Last November, Pastor Dia Moodley was peacefully sharing his Christian faith in the streets of Bristol – something he has done for years.
For this, he was arrested by police on suspicion of “inciting religious hatred” under the Public Order Act 1986, despite merely sharing his beliefs.
Pastor Dia, who lives with a heart condition, was held in a police cell for eight hours before being released under bail conditions that banned him from preaching in the city over Christmas.
The bail conditions were dropped after Pastor Dia made representations to the police, but two police officers later visited his home in January, questioned him further on the November incident and invited him to a voluntary interview under caution.
Pastor Dia is considering whether to attend the interview. In the meantime, he is waiting to hear whether he will be criminally charged for his peaceful speech.
ADF UK is providing legal support as he considers legal action against the police for violating his free speech rights.
Shockingly, this is the second time police have arrested Pastor Dia for peaceful street preaching.
While the police have repeatedly targeted Pastor Dia for his peaceful expression, they have failed to properly investigate serious crimes committed against him by those who objected to his preaching.
He recently stated: “This latest arrest has had a profoundly negative effect on me and has been extremely challenging personally.
“I am a law-abiding citizen, and it feels surreal that the police have criminalised me so harshly and repeatedly merely for peacefully expressing my Christian views in the public square.
“Unfortunately, I believe that the police view me, a Christian pastor, as an easy target and are afraid of others being offended by my lawful speech. This is two-tier policing in action.”
Pastor Dia’s arrest for peacefully comparing Islam and transgenderism to Christianity in his preaching shows police are using public order legislation to impose de facto blasphemy laws in the UK.
This is far from an isolated incident. It is part of a clear pattern of behaviour from Avon and Somerset Police, who for years have targeted Pastor Dia for his peaceful expression in the public square.
The police must stop their two-tier approach of criminalising lawful speech. There has long been a pressing need for Parliament to pass legislation to ensure the right to freedom of expression is robustly protected in this country.
Pastor Dia’s case is all the more pressing as the government finalises its broad and ambiguous definition of ‘anti-Muslim hatred’, which risks censoring legitimate speech related to Islam. Pastor Dia’s case shows how authorities can misconstrue peaceful comments on Islam as ‘hateful’ and criminal.
This will be repeated until fundamental freedoms are respected, and clarity is provided to preserve the right of citizens to peacefully discuss and criticise the issues of our time.
Moments like this remind us of the urgency of defending free speech. As we provide robust legal support to Pastor Dia and others facing censorship, we rely on the generosity of people like you who believe these freedoms are worth protecting.
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