Sir Mark Rowley
Metropolitan Police Commissioner
New Scotland Yard,
8-10, Broadway,
London,
SW1H 0AZ
2 July 2024
mark.rowley@met.police.uk
Dear Sir,
Attacks by anti-Iran protestors on members of the public on 28 June 2024
We are writing this as an organisation that champions the protection of human rights including free speech and the right to protest under the Human Rights Act 1998. Specifically we write regarding the racist, Islamophobic, unprovoked, and organised attacks by anti-Iran protesters on 28 June 2024.
As you are aware, UK Iranian residents were attending the Iranian Embassy to cast their vote in the Iranian Presidential elections. Anti-Iranian groups and individuals attended the Embassy with, it appears, the intention to not only disrupt the democratic voting process, but do so by also violently intimidating and attacking individuals who had attended the Embassy.
We have been contacted by several individuals and obtained video footage of the alleged perpetrators launching their attacks and also posting the footage of their alleged criminal acts on their own social media pages. We have also downloaded the videos and screenshots as evidence and as a pre-emptive measure should they be taken down.
Please see links to the social media accounts of the alleged perpetrators. We shall also attach video footage and screenshots of their attacks and their admission to the alleged attacks.
- Social media profile of Shahab Zaheri
https://www.instagram.com/shahab.dk2?igsh=MXdhM3E2YWx1dzc0OQ==
- Social media profile of Batelxx (@batelxx) –https://x.com/batelxx?t=gfVSV68a9Q9_s9tj9amNUA&s=08
In one video a male victim (name redacted to protect identity) is assaulted after leaving the Iranian Embassy. The victim of the attack had initially attempted to shield his identity by placing his jacket over his head and was accompanied by a plain clothes police officer who had offered to escort the victim away from the obvious and increasingly hostile and violent atmosphere outside the Iranian Embassy. Despite this, his privacy was invaded when an anti-Iranian female protestor took the victim’s picture/video beneath his jacket. Despite being escorted by the plain clothes officer the victim was then allegedly assaulted by an anti-Iranian male protestor who ripped the victim’s jacket from the his head with such force causing the victim to fracture his thumb, for which he required hospital treatment. The victim has reported the matter to the police. The victim believes the perpetrator to be Shahab Zaheri.
The victim has informed us that he has received death threats on social media which have impacted his mental health such that it has detrimentally affected his sleep and appetite.
In another video (name redacted to protect identify) a woman wearing a hijab (headscarf) is attacked by a female anti-Iranian protestor who forcefully and violently rips the victim’s hijab from her head. The alleged perpetrator has posted the video of the assault on her social media account bragging of her crime with the statement:
https://x.com/dillyhussain88/status/1807386048810393722?s=48&t=RiFk-uUFD9HM6Gi5aeWaiQ
Batelxx (@batelxx) – https://x.com/batelxx?t=gfVSV68a9Q9_s9tj9amNUA&s=08
The victim has reported the matter to the police.
In a further video another woman wearing a black/blue and white hijab is assaulted by a perpetrator who pulls her hijab off her head shouting at her in Farsi. https://x.com/dillyhussain88/status/1807386048810393722?s=48&t=RiFk-uUFD9HM6Gi5aeWaiQ
Such attacks were motivated by religious hatred constituting Islamophobic hate crimes.
The Met Police would have been fully aware an anti-Iranian demonstration at the Iranian Embassy was taking place on the day of Presidential elections in Iran and, given their history of violent attacks and intimidation and harassment of individuals who are pro-Iranian and visibly Muslims (for example the Arbaeen Event and attack on the Islamic Centre of England in 2022), it would be inevitable that members of the public simply exercising their democratic right to vote would come under attack. The Met Police failed to undertake an adequate risk assessment which allowed protestors with a history of violence to come into contact with innocent members of the public who needlessly suffered as a result of this negligence. Given the events that unfolded, it is manifestly apparent that the Met Police should have updated their risk assessment of the Iranian Embassy which would have afforded the necessary protection to innocent members of the public. Further, had they done a proper risk assessment beforehand, they would have understood the Islamaphobic nature of the violent protestors, and taken appropriate action to stop religion-based hate crimes taking place on the streets of London.
We are aware that voting will also take again at the Iranian Embassy this coming Friday 5 July 2024. We are aware that since last Friday, the alleged perpetrators have not only committed these crimes but are actively bragging about their alleged crimes. We would therefore, like to know:
- What risk assessments have been done and what actions will be done as a result to make sure that innocent civilians are protected from attacks again?
- What risk assessment will be undertaken to protect the Iranian Embassy including its staff and in particular those members of the public who will attend this Friday?
- Given the evidence provided, what will been done to identify the perpetrators of this violence, in particular those who physically assaulted others?
- What has been done to understand that the violence was in fact hate crimes motivated by anti-Muslim religious hate?
We request and recommend the perpetrators of the violence last Friday should not only be arrested and charged with assault but also as part of their bail conditions be banned from attending any future events/demos as has been done with pro-Palestine supporters.
Yours faithfully,
Massoud Shadjareh,
Islamic Human Rights Commission
CC Mayor Sadiq Khan
