Palestine Action co-founder challenges UK government ban under anti-terror laws that led to 2,300 arrests and free speech concerns.
LONDON: The co-founder of activist group Palestine Action will challenge a UK government ban under anti-terror laws in London’s High Court on Wednesday.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk has called the ban “appears disproportionate and unnecessary” while Europe’s human rights watchdog criticised “excessive limits” on the right to protest.
The UK government proscribed the pro-Palestinian group in July after activists protesting the war in Gaza broke into an air force base in southern England.
Prosecutors said they caused an estimated RM39 million of damage to two aircraft at the base.
The legal action brought by co-founder Huda Ammori is expected to last Wednesday and Thursday with a third day to be scheduled later.
The ban makes membership or support for the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Protest organisers Defend Our Juries report at least 2,300 arrests including students, teachers, pensioners and an 83-year-old retired vicar.
London’s Met Police confirm 254 people have been charged with a lesser offence carrying up to six months imprisonment.
The proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000 places Palestine Action on a list that includes Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.
The Home Office accused Palestine Action of conducting an “escalating campaign” involving “sustained criminal damage” to Britain’s national security infrastructure.
It also alleges the group engaged in “intimidation, alleged violence and serious injuries”.
At a court hearing, prosecutors claimed a Palestine Action activist struck a police officer with a sledgehammer at an Israel-based defence firm’s UK site.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper defended the ban saying “this is not a non-violent organisation” and the government received “clear security assessments” before opting for prohibition.
Established in 2020, the group’s stated goal was to end “global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime”.
It primarily targeted weapons factories belonging to Israeli defence group Elbit.
Since the July 5 ban, protesters have held rallies with signs stating “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.
Award-winning British film director Ken Loach called the ban “absurd” and accused the government of complicity in Israel’s “incredible crimes” in Gaza.
A Defend Our Juries spokesperson said “this level of political repression is not what we expect in a democracy”.
Greenpeace UK’s co-executive director Areeba Hamid warned “classifying a protest group as a ‘terrorist organisation’ should send a chill down your spine”.
