https://www.declassifieduk.org/five-more-palestine-activists-could-be-sentenced-as-terrorists/
Defendants were not told criminal damage case could carry a terrorism connection until after they were found guilty
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) wants to sentence five more Palestine activists as terrorists for committing criminal damage, it can be revealed.
Brendon O’Hagan, Amanda Kelly, Hmeera Atiqnisar, Mohammed Malik, and Alma Yaniv were convicted of criminal damage last month for a protest at a Barclays bank branch in Burnley in 2024.
It was carried out in the name of Palestine Action almost a year before the group was banned under terrorism laws.
In the agreed facts of the case, the prosecution’s lawyers acknowledged that Barclays provided investments and loans to Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms firm.
The court heard that the activists smashed windows and sprayed red paint over the building, with damage costs allegedly amounting to £212,805.
Court filings show that it was only after the trial concluded that the CPS decided to apply for a terrorism connection to be added to the case.
The move came after the judge overseeing the case requested submissions on whether the case should be designated as having a terrorism connection.
This means that neither the jury nor the defendants were aware that the case could carry a terrorism connection until after the guilty verdicts were delivered.
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The move suggests that a ruling last month against another four Palestine Action activists, who were sentenced as terrorists by Justice Jeremy Johnson, is already having far-reaching consequences for protest-related trials in Britain.
Johnson treated the four protesters as terrorists even though they were only convicted of criminal damage at an Elbit Systems factory in the Filton area of Bristol.
Atiqnisar, one of the defendants in the Barclays case, told Declassified: “You go through a two-week trial only to be told after it’s over that you were on trial for terrorism.
“Johnson’s judgment has opened up the floodgates for potentially hundreds of activists to be sentenced as terrorists for taking direct action against genocide.
“It’s a few broken windows and red paint that they’re now saying is terrorism. It shows you the lengths the state is willing to go to in order to protect the Israeli weapons trade
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Original article: https://www.declassifieduk.org/five-more-palestine-activists-could-be-sentenced-as-terrorists/
