{"id":928,"date":"2022-07-24T20:14:48","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T17:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/?p=928"},"modified":"2022-07-24T20:14:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T17:14:48","slug":"activist-arrested-over-fake-bomb-threat-after-london-pro-uyghur-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/?p=928","title":{"rendered":"Activist arrested over fake &#8216;bomb threat&#8217; after London pro-Uyghur protest"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-top\">\n<div class=\"region region-content-top\">\n<h1 class=\"page-title\"><span class=\"field field-title\">Activist arrested over fake &#8216;bomb threat&#8217; after London pro-Uyghur protest<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"page-main-content\">\n<div class=\"field field-field-subhead\">Drew Pavlou says he was held without a lawyer or consular access after Chinese embassy claimed to have received bomb threat<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field-field-main-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.middleeasteye.net\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/article_page\/public\/images-story\/drew%20pavlou.jpg?itok=I-U6HRov\" alt=\"\" width=\"555\" height=\"312\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"field field-field-cutline\">Drew Pavlou posing for a photo at the University of Queensland campus in Brisbane on 1 September 2020 (AFP)<\/div>\n<div class=\"region region-content\">\n<div class=\"scrollmagic-pin-spacer\" data-scrollmagic-pin-spacer=\"\">\n<section id=\"block-meesocialshare\" class=\"block block-mee-social-share block-mee-social-share-block clearfix\">\n<div class=\"mee-social-share-block\">\n<div id=\"st-1\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons st-center  st-inline-share-buttons st-animated\">\n<div class=\"st-btn\" data-network=\"twitter\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<article class=\"story full article-type clearfix\" role=\"article\" data-history-node-id=\"258931\">\n<div class=\"field field-body clearfix\">\n<p>An Australian human rights activist protesting against the oppression of Uyghur Muslims in China was arrested in London after authorities were sent a false bomb threat that had allegedly been delivered to the Chinese embassy in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeasteye.net\/countries\/uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">city<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Drew Pavlou held a protest outside Beijing&#8217;s embassy in the British capital, displaying a Uyghur flag to highlight the plight of Turkic Muslim minority communities in China&#8217;s Xinjiang region.<\/p>\n<p>Pavlou was arrested just minutes into the protest, after officers alleged that he had emailed a bomb threat to the embassy. He has since been released.<\/p>\n<p>The fake email allegedly said: &#8220;This is Drew Pavlou, you have until 12pm to stop the Uyghur genocide or I blow up the embassy with a bomb. Regards, Drew.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old activist strongly denied sending the email, describing the allegation as &#8220;shocking&#8221;.<\/p>\n<div class=\"url-embed-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=middleeasteye&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1550645090149883905&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.middleeasteye.net%2Fnews%2Factivist-drew-pavlou-arrested-uk-chinese-embassy-bomb-threat-uyghur-protest&amp;sessionId=0a4da54540605b4afb1fcbb20c880eeae6d690fa&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6da0b7085cc99%3A1658260301864&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1550645090149883905\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;The UK police arrested me. They said the Chinese embassy had reported me as a terrorist, as a bomb threat. I was so shocked, I&#8217;ve always been a peaceful protester,&#8221; he said in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewPavlou\/status\/1550645090149883905?s=20&amp;t=Q6CmePpJ23HWsvvbDVX1fg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">video<\/a>\u00a0posted to Twitter.<\/p>\n<div class=\"block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"adsense responsive\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;They&#8217;ve made up this email claiming that I sent in the bomb threat. It&#8217;s just absolute insanity. Why would I throw away my life like that? I&#8217;m a peaceful protester. It&#8217;s just so, so shocking.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>&#8216;Denied consular access&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p>In a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewPavlou\/status\/1550508374269239297?s=20&amp;t=Q6CmePpJ23HWsvvbDVX1fg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">thread<\/a>\u00a0posted on Twitter, Pavlou said that he had been detained by London&#8217;s Metropolitan police incommunicado for 23 hours, with no access to a lawyer.<\/p>\n<p>He claimed that his phone had been seized and that he was pressured into handing over his password. He added that he was denied access to Australian consular officials.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right\"><\/div>\n<p>Australia&#8217;s foreign affairs ministry confirmed the arrest in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has offered consular assistance to Drew Pavlou, an Australian who was arrested, and subsequently released, in the United Kingdom,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n<p>The ministry added that it would raise Pavlou&#8217;s claims of being denied consular access whilst being detained with UK authorities.<\/p>\n<p>A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said that it does not confirm or comment on the identity of anyone arrested who has not been charged with a criminal offence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Anyone who wishes to complain about their treatment by the Metropolitan Police can contact the Met&#8217;s Directorate of Professional Standards or the UK Independent Office for Police Conduct.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Pavlou has a long history of protesting against human rights abuses by China, including\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrewPavlou\/status\/1540156182211399681?s=20&amp;t=Q6CmePpJ23HWsvvbDVX1fg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interrupting a speech by China&#8217;s ambassador<\/a>\u00a0in Sydney earlier this year to denounce Beijing&#8217;s treatment of Muslims.<\/p>\n<p>The Chinese government is accused of detaining more than one million Uyghur\u00a0and other Muslim minorities in the western Xinjiang region, and subjecting the community to abuses that some have labelled a &#8220;genocide&#8221;. China denies the allegations of abuse.<\/p>\n<p>Last month, Pavlou held up a sign during the Wimbledon final with the words &#8220;Where is Peng Shuai?,&#8221; referring to a Chinese tennis player who briefly disappeared after alleging that she had been sexually assaulted by a senior official in the Chinese communist party.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Activist arrested over fake &#8216;bomb threat&#8217; after London pro-Uyghur protest Drew Pavlou says he was held without a lawyer or consular access after Chinese embassy claimed to have received bomb [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=928"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":929,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions\/929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uyghurmovement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}