EDINBURGH's freedom of speech protest in the wake of anti-monarchy arrests have been compared to demonstrations held in Russia.

Blank sheets of paper were held up by protesters as people queued to see the Queen's coffin at St Giles' Cathedral.

It comes as the anti-imperialism group Global Majority VS, who is supporting one of the arrested in Scotland,  accused police of criminalising freedom of speech, saying there was a "concerted effort to silence the voices of the masses".

But the National Police Chiefs' Council said police are having to balance the rights of protest with those of people who wish to mourn and grieve.

Climate Camp Scotland, which protests against fossil fuels and for climate justice said Tuesday's protest was as a result of people being arrested in Scotland for just holding a placard.

They said friends of the camp "quietly held up blank banners and placards in solidarity with people arrested in Edinburgh and elsewhere in the UK for protesting the Monarchy.

"Folk on the Royal Mile are standing up for their right to free speech. Nothing more."

The Edinburgh protests came after three arrests in Edinburgh and as a UK barrister was threatened with arrest over a blank sheet of paper which has led to comparison of Russia’s crackdown on dissent.

Barrister Paul Powlesland filmed his interaction with an officer who claimed that the sign “may offend” people if he wrote “not my King” on it.

Mr Powlesland said he was threatened with arrest, writing on Twitter: “Just went to Parliament Square and held up a blank piece of paper.

News outlets around the world have reported on the anti-monarchy arrests.

Anti-war protesters in Russia were detained by police in March for holding up blank posters as part of demonstrations protesting against President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

As demonstrations against Russia's invasion of Ukraine continue to intensify, a woman in Nizhny Novgorod, in central Russia, was arrested for protesting with a blank sign.

A video of the incident shared on social media, which went viral, showed the moment two police officers approached the woman and escorted her away from a crowd in Russia's sixth-largest city. The woman appeared to be the only person holding up a sign.

Separately, in the city of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, police arrested activist Anastasia Nikolaeva just days after the invasion began, according to Russian independent human rights group OVD-Info. The group said she was found guilty of disobeying a police officer after she held a single-person picket holding a blank sheet of paper.

Another man was reportedly arrested in Kirov Square in Yekaterinburg for demonstrating with a blank sheet of paper.

Russia's Investigative Committee warned citizens that they could be arrested for organizing or participating in illegal protests.

"All such offenses, as before, will receive an adequate legal evaluation, and the persons who committed illegal actions will face appropriate punishment," the statement said.

The protests have come after as a  22-year-old who heckled the Duke of York as he walked behind the Queen's coffin in Edinburgh became the third person to be charged in connection with a breach of the peace as a result of protests in Edinburgh.

The man was arrested by officers after shouting at Prince Andrew as the Queen’s cortege passed along the Royal Mile.

Two people were charged on Monday in connection with a breach of the peace during a proclamation ceremony in Edinburgh Sunday publicly announcing King Charles III as the new monarch.

Ahead of the ceremony on Sunday republican campaigners urged those attending the event to object to Charles being made monarch without "public ascent or mandate".

A woman was arrested after holding an anti-monarchy sign in Edinburgh before the Queen’s cortege arrived in the city.

She was detained outside St Giles’ Cathedral, where the monarch’s coffin was due to be held.

She held a sign saying "f*** imperialism, abolish monarchy".

Police later said that a 22-year-old woman had been charged after being arrested in connection with breach of the peace.

The woman was later charged under a section of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act of 2010 that outlaws “threatening or abusive” behaviour, an advocacy group she works for said in a statement.

Lawyers and free-speech activists have raised concerns alarm as it emerged in police were charging people with offences relating to protests.The Herald: NoneNone (Image: None)

In a statement released through Global Majority VS, an anti-colonial campaign for peoples’ rights to life, self determination and sovereignty, the Mexican native who is a student in Edinburgh said: "On the morning of the 11th of September 2022, I was wrongfully arrested while exercising my right to protest at the Proclamation of King Charles III in Edinburgh.  Silently holding a sign that read 'F*** Imperialism, Abolish Monarchy', I condemn the centuries of colonial injustice, genocide and unlawful extraction that have been and continue to be carried out in the name of the British Crown.

"As a Mexican person living in the UK, I strongly opposed the continuous resource extraction and exploitation of racialised bodies in the global south that has been made possible through systems of imperial oppression.  However, I do not act alone."

Global Majority VS said she had merely exercised her right to protest. 

"The arrest and subsequent charging are a symptom of the ongoing movement to criminalise true freedom of speech and all human and people's rights.

"This is a struggle of all colonised peoples against the ruling classes' ongoing colonisation of our lands, resources.

"Our sibling is awaiting trial on September 30.  Solidarity in struggle.

"Calling for the abolition of the monarch is as old as the monarchy itself and a cornerstone of freedom of speech in the UK.   This establishment is committed to represss our true people's power to call out the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Crown and the establishment."

Police Scotland said it would not be commenting on the issues.

Instead they referred the Herald to  the National Police Chiefs' Council, who said: “The ability to protest is a fundamental part of democracy and it is a long-established right in this country.

“We know some people want to protest on a range of issues during this time of national mourning, and officers must balance these rights against those who wish to grieve and reflect. We have issued guidance to forces on how they should do this, in order to ensure a national consistency of approach.

“Policing strives to ensure decision making is consistent and fair, and is accountable to the law. Ultimately however, each event or protest has to be assessed on its own unique circumstances. That assessment does not include the cause or issue for the protest – all groups or causes are treated impartially”.