We protest at the illegitimate detention of protesters who were en route to Fairford air force base on March 22 (Letters, March 24). The 1994 Criminal Justice Act was used for the supposed aim of searching for weapons. The police stopped three coaches, took away items such as food and scarves - on the pretext they could be used to disguise faces - and then forced everyone back to London. Drivers were threatened with arrest if they stopped on the way.

This mass detention attacked the right to protest. The police bypassed any judicial procedure, since no one was even arrested for supposedly processing a weapon. Their action illustrates an alarming tendency to use the law as a pretext to harass and detain people, in the name of preventing disorder or terrorism. We oppose such disregard for democratic rights.

Catrin Lewis
Chair, Haldane Society

Bruce Kent
CND

Mark Thomas
Jeremy Corbyn MP

and four others.