The judge urged the jury to do away with personal feelings about the war on Gaza or the legality of the proscription.
Six British members of the proscribed Palestine Action group have been put on trial by UK authorities, who said the group intended to damage property belonging to Israeli weaponsmaker Elbit Systems.
Prosecutors said at the trial on Tuesday that the defendants meticulously planned the assault on the arms manufacturer’s facility in southwestern England’s Bristol in early August 2024, allegedly resulting in property damage and injury to a police officer.
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The six men and women were part of a team who attempted to “cause as much damage as possible and obtain information about the company”, prosecutor Deanna Heer told the court at Woolwich. They deny charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder.
One of the defendants is also charged with causing a police officer bodily harm after hitting her with a sledgehammer while she tried to arrest another defendant.
Heer said the six individuals used fire extinguishers filled with red paint to spray the walls in an act of protest. They also smashed computers and technical products at the Elbit facility, according to the prosecutor.
The court saw footage recorded by police body-cameras as well as GoPro cameras worn by the defendants, which showed the defendants smashing property at the facility that makes weapons, including drones.
The British government designated Palestine Action, formed in 2020 by activists to “disrupt the arms industry in the UK”, as a “terrorist” group in July, almost a year after the incident at the Bristol facility.
The detainees are part of a group of 24 activists linked to the group who have been arrested at different times, and have been in custody for more than a year without trial, breaking the UK’s six-month pre-trial detention limit.
Their prosecution has drawn international scrutiny, showcasing an aspect of how the administration of Prime Minister Keir Starmer is dealing with pro-Palestinian sentiment.
Thousands of people have demonstrated in support of the activist group and the detainees, while UK police have arrested hundreds in recent weeks.
More than 500 people were detained during Palestine Action protests in London on October 4 alone, as British authorities implement what they call “anti-terror” laws.
During the court hearing on Tuesday, Judge Jeremy Johnson told the jury that while they were entitled to their personal feelings about Israel’s two-year war on Gaza, they were irrelevant to the case.
He said the question over whether the government’s move to proscribe Palestine Action was legal also had no bearing on the case, and urged the jury to “judge the case on the evidence”.
The trial is expected to last 10 weeks. Some of the detained activists began a hunger strike this month in protest against what they called “systematic abuse” by prison authorities.
