Christians Demand UK Leaders Protect Street Preachers' Rights

“….despite laws that theoretically support the freedom to preach in public, in practice, police officers are quick to silence preachers at the first suggestion that a member of the public is offended.”

A union flag is seen near the Houses of Parliament in London 

 April 18, 2017 /Reuters: Stefan Wermuth. 

The following news article reports on the arrest of a street preacher in London after a citizen complaint. The backlash against his arrest is recounted in this article.  It was published in the Christian Post and authored by Michael Gryboski.  

More than 45,000 people have signed a petition demanding that the Home Office protect the rights of street preachers following the wrongful arrest of a Nigerian-born preacher.

Christian Concern, a United Kingdom-based religious organization, delivered over 38,000 signed copies of the petition to the Home Office in London on Tuesday. Since then, the number of signatories has passed the 45,000 mark.

“Christian street preachers should be free to share the Gospel, even where it means challenging the beliefs of others,” read the petition in part.

“The law rightly protects freedom of speech, even if it offends, shocks or disturbs others. But too often, police officers have shown themselves either to be ignorant of this freedom, or unwilling to uphold it. This leads to a chilling effect, where people are increasingly unwilling to say what they believe, for fear of arrest.”

The petition also called on the new Home Secretary Priti Patel to investigate the training for police officers when it comes to street preachers.

The petition came in response to a February incident in which 64-year-old Oluwole Ilesanmi was arrested while preaching in London after someone called the police accusing him of hate speech against Islam, which can be criminally prosecuted in England.

In late July, Ilesanmi was awarded the equivalent of about $3,000 from the Metropolitan Police, as well as an apology, over being wrongfully arrested the harsh treatment he endured.

Andrea Williams of the Christian Legal Centre, which represented Ilesanmi, said in a recent statement that the law should do a better job of respecting the rights of street preachers.

“… despite laws that theoretically support the freedom to preach in public, in practice, police officers are quick to silence preachers at the first suggestion that a member of the public is offended,” Williams said, as reported by Christian Concern.

“Freedom of speech means that each one of us needs to be able to critique all religions and ideas without immediately being labelled and silenced as offensive. Critiquing ideas is often motivated by love for others and not hate. The result of this also chills free speech through self-censorship.”

Christian Post article continues here

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