Sarah Cotte arriving at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, central London, where she is charged with two counts of expressing support for Hamas, March 24, 2025PROTESTERS gathered outside the Old Bailey today as the jury began deliberating in the trial of 22-year-old pro-Palestine activist Sarah Cotte.
Supporters from the Defend the Soas 2 campaign held up a banner reading: “Defend the right to protest for Palestine — Drop charges now!” and waved Palestine flags.
Ms Cotte, a former student at the School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas), faces two counts under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for a speech she gave at the university in October 2023 on the right of the Palestinian people to armed self-defence.
The prosecution followed a complaint by UK Lawyers for Israel, leading to a police raid on her home in January 2024.
In her closing remarks on Friday, defence barrister Margo Munro Kerr reminded the jury that Ms Cotte’s speech was completely legal and that protecting solidarity with Palestine is “an absolute necessity in a democratic society.”
During the week-long hearing, many individuals and organisations have joined the protest outside the court.
Supporters have also stood shoulder to shoulder with the “Filton 8” defendants, who are currently undergoing their own trial at the Old Bailey.
A Defend the Soas 2 spokesperson said: “This trial has never been about justice; it is about intimidation.
“The Terrorism Act 2000 is being deployed by a zionist-supporting Labour government precisely as it was intended: to systematically criminalise anti-imperialists and silence solidarity with liberation movements.
“While Israeli war criminals enter Britain fresh from committing genocide in Gaza without a glance from the police, a young woman is dragged through the courts for speaking the truth.
“Sarah did not break under the prosecution’s pressure, and neither will we.”
SOAS student charged with terrorism: “All I ever did was speak about a right that Palestinians have under international law”
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Police allege Sarah was “inviting support for a proscribed organisation”, i.e., Hamas. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment.
A guilty verdict would criminalise free speech and assembly in defence of the Palestinians on university campuses across Britain.
On the day Sarah was charged, police arrested her comrade, who was standing outside Hammersmith police station waiting for her release. Eyewitnesses say the student was targeted for holding Sarah’s bag, which contained her phone and other personal items later impounded by police. Together, they are known as the SOAS 2.
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Sarah: The maximum penalty I could get is 14 years of prison time, which is incredibly harsh. But more serious is the precedent it would set for expressions of support for the Palestinian resistance being treated as illegal speech under the Terrorism Act 2000, as expressions of support for proscribed organizations. We must fight back against this, because it would restrict our freedom of speech even further. The repercussions on the movement here would be far ranging and dangerous. We need to bring more awareness to these cases. All I ever did was speak about a right that the Palestinians have under international law, and for that I could go to prison.
