"The Police response in Frankfurt mirrors a clampdown by the London Mayor of Occupy Democracy," Matthew Varnham said.
"These time-limited monthly protests at Parliament Square, in the run-up to the general election, have been met with excessive police force and the erection of […] fencing as a tactic, now itself subject to Judicial Review," Varnham added.
The legal adviser told Sputnik that any police response to protest should be necessary, proportionate and with justification in law, otherwise it poses a threat to fundamental right to free expression.
"It is unfortunate that the police response to Blockupy was to use tear gas and water cannon as I understand that the vast majority of those who attended the protest were peaceful," Varnham added.
Occupy London is concerned that similar deployment of water cannons against protesters in the United Kingdom, which would be a first on mainland Britain, is only a matter of time, the legal adviser added. Conservative Lord Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, recently purchased three second-hand water cannon from German police.
"Modern day protest often highlights inconvenient truths, and people are angry. Police should not be used as puppets of the State to silence dissent," Varnham added.
Northern Ireland is the only part of Britain where water cannons have been used against protesters.
The first truck mounted water cannon appeared in Germany in the 1930s using converted fire engines. The newest German Federal Police design can carry 10,000 liters and shoot water at a rate of 20 liters per second, enough to knock down protesters and rip clothing from their bodies.
