A teacher who was acquitted of a racist public order offence after holding up a sign depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as coconuts at a pro-Palestine protest has called for the police watchdog to investigate the Metropolitan police's handling of the incident.
Maleeha Hussain, who was acquitted at Westminster Magistrates' Court earlier this month, claimed the Metropolitan police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had unjustifiably politicised her case after she took part in protests last November.
“My reputation has been damaged and my career lost. They must be held accountable for the damage they have caused not only to me but also to the right to peaceful protest,” she said.
Hussain's lawyers, Birnberg Pearce, last week complained to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and the Child Protection Agency about the handling of the case, which they claim was pursued “despite unfounded evidence and in defiance of apparently conflicting legal principles”.
The CPS said it had received the complaint and would consider it carefully before acting.
“The Metropolitan police and Child Protection Services have inexcusably failed in their respective responsibilities, seriously undermining the exercise of free speech and exposing Mr Hussain to irreparable harm,” Mr Hussain's lawyer Gareth Pearce said in a statement released to the Guardian.
Pearce was particularly critical of the Metropolitan police's response to a photo of Hussain holding a sign, published by right-wing blog Harry's Place on X in November last year, which said they were “actively searching for” the woman in the photo.
The statement read: “Six hours later, the Metropolitan police put all their energy into this new and dangerously false narrative, and with no regard for their duty of protection to a young woman who clearly posed no threat, they themselves promoted the 'Harry's Place' photograph, claiming that the man in it was wanted in connection with a hate crime investigation.”
During Hussein's trial, prosecutors argued that “coconut” was a well-known racist term. “Coconut” “has a very clear meaning: You may be brown on the outside, but you're white on the inside,” prosecutor Jonathan Bryan said. “In other words, you're a 'race traitor,' you're not as brown or black as you should be.”
But District Judge Vanessa Lloyd ruled in Hussain's favour, saying the sign was “a form of political satire” and that the prosecution had “not proved at the criminal standard that it was abusive”.
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In her first full interview since her acquittal, mother-of-two Hussain spoke about the devastating impact the media attention and trial have had on her life, leading to her losing her job, moving back home with her parents and facing a barrage of online abuse.
A CPS spokesman said: “Prosecutors have carefully considered this case and concluded there is sufficient evidence to present to court. The defendant has been found not guilty and we respect the judge's decision.”
The Met Office and the IOPC have been contacted for comment.
