UK court to jail Palestine Action activists on ‘terrorism’ charges | Story

Quartet charged with vandalism and GBH charges, but judge insists attack on Israeli military company was ‘criminal’.

A court in the United Kingdom has handed down prison sentences to four activists from the Palestine Action group on “terrorist” charges after they were found guilty of attacking an Israeli military company.

Judge Jeremy Johnson at Woolwich Crown Court handed down a sentence of five to eight years to the quartet as he described their August 2024 attack on the Elbit Systems site in Bristol as “terrorist”.

Last month, four of the six defendants were found guilty. One of the accused was also found guilty of assaulting a police officer with a hammer.

The group said their goal was to “remove weapons and ammunition” they believed could be used to kill people in the Gaza Strip.

Palestine Action was officially banned as a “terrorist” organization in the UK last July.

Justice Johnson said there was a “terrorist connection” because there was “significant material damage” to Israeli weapons and said the defendants had taken steps to influence the British government and threaten Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer.

The Filton 25 Defense Committee NGO said: “The four defendants sentenced today destroyed 40 Israeli weapons, including lethal weapons, which are used to kill almost all Palestinians in Gaza. By taking direct action, they saved lives. That is not terrorism, it is responsibility. Today’s verdict will be called upon to correct this grave violation of justice.”

Johnson jailed Samuel Corner, 23, for seven years and eight months. He was found guilty of hitting police officer Kate Evans twice in the back with a 3kg (7lbs) hammer, leaving her with a broken back.

The judge told the former Oxford student that he had “used force and injustice against a vulnerable police officer who was doing his job”.

Charlotte Head, 30, who crashed a car at the site’s gates, was sentenced to five years in prison, along with Leona Kamio, 30. Fatema Rajwani was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.

About 500 protesters gathered outside the court on Friday to support the four protesters, which led to the arrest of 72 people for holding signs in support of Palestine Action.

Friday’s ruling came before the UK High Court ruled on the government’s appeal against the lifting of the Home Office ban on Palestine Action.

The 2000 Terrorism Act, which came into force on July 5 last year, made membership of or support for a specific group a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Since then, around 3,000 people have been arrested during meetings and demonstrations.