addresses and photos of her father, who is a consultant dermatologist in the NHS, and set up camps outside his home. “Racist media published his photos and shared details from my parents’ home. My father was not at the UK event at the time of the demonstration but he was attacked. My whole family came together and supported me. When the judge found me not guilty, we were all moved, cried and hugged in court.”

Hussein said the Israeli government and the lobbies working for it campaigned for her arrest and prosecution to suppress pro-Palestinian voices.

“During the trial it emerged that it was a pro-Zionist and anti-Palestinian blog called Harry’s Place, which is run from Washington DC, that first published my photo with the placard and then the Metropolitan Police used that image to hunt me down . Israel put pressure on me to indict and convict me. The London police acted swiftly against me and used hate speech laws against me to bring me to trial. They couldn’t produce a single witness to confirm that my poster was racist.”

Hussain lamented that “institutional racism has grown in the UK over the years and her case is a great example of that”.

He said: “For the last ten years I’ve been marching in Palestine so I knew how things go. We understood how double standards work and how the laws are largely against ethnic minorities, especially Muslims. I made the poster against Rishi and Suella because they spoke out against Muslims, ethnic minorities, the homeless and vulnerable people. I have no regrets.”

At trial, the prosecution argued that “coconut” was a well-known racial slur. “[It has] a very clear meaning – you may be brown on the outside but you’re white on the inside,” said the prosecutor, Jonathan Bryan. “In other words, you’re a ‘race traitor’ – you’re less brown or black than you should be.”

However, Hussain argued that “coconut” was a “common language, especially in our culture” and, in relation to the poster, a form of political criticism. “It’s something we just grew up with,” he said. “It was easily thrown away… I remember my father calling me a coconut in my teenage years.”

District Judge Vanessa Lloyd ruled that the poster was “part of the genre of political satire” and the prosecution had “failed to prove at the criminal level that it was abusive”.

Hussain said she has no doubt she would never have been prosecuted had she not been a Muslim, Pakistani and brown woman. “This case speaks of double standards and hypocrisy. Millionaire Tory donor Frank Hester first said he wanted to shoot the respected anti-racist black MP Diane Abbott but the CPS did nothing and has been silent for months but the police and the CPS put me through hell inside in a few minutes. I will not give up.”

CAGE International said Marieha Hussain’s not guilty verdict handed down by District Judge Vanessa Lloyd was a return to sanity for what had always been a politically motivated prosecution aimed at silencing criticism of politicians complicit in the “Gaza genocide”. .

Naila Ahmed, Head of Campaigns at CAGE International said: “Marieha’s ordeal highlights the appalling methods used by the British state to silence and intimidate the free speech of its citizens to protect a foreign nation’s genocidal war. Marieha endured months of harassment, including an abusive police interview, late-night police visits and a media smear campaign that led to her losing her job and temporarily relocating her family for safety. It is scandalous that a heavily pregnant mother ever had to be tried for expressing a political opinion. This persecution was vindictive from the start. It will be a huge relief for Marieja and her family that this ordeal is now over and she can put all this behind her.

“The state is increasingly exploring insidious ways to prosecute activists, especially those who take action for Palestine. It is our hope that this verdict will put an end to this type of politicized prosecution and most importantly lead to the dropping of charges against CAGE 6 accused of the same alleged offence. However, we will not remain silent in exposing the war crimes and genocide committed by the Israeli apartheid state — Palestine will be free.”