LONDON — Police in London arrested dozens of protesters on a second successive Saturday for supporting Palestine Action, campaigners said, a week after the UK government banned the activist group under anti-terror laws.

Campaign group Defend Our Juries, which had announced it would hold rallies Saturday in several UK cities “to defy” the ban, criticized the police response, saying law enforcement had arrested more than 40 people in the British capital.

“The Metropolitan Police were out in force again today, arresting more than 40 people in Parliament Square for holding signs opposed to genocide and supporting Palestine Action,” a spokesperson told AFP.

“Who do the police think they are serving in this?” the spokesperson added, calling the ban “Orwellian.”

Footage showed police moving in on a small group of protesters displaying signs supporting Palestine Action who had gathered at the steps of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament Square.

Those detained did not appear to put up any resistance.

The Met confirmed on X that its officers were “in the process of making arrests” after “responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action.”

Britain’s Press Association (PA) news agency reported that an officer at the scene stated that 46 people had been detained for offenses mainly related to a section of the Terrorism Act.

The police’s actions come a week after the arrest of 29 people, including a priest and several health professionals, for offenses under the same law.

Since the ban came into effect on July 5, police have warned that expressing support for Palestine Action is now a crime.

“It is a criminal offense to invite or express support for a proscribed organization,” read a statement posted on X by the Met ahead of Saturday’s planned protests.

“As we saw last week, those who do breach the law will face action.”

Palestine Action’s proscription cleared parliament in the first days of July, and a last-ditch High Court challenge failed to stop it from becoming law.

The government announced plans for the ban under the Terrorism Act days after the group’s activists claimed to be behind a break-in at an air force base in southern England.

The group said it sprayed two aircraft with red paint, causing an estimated £7 million ($9.55 million) in damage.

Four people charged in the incident remain in custody.

Palestine Action has condemned the proscription, which makes it a criminal offense to belong to or support the group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison, as an attack on free speech.