A police monitoring group has accused the Metropolitan Police of “desperately” trying to gather information about a protest rights training event ahead of one of the world’s biggest arms fairs.
Taking place every two years in London with support from the UK government, the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) fair is a huge exhibition run by Clarion Events that brings together thousands of arms buyers and dealers from all over the world under the roof of the ExCel conference centre to network and make deals with military delegations, government officials and other arms companies.
Netpol yesterday hosted a ‘Know Your Rights’ training session to educate protesters about their legal rights ahead of any direct action that might take place at the fair. Emails seen by openDemocracy show a police licensing officer trying to gather information ahead of the event – held at the Old Spotted Dog football ground in Forest Gate, east London – by twice asking the venue’s licensing holder about the number of attendees following a phone call between them.
