People accused of supporting the Palestine Action protest group will not face trial while the UK government challenges a High Court ruling that its ban on the group was unlawful and “disproportionate”.
Thirty-one people arrested under Britain's Terrorism Act for alleged support of the proscribed group were due to attend plea hearings on Monday at Westminster Magistrates' Court. However, they were told not to attend after the High Court ruled against the government’s ban on Friday.
Senior district judge Paul Goldspring said: “In light of Friday's ruling, we decided that there is no merit in hearing the cases until we know what is going on with the appeal.”
The 31 accused have had their cases adjourned until April 27. Others who have yet to face preliminary hearings will be notified they are not required to attend court until the appeal stage has concluded, Mr Goldspring said.
More than 2,700 people have been arrested for holding up signs reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” at public demonstrations, the protest group Defend Our Juries says. The demonstrators were opposing the government’s decision to designate Palestine Action a terrorist organisation in July last year.
The group engages in direct-action protests, some of which have involved spray-painting, breaking into and sometimes occupying buildings it says are linked to the Israeli military. Critics of the UK government ban say direct action is a tradition going back to the Suffragettes and should not be equated with terrorism.
The adjournment has left the 31 accused in "legal limbo", Lex Korte, a campaigner for Defend Our Juries told The National. "People are waiting months and months before trial."
She added that the campaign group's lawyers were writing to prosecutors to have all charges dropped in light of the High Court ruling.
A case management hearing for the first trial of three protesters will still go ahead on March 3, with the proper trial date set for March 16 to 18.
Nearly 700 people have been charged and had preliminary court hearings, with no one yet convicted. The first trials are expected to begin in Scotland in early March. However, the High Court’s ruling could postpone the process, as UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said she will appeal against the court’s decision.
A judicial review of the ban in Scotland is also under way, with a procedural hearing on February 23 and a two-day substantive hearing on March 17 and 18.
The ban on Palestine Action also remains in place until the appeal process has concluded. Proscription and terrorist designation was imposed after members of the group broke into an RAF airbase and damaged to two military planes, after years of direct-action demonstrations against companies it has accused of being associated with the Israeli military.
