POLICE in south Wales have been accused of using “intimidation tactics” against campaigners demanding justice for Mohamud Hassan after arresting three who joined protests over the young man’s death. 

Mr Hassan, 24, died in the evening of January 9, just  hours after being released from police custody. He had been arrested at his home the previous day on suspicion of a breach of the peace and held overnight, before being freed without charge.

His death sparked several days of demonstrations outside Cardiff Bay police station.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) Cardiff and Vale told the Morning Star today that five people who attended those protests have since been arrested or threatened with arrest. 

One of them told an online meeting on Tuesday that he had been “dragged out of bed” by six plain-clothes officers and taken to the police station in handcuffs. 

The man, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his family, said that he was charged with assaulting an emergency worker “because I shined my torch in a police officer’s eyes.” 

South Wales Police said in a statement that it had launched a “post-incident investigation” into criminal offences allegedly committed during the January protests. 

The force said that it has since made three arrests on charges that include suspicion of affray and assaulting an emergency worker. All arrests took place on March 4 and 5, two months after the protests.

Campaigners insist that the protests were peaceful and describe the police actions as “intimidation tactics.” 

Commenting on the investigation into the demonstrations, Hussein Said of the BLM group told the Star: “It seems as if they are more keen to analyse footage from the protests than the footage of the night of the death of Mohamud.”

“It says a lot that when you [are] peacefully protesting against the death of a young black man that you are the one who is seen as the criminal.”

It comes after a woman was fined £500 under Covid-19 regulations for allegedly organising the protests outside Cardiff Bay police station. Two police vans were sent to her house in January to notify her of the fine.

Mr Hassan’s death is under investigation by the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC). One police officer has been served a misconduct notice.