LONDON: As part of a pro-Palestinian demonstration, a man appeared in court on Monday after partially scaling the “Big Ben” clock tower at London’s Palace of Westminster early on Saturday and remaining there all day. Daniel Day, 29, climbed 25 meters (82 feet) up the Elizabeth Tower, as it is officially known, on Saturday at around 7:20 a.m. while holding a Palestinian flag. He stayed there for 16 hours before he agreed to descend, his attorney and prosecutors told London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Police later charged him with trespassing on a protected site and climbing and staying on the tower, which constituted “a risk or caused serious harm to the public.” Roads were closed and buses were rerouted in that part of central London as a result of Day’s conduct, according to the prosecution, and the cancellation of parliamentary tours cost 25,000 pounds ($32,300). Day’s attorney stated that he would enter a not guilty plea to the first allegation, arguing that his action was intended to raise awareness of the Gaza situation and Britain’s response to it.
The case was postponed until March 17 in order to make a decision since the attorney general’s approval is required for the second trespass accusation. Day, who hails from a coastal village in eastern England, was remanded in detention. As he was brought away, his fans applauded and yelled “Hero” and “Free Palestine.”
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