Marieha Hussain, a teacher from Buckinghamshire, has been acquitted of a racially aggravated public order offense for carrying a placard at a pro-Palestinian protest depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as coconuts. The image showed the then Prime Minister and Home Secretary superimposed on coconuts under a palm tree. Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan argued that a coconut is a well-known racial slur that suggests someone is “brown on the outside but white on the inside.” However, Ms. Hussain’s defense argued that the placard was not racist but satirical and humorous.
Rajiv Menon KC, defending Ms. Hussain, said that it was incomprehensible to prosecute her for a racially aggravated crime while other individuals who made inflammatory and divisive statements, such as Suella Braverman, Nigel Farage, and Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, were free to express themselves. He added that Ms. Hussain was a woman of “impeccable character” and that it would be a tragedy for her to be convicted of a racially aggravated offense when she does not have a racist bone in her body.
Ms. Hussain’s defense 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 by the prosecution, she said that the placard was in opposition to an “exceptional manifestation of hatred towards vulnerable or minority groups emanating from the home secretary and supported by the prime minister.” An image on the other side of the placard depicted the former home secretary as “Cruella Braverman,” Ms. Hussain said in a statement, adding, “I find it astonishing it could be conceived as a message of hate.”
After a two-day trial, District Judge Vanessa Lloyd ruled that the placard was “part of the genre of political satire” and not abusive. She said, “The prosecution has also not proved to the criminal standard that you were aware that your placard may be abusive.” A rally was staged outside the court to show solidarity with Ms. Hussain, and her acquittal has been welcomed
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