Two Green Party candidates arrested over alleged antisemitic online posts

Two Green Party candidates standing in the upcoming local elections have been arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred over alleged antisemitic social media posts.

Saiqa Ali, a Lambeth Green candidate for Streatham St Leonard’s ward, and Sabine Mairey, standing in Lambeth’s Clapham Town, were detained by Metropolitan Police officers on Thursday, according to The Telegraph.

Zack Polanski’s Green Party did not deny the two women had been arrested, as it declined to comment and said it was a matter for the police.

The Met said in a statement: “Police have arrested two women, aged 57 and 54, on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred online, an offence under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986. They remain in police custody.

“The arrests follow an investigation launched after concerns were reported to police on Tuesday April 21 about antisemitic material that had been posted online.”

The newspaper reported it was understood Ms Ali, whose Instagram account is set to private, posted an image of an armed man wearing a headband of the proscribed Islamist militant group Hamas alongside the slogan “resistance is freedom”.

Ms Mairey shared the text “ramming a synagogue isn’t antisemitism, it’s revenge” on the platform, The Telegraph said.

A Green Party spokesperson told the Press Association: “This now a police matter. We won’t be commenting at this stage.”

Ms Ali does not appear to be listed as a candidate for Streatham St Leonards, and Ms Mairey does not feature as a Clapham Town candidate on the Lambeth Green Party’s website candidate.

Earlier this month, Ms Ali apologised “for any offence or distress caused to anyone by my social media posts” after the Lambeth Labour group accused her of sharing antisemitic posts that “repeat harmful tropes about Jewish people”.