More than 100 public figures warn UK court over ‘terrorism’ sentencing in Israeli arms factory protest case

More than 100 public figures have warned that four human rights defenders face a “grave miscarriage of justice” if terrorism-related sentencing provisions are applied in a case involving an action at an Israeli arms manufacturer, Anadolu Agency reports.

In an open letter published Tuesday by Artists for Palestine UK, signatories including writers, actors, academics, politicians and musicians urged the judge overseeing the case, Jeremy Johnson, to drop what they called a “terrorism connection” in the sentencing of Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio and Fatema Zainab Rajwani, known as part of the Filton 25.

The four activists were found guilty by a jury of criminal damage over a 2024 action at an Elbit Systems UK factory near Bristol.

However, the jury was not informed that the activists could face extended sentences under terrorism provisions, despite no terrorism charges being brought.

“To bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone,” the letter stated.

Signatories include acclaimed novelist Sally Rooney, Greta Thunberg, Steve Coogan, Zoe Wanamaker, Miriam Margolyes, Zawe Ashton, and Labour MP John McDonnell, along with Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd, Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis, solicitor Louise Christian, and directors Yorgos Lanthimos, Ken Loach, and Terry Gilliam.

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Actors Brian Cox and Tobias Menzies were also among the signatories, as were poet Alice Oswald, composer Brian Eno, screenwriter Paul Laverty and writer Ronan Bennett.

“Protest that poses no threat to the public simply is not terrorism. These activists may have knowingly risked their freedom in taking action, but they now face the prospect of punishment for crimes they were never convicted of and did not commit. This is an obvious effort to undermine solidarity with Palestine, but what it really undermines is UK law,” Sally Rooney said in a statement.

The letter also highlighted concerns that the defendants were barred from explaining their motivations to the jury, and that their “conscientious motives,” though “suppressed throughout the trial,” may now be considered at sentencing.

It further argued that “never before has a link to terrorism been imposed at the sentencing stage in a criminal damage case,” adding that the only stated basis for such a connection was that the defendants were “attempting to influence the Israeli government by restricting their access to weapons.”

“The activists ‘may well have saved lives’ by entering the Elbit facility and dismantling weapons,” it noted.

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