“I think one of the things we cherish in this country is the freedom to protest. And I think anything that has an effect on that is concerning,” said Guardian legal correspondent Haroon Siddique.
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In an unprecedented move on Friday, a judge sentenced four Palestine Action activists as terrorists, over the 2024 break-in at an Israeli arms manufacturer’s UK site, despite the jury – who found the activists guilty of criminal damage – not being informed that this might happen. One activist was additionally convicted of grievous bodily harm without intent for striking a police officer, although this charge did not factor into the ruling on the terrorism connection, which was solely based on criminal damage charge.
Rajiv Menon KC, the leading defence barrister in the case, had told the trial judge, Mr Justice Johnson, that it was unprecedented for the prosecution to apply for a judge to sentence a defendant as a terrorist for a non-violent offence. Menon said it was “an invitation to chilling, creeping authoritarianism that undermines the very fabric of our society”.
Then, on Monday, the court of appeal sided with the government that the ban on Palestine Action is lawful, overturning February’s decision of the high court that the proscription of the direct action group, the first to be banned under the Terrorism Act, was wrong. The judges in February said that the consequence of proscription was “a very significant interference” with the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
These two major defeats in court for Palestine Action have raised concerns about the implications to the right to protest in the UK – something groups like Amnesty warn have already been backsliding.
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