Marieha Hussain: protester goes on trial for placard calling Sunak and Braverman ‘coconuts’
Police sought advice over sign at pro-Palestine protest and were told it was not racist — but charged woman anyway
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Police who charged a woman with a racially aggravated public order offence over her “coconuts” placard at a pro-Palestine protest had been advised by a professor of Black studies that the term was not racist, a court heard on Thursday.
Marieha Hussain, 37, is on trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for carrying the placard at a protest on 11 November last year. The sign depicted former prime minister Rishi Sunak and former home secretary Suella Braverman as coconuts, and labelled the latter “Cruella Braverman”.
The Metropolitan police were made aware of the sign after a photograph was circulated on social media. Hussain attended a voluntary interview three days later at Islington police station where she gave a no-comment interview and prepared a written statement.
She was subsequently charged with a racially aggravated public order offence, which she denies.
Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan argued that the depiction of Braverman and Sunak as coconuts was racially abusive and that “there were people present who were likely to have been caused harm or distress by what was on the placard”.
He told the court: “Coconut is a well-known racial slur which has a very clear meaning. You may be brown on the outside, but you’re white on the inside. In other words, you’re a race traitor — you’re less brown or Black than you should be.”
Hussain’s defence lawyer, Rajiv Menon KC, argued that the placard was satirical political criticism.
“What she’s saying is that Braverman was promoting, in different ways, a racist political agenda as evidenced by the Rwanda policy and the racist rhetoric she was using around the small boats. And the prime minister was acquiescing to it,” he told the court.
He added that similar criticisms were being made against the home secretary across the political spectrum at the time and that Hussain’s views were “not a unique perspective”.
Giving evidence, Detective Superintendent Shah admitted that the issue was nuanced and required an expert opinion. Prior to charging Hussain, he said, he contacted the UK’s first professor of Black studies, Kehinde Andrews, and sought his opinion on the use of “coconut” as a racial slur.
The court heard that Andrews, professor of Black studies at Birmingham City University, provided “a lengthy response”, saying the term was not a racial slur and should not be treated as a racially aggravated public order offence.
Hussain was charged, despite Andrews’s submission.
In her written statement, read out by the prosecution, Hussain stated: “What we had observed … was that there was an exceptional manifestation of hatred towards vulnerable or minority groups emanated by the home secretary and the prime minister who supported her.”
She referred to Braverman accusing British men of Pakistani heritage being more likely to be part of child grooming gangs, her description of the arrival of asylum seekers as an ”invasion”, and other comments that “perpetuate harmful stereotypes and contribute to a climate of hate”.
In her statement Hussain also noted the harsh treatment of protesters by the former Conservative government and the criminal justice system, adding that those protesting in relation to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza had been “met with vilification”.
Hussain said that during the course of the protest, she had walked past “many” police officers on the march, and none had objected or indicated that there was anything wrong with the poster.
The Met’s communications manager, Christopher Humphreys, told the court that the force only decided to investigate the placard once it went viral on social media, gaining around 4.1m views on X at the time.
Protesters gathered outside the court listening to speeches, waving Palestine flags and chanting “free Palestine”.
The trial continues.
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