Christian singer told 'stop singing church songs outside of church'

Christian singer told 'stop singing church songs outside of church'

UK: 20-year-old Gospel singer Harmonie London has been told by police that she was 'not allowed to sing church songs outside of church grounds'.

Maya Hadzhipetkova was also filmed sticking her tongue out at the singer, following the incident.

Hadzhipetkova previously lived in Bulgaria before making the move to Cyprus in 2009 where she lived for five years before moving to the UK, according to her social media accounts.

Gospel singer Harmonie London regularly performs worship music to passing shoppers on Oxford Street and has more than 300,000 subscribers on YouTube.

But she was stopped by Ms Hadzhipetkova and told: 'No miss, you're not allowed to sing church songs outside of church grounds, by the way.'

It is not entirely clear whether the officer was accusing Harmonie of breaking the law in the area, which is a council-regulated zone for busking and street entertainment.

There are no laws against singing on pavements - and Harmonie said the incident breached Article 9 of the Human Rights Act which protects freedom of religion.

As onlookers watched and filmed outside the John Lewis store, Harmonie protested her innocence to the officer, saying: 'You are, you are (able to sing church songs).'

But Ms Hadzhipetkova continued to insist that Harmonie could not sing 'outside of church grounds unless you have been authorised by the church to do these kind of songs'.

Harmonie said 'that's a load of rubbish, you're allowed' - but the officer then walked away and another said: 'She's not saying anything anymore, thank you for your time.'

The singer said: 'Are you saying that you don't care about the Human Rights Act?'

She then accused Ms Hadzhipetkova of 'laughing' while she was walking away. The officer then stuck her tongue out.

In a later video, Harmonie quoted Article 9 of the Human Rights Act 1998 which protects someone's right to freedom of thought, belief and religion.

 

 



 

 

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