Paul Laverty, Ken Loach‘s longtime screenwriter, was arrested by police in Edinburgh, Scotland during a pro-Palestine protest on Monday.
The Guardian reports that Laverty has been charged for “showing support for a proscribed organization” after wearing a t-shirt in support of the group Palestine Action during a protest outside a police station. Laverty’s t-shirt said, “Genocide in Palestine, time to take Action”.
The British government controversially proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist group on July 5 under the U.K.’s Terrorism Act.
Laverty was released later on Monday and is set to appear in court at a later date. Outside the police station, Laverty gave a statement. “The most important court in the world, is the court of public opinion. Ordinary people are appalled to see starvation and genocide, and selling of arms to the apartheid State of Israel,” he said. “So it’s actually a great pleasure to be here in solidarity with all those people who have decided to not let their conscience down. So let’s get on with it. Let’s stop murder and genocide in Palestine and carry out the obligations of the genocide convention.”
The Scottish screenwriter, a long-term collaborator of Loach, wrote the filmmaker’s critically-acclaimed features Carla’s Song (1996), My Name is Joe (1998), Bread and Roses (2000), Sweet Sixteen (2002), Ae Fond Kiss… (2004), The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006), It’s a Free World… (2007), Looking for Eric (2009), Route Irish (2010), The Angel’s Share (2012), Jimmy’s Hall (2014), I, Daniel Blake (2016), Sorry We Missed You (2019), and most recently The Old Oak (2023).
Sweet Sixteen won best screenplay award in the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, with The Wind That Shakes the Barley and I, Daniel Blake both winning the coveted Palme d’Or.