Police Apologise and Award Christian Evangelist £10,000 for Speakers’ Corner Arrests

The Metropolitan Police has apologised and admitted it ‘fell below standards’ following two wrongful arrests of a female Christian evangelist at Speakers’ Corner, London. Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Hatun Tash, a well-known Christian evangelist who regularly critiques and debates the Qur’an and Islam at Speakers’ Corner, has also received £10,000 in compensation and costs after challenging the arrests.

On 23 May 2021, Miss Tash, who is the director of the ministry Defend Christ Critique Islam (DCCI) and has 700,000 YouTube followers, was assaulted, abused and harassed by a group of Islamic men for wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Muhammad on it while taking part in weekly debates at Speakers’ Corner, known as the home of free speech. In video footage, when police officers ordered the Islamic group to leave Hyde Park, members of the group told police to ‘go away’ and carried on intimidating Miss Tash.

When the same officers told Miss Tash to leave the park, they told her she would be arrested if she argued with them. Instead of dealing with the threats and intimidation, the police chose to arrest Miss Tash for ‘breaching the peace’ and then she was further arrested under section.4 A Public Order Act 1986. She was then taken into police custody and later interviewed under caution and held in custody.

For 24 hours she was held before being released, with the police taking no further action. Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Miss Tash challenged the arrests on the grounds of wrongful arrest and unlawful imprisonment. Her lawyers said that it was ‘abundantly clear’ that she should not have been arrested and that: “Just because it was believed that it was operationally necessary to arrest our client, that is not what should have happened. The police should have protected her free speech by bringing more officers to Speakers Corner to facilitate her rights.

It follows that her safety would have been protected.” Following news of the arrest, the Free Speech Union wrote to Cressida Dick, then commissioner for the Metropolitan Police, calling on her: “To train your officers to avoid acting in a way that is incompatible with free speech rights.” In the lead up to the incident, the same Islamic group had been on Oxford Street taking part in a pro-Palestinian counter-demonstration against a rally for Israel and peace. The group can be seen threatening Jews and calling for ‘Jewish blood’, which was reported in The Sunday Times.

From this demonstration, the group moved to Speakers’ Corner where they were allowed to intimidate the police into arresting Miss Tash. Two months later in July 2021, Miss Tash was stabbed in front of police at the same location by a man in a black Islamic robe in broad day light. No arrest has ever been made. The police have now also apologised to Miss Tash for wrongfully arresting her on December 2020, again at Speakers’ Corner. In this instance, police officers used the excuse of coronavirus regulations to detain her after she encouraged officers not to hinder another preacher’s right to free speech.

In our world where everything seems to be constantly changing, many Christians sometimes feel very uneasy. With the Fact of holding beliefs and adopt living a Christ-Centered life, how does one apply them into today's world?