A teacher who held a placard at a pro-Palestinian protest depicting Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman as coconuts has been found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence.
Warning: This article contains language some may find offensive
Marieha Hussain, 37, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, had denied the prosecution’s allegation that the placard was “racially abusive”, telling Westminster Magistrates’ Court it was just a “light-hearted piece of political banter”.
Her supporters in the public gallery clapped and cheered when she was acquitted of the charge.
An image of the placard, held by Ms Hussain at the protest on 11 November last year, was shown in court.
It showed cut-out pictures of former prime minister Mr Sunak and former home secretary Ms Braverman placed alongside coconuts under a tree.
Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan said the term “coconut” was a “well-known racial slur which has a very clear meaning”.
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He said: “You may be brown on the outside, but you’re white on the inside. In other words, you’re a race traitor – you’re less brown or black than you should be.”
The sign, he said, had “crossed the line between legitimate political expression” and moved into “racial insult”.
But Ms Hussain’s barrister, Rajiv Menon KC, called the case a “disturbing attack on the right of freedom of expression”, claiming his client “does not have a racist bone in her body” and was only trying to “mock and tease” politicians.
District judge Vanessa Lloyd agreed that the placard was a piece of political satire and told prosecutors they had not proved to the criminal standard either that it was abusive or that the defendant understood it may be abusive.
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In a prepared statement read out to the court by the prosecution, Ms Hussain said she had attended the pro-Palestinian protest with her family.
She said she was showing her opposition to an “exceptional manifestation of hatred towards vulnerable or minority groups” and found it “astonishing it could be conceived as a message of hate”.
An image on the other side of the placard depicted Ms Braverman as “Cruella Braverman”, Ms Hussain said in her statement.
