Marieha Hussain: Protester faces trial over sign calling Sunak and Braverman ‘coconuts’

Police asked for advice about sign at pro-Palestine protest and were told it wasn’t racist – but charged woman anyway

Police who charged a woman with a racist public order offence over her sign reading “coconuts” at a pro-Palestinian protest were told by a black studies professor that the term was not racist, a court heard on Thursday.

Marieha Hussain, 37, is on trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court for carrying the sign during a protest on November 11 last year. The sign depicted former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman as coconuts, with the latter labelled “Cruella Braverman”.

The Metropolitan Police were alerted to the sign after a photo was circulated on social media. Hussain attended a voluntary interview at Islington police station three days later, where she gave an interview without comment and wrote a statement.

She was subsequently charged with a racist offence against public order, which she denies.

Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan argued that the depiction of Braverman and Sunak as coconuts was racist and that “there were people present who were likely to have suffered harm or distress from what was on the sign”.

He told the court: “Coconut is a well-known racial slur that has a very clear meaning. You may be brown on the outside, but you are white on the inside. In other words, you are a traitor to your race — you are less brown or black than you should be.”

Hussain’s lawyer, Rajiv Menon KC, argued that the sign contained satirical political criticism.

“What she is saying is that Braverman was promoting a racist political agenda in a number of ways, as evidenced by the Rwanda policy and the racist rhetoric she used around the small boats. And the prime minister was indulging in it,” he told the court.

He added that similar criticisms were made of the interior minister from across the political spectrum at the time and that Hussain’s views were “not a unique perspective”.

Detective Superintendent Shah gave evidence and admitted that the issue was nuanced and that expert judgement was needed. Before prosecuting Hussain, he said, he had contacted the UK’s first professor of Black Studies, Kehinde Andrews, and asked for his opinion on the use of “coconut” as a racial slur.

The court heard that Andrews, professor of black studies at Birmingham City University, gave “a comprehensive response” in which he said the term was not a racial slur and should not be treated as a racially aggravated public order offence.

Hussain was charged, despite Andrews’ claims.

In her written statement, read out by the Crown Prosecution Service, Hussain said: “What we observed… was an exceptional display of hatred towards vulnerable or minority groups, which came from the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister who supported her.”

She referred to Braverman accusing British men of Pakistani descent of 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 hatred”.

In her statement, Hussain also noted that the former conservative government and the criminal justice system had been harsh on protesters. She said that protesters against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza were being “vilified.”

Hussain said she walked past “many” police officers during the protest and that no one objected or indicated anything was wrong with the poster.

Christopher Humphreys, the Met’s communications manager, told the court that police only decided to investigate the sign after it went viral on social media, by which time it had been viewed about 4.1 million times on X.

Outside the court, protesters gathered to listen to speeches, wave Palestinian flags and chant “Free Palestine.”

The process continues.

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