To the millions of TV viewers around the world, the spectacle looked flawless. The service at Westminster AbbeyA large church in London. Many British kings and queens are buried there. went like clockwork; so did the great parade back to Buckingham Palace. Who could be filled with anything but admiration? 

The answer was easy: those who had watched protesters being handcuffed and carried to police vans. According to Yasmine Ahmed, the director of Human Rights Watch UK, "This is something you would expect to see in MoscowThe capital city of Russia. , not London."¹

In all, 64 people were detained during the event. By yesterday only four had been charged.

The people arrested included members of the Just Stop OilA UK environmental activist group which uses direct action to protest against fossil fuel production. and Animal RisingA UK animal rights and climate change activism group. protest groups and the anti-monarchist organisation Republic.

The most high-profile detainee was the head of Republic, Graham Smith. He said that as soon as he and colleagues began unloading placards from a van they were arrested on suspicion of "locking on". This means causing disruption by, for instance, chaining yourself to railings - an offence under a newly passed law.

Though no equipment for doing this was found, Smith was held for 16 hours. He claims that he had spent four months before the coronation talking to the police about what Republic planned to do, and had been told there would be no problems.

The arrests, he insists, "would have occurred regardless of the evidence or our actions. The right to protest peacefully in the UK no longer exists."

Animal Rising said that some of their members had been arrested at a training session "miles away from the coronation". A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said that they had simply planned to display flags and T-shirts, and described the arrests as "a dystopianRelating to an imagined society where there is great suffering or injustice.  nightmare".

Caroline Russell, who chairs the London Assembly's police and crime committee, agreed that they were deeply worrying. The head of the Liberal DemocratsAlso known as the Lib Dems, a liberal political party in the UK. , Ed Davie, said that they "breached the British tradition of civil liberties".

Commander Karen Findlay of the Metropolitan Police initially replied that officers had acted "proportionately" and that the "context" of such a large-scale event was crucial to their actions. But last night, police sources appeared to begin to backtrack, with the Metropolitan Police expressing "regret" over the arrests of six protesters.

Even so, Findlay's words raise the question of who decides which context justifies arrests. Critics warn that it could lead to protests only becoming possible with official permission. 

Yes: A healthy democracy can only exist if it permits civilised debate. Whether you agree with protesters' views or not, they must be allowed to express them - otherwise you end up with a dictatorship.

No: The strongest societies are those which give greatest weight to the views of the majority and defend the status quoA Latin phrase referring to the current or present situation.. It was selfish of the protesters to try to spoil the enjoyment of others.

Or... Trying to suppress dissent generally backfires. If the protesters had been left alone they would hardly have been noticed. As it is, they have become the focus of a passionate debate about liberty.