The prisons minister said it "will not affect the work of the police" to act in this way against Britons who were angry that a Rwandan teenager stabbed several British girls and painted the pavement red with their blood.
The British government is planning to introduce emergency measures to ensure that overcrowding in prisons does not delay the prosecution of those arrested during anti-immigration protests in recent weeks and for sharing posts critical of the British government. The "Operation Early Dawn" came into force on Monday morning, wrote .
Prisons Secretary Lord Timpson said the emergency measures would help "deal with pressures in some parts of the country". More than 1,000 people were arrested after riots broke out in England and Northern Ireland earlier this month. According to the Prosecutor's Office, more than 470 people have been charged with various crimes so far.
In the most outrageous cases, British courts hand out sentences of several years in prison even for posts shared on social media.
Wayne O'Rourke, the owner of the "Sick Of It" X account, was sentenced to three years in prison for his posts.
A BBC analysis of prison data has revealed how hard it will be for prisons to cope with a sudden influx of remand and newly sentenced prisoners. The current capacity of the prison system in England and Wales is 89,191 inmates. On Friday, the prison population was 87,893. In the framework of the "Early Dawn" operation, the accused are summoned to the magistrate's court only if there is space for them in the prison. This means court cases can drag on and people are held in police cells or released on bail while they await trial. The Ministry of Justice said the steps would not affect the police's law enforcement ability and would not release people who are a danger to the public.
According to the plans, a total of 5,500 convicts will be released from their prisons.
In addition, the minimum period of time that a prisoner must spend in prison before being released on parole will also be reduced. Furthermore, the measures allow defendants awaiting court appearances to be held in police cells until there are no more prison places.
It is striking that this problem did not arise when African and Muslim migrants rioted in the streets a month ago. The government is only taking action against those Brits who are angry that a Rwandan teenager stabbed several British girls and painted the pavement red with their blood.
Featured image: MTI/EPA/Vickie Flores
