UK Police Arrest Man over Brexit Court Case Threats

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British police said Wednesday they have arrested a man suspected of making racist threats online against a woman reported to be Gina Miller, the lead claimant in the highly charged Brexit court case.

Miller, a 51-year-old investment fund manager born in what was then British Guyana, told AFP in October she received death threats over her legal challenge of the government's refusal to give parliament a vote on triggering Britain's departure from the EU.

Police said they had been investigating "threats made online against a 51-year-old woman from November 3 onward", and had on Monday arrested a 55-year-old man in Swindon, southwest England.

Miller won her legal challenge on November 3 when the High Court ruled that the government could not use its executive power to begin the Article 50 process of leaving the European Union, and must consult MPs.

"Officers... have arrested a man on suspicion of racially aggravated malicious communications," the statement from London's Metropolitan Police said.

He was taken into custody and was later released on bail pending consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service.

"As part of the same investigation, officers also issued a 'cease and desist' notice on December 3 to a 38-year-old man from Fife, Scotland," it added. 

Police refused to identify the victim involved but several media outlets named her as Miller.

The court decision prompted outrage from euroskeptic lawmakers and sections of the media, reviving some of the intense passions of the June referendum campaign which led to the vote for Brexit.

The government is appealing the ruling this week at the Supreme Court, with a judgment due next month. 

In her interview with AFP, Miller said: "I myself have received death threats... Apparently my head belongs on Traitors' Gate," she said, referring to the arch through which prisoners were brought to the Tower of London in the 16th century.

"Our business has been boycotted. It's been quite vile. But I won't be bullied because to my mind this is best for everyone, to have legal certainty."

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