Activists could face long jail sentences because their action against an Israeli arms company has been classified as ‘terrorism’

Martin Shipton

The mother of an activist who took part in direct action that caused more than £1m of damage to an Israeli drone factory fears her daughter could face a long prison sentence because the action has been unjustly categorised as a terror crime.

Leona Kamio, 29, known as Ellie, a forest school nursery teacher, was arrested with other members of the group Palestine Action in August 2024, after they entered the premises of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company, at its site in Filton, near Bristol.

Ms Kamio’s mother Emma Kamio, who lives at Pennard in Gower, is campaigning for her daughter’s release and exoneration.

Altogether 18 Palestine Action activists are facing a series of trials, the first of which will take place in November 2025.

As the result of a new clause inserted in the Sentencing Act 2020, the 18 could, if found guilty, be sentenced as if they had engaged in an act of terrorism.

Criminal damage

Together with her fellow accused, Ellie Kamio has been charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary after dismantling Israeli weapons including the same model of quadcopter drones used by the Israeli Defence Forces to mimic the sounds of women and children crying, to lure Palestinians and kill them.

On Aug. 6, six Palestine Action activists were arrested for entering Elbit Systems in Filton, Bristol, in protest of the company’s profiteering from Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The Palestine Action activists were initially held under the Terrorism Act, which allowed authorities to hold and question them without charge for up to 14 days. During the course of seven days, the activists were held in solitary confinement and were not allowed to have any visitors or communication with family.

A week later, they were charged.

Naila Ahmed, Head of Campaigns at CAGE International, said: “The Filton case represents a shocking exploitation of counter terrorism policing and legislation to protect companies that are guilty of aiding and abetting a livestreamed genocide in Gaza.”

Amnesty International has questioned the use of anti-terror legislation in the case. Tom Southerden, the group’s UK law and human rights director, said: “The Crown Prosecution Service’s reference to these alleged offences having a ‘terrorist connection’ is troubling. Ordinary criminal offences can be investigated and prosecuted using ordinary criminal procedures – a process that helps ensure that the rights of those accused are properly protected.”

Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest military manufacturer. Its weapons and surveillance systems are regularly used in what many see as war crimes against Palestinians.

According to Palestine Action, “The Filton premises are the brand new hub of Israel’s biggest weapon’s firm.”

UK Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotevely and Elbit Systems CEO Bezhalel Machlis attended the Filton site’s June 2023 opening, where they spoke about the company’s critical role in Israel’s military.

Elbit Systems also frequently uses Gaza as a laboratory to develop new weapons.

At the company’s second quarter 2024 results, Machlis said, “The portfolio has improved drastically and this war has been an accelerator for many developments. The IDF is using these technologies now and in the future we will bring them to the rest of the market as well.”

Custody time limits

The trial date being set so far ahead is above the normal UK custody time limits for the Crown Court, which is 182 days. This law was put into place to prevent defendants from being held in pre-trial custody for long periods if not granted bail. Yet the Filton 18 remain in jail because they are being treated as terrorists.

Emma Kamio said: “It is shocking that Ellie and her fellow defendants are being treated as if they are terrorists. They are peace activists who took the action they did because they want to stop Israel killing people, including babies and children. It’s the Israelis who are behaving literally as terrorists and it is shocking that the UK Government has supported them for so long.

“Ellie is being treated as a top security prisoner and is only allowed out of her cell for one hour a day.

“I am very concerned that she could end up with a long prison sentence if she is convicted. It’s a serious anomaly in the law that although she and the others have been charged with conventional crimes, they can be sentenced as if they have committed acts of terrorism.”

Emma Kamio, who runs a homeopathy and pilates business, was herself arrested under counter-terrorism legislation last year and held incommunicado for five days because of her daughter’s involvement in the Filton action.

No charges were brought against her.

In December 2024 she told the Guardian: “I disappeared from my family for five days due to the abuse of the Terrorism Act. I’m an ordinary, hard-working, middle-class single parent whose life will never be the same. My story can happen to anyone due to the over-policing and the repression that is happening right now in the UK.”