325 detained at Palestine Action protest outside US embassy in London

Police detained 325 people on Saturday at a demonstration outside the US embassy in London against the proscription of Palestine Action.

In updated figures released on Sunday, the Metropolitan Police said 320 people were detained outside the building in Battersea, south London. They were detained for allegedly expressing support for an organisation banned under the Terrorism Act.

The detentions came ahead of Wednesday's Supreme Court challenge to the ban on Palestine Action. Palestine Action is the first direct action group to be proscribed under the Terrorism Act. The ban came into effect on 5 July last year.

Defend Our Juries, which has organised the mass civil disobedience campaign against the proscription, said Saturday's detentions took the total number of people arrested for allegedly supporting Palestine Action since the ban to 4,200.

Most of those detained were held for holding placards reading 'I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action', according to the report.

The total number of detentions may feature in the Supreme Court hearing. Permission for the hearing was granted on the basis that it was arguable that the ban represents a disproportionate interference with the rights of freedom of speech and protest.

The High Court had earlier ruled that the ban was unlawful, but the Court of Appeal overturned that decision. However, neither court gave much weight to the fate of the placard-holders, the report noted.

About 2,500 people arrested for alleged support of Palestine Action have been charged under the Terrorism Act, but all trials have been postponed pending a definitive decision on whether the ban was lawful.

There was also a vigil in Edinburgh on Saturday, although Police Scotland made no arrests there.

Earlier, in September, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told LBC radio that he did not think anyone's intent was to have elderly people, vicars and grannies criminalised for holding placards. He said the Supreme Court has to look at the issue and that the government keeps looking at it.

The following week, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said it had been 'very uncomfortable' to see some protesters arrested. Mahmood nevertheless defended the ban.

The Supreme Court hearing will conclude on Thursday, with judgment reserved until a later date.