Human rights groups hail ‘huge victory’ as six Filton 24 defendants acquitted
Photo of six, taken night before actionHUMAN rights campaigners and MPs hailed a “huge victory” for six Filton 24 activists in the face of “extraordinary political pressure” after a jury acquitted them of all charges today.
Following eight full days of deliberation, defendants in the Palestine Action-linked case were not convicted of a single charge after breaking into a British site of Israel-based arms firm Elbit Systems.
Defend Our Juries called the verdicts a “huge blow” to ministers who tried to make Palestine Action into “a violent group to justify banning it under badly drafted terrorism legislation.”
And MPs joined rights groups to say the case proves the importance of jury trials after the Justice Secretary David Lammy recently announced plans to scrap the majority of juries in England and Wales.
Labour MP Kim Johnson told the Morning Star that the verdicts were “a resounding victory for the Palestine activists and for the fundamental principle of trial by jury.”
Activists had been held on remand for over 17 months accused of using or threatening unlawful violence and using sledgehammers during their action on the factory in Filton near Bristol.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Ellie (Leona) Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 20, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, had faced a series of charges for the action in August 2024.
Despite five of them admitting in court to destroying weapons belonging to Israel’s largest arms manufacturers Elbit Systems, the jury refused to convict the defendants of criminal damage.
Mr Corner was also not convicted of grievous bodily harm with intent for striking a police officer.
The rest of the Filton 24 are still being held on remand in relation to the action, which sought to disrupt and expose Elbit’s role in manufacturing weapons used in attacks on Palestinians, including drones.
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