Former editor in court for wearing ‘terrorist t-shirt’
Martin Shipton
A former editor of the newspaper Wales on Sunday was among 37 people who appeared in a Scottish court charged under the Terrorism Act for wearing t-shirts with a message that reads: “Stop the genocide in Palestine. Take action now.”
Standing outside Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Yvonne Ridley made a video in which she said: “I was stopped from getting into court because I was wearing a Palestinian scarf. I’m telling you, ladies and gentlemen, Police Scotland have totally lost the plot.
“Then they arrested one of us after we left the court because they said he was wearing a t-shirt which broke the rules. And then the cop turned round and said: ‘Can you open your jacket so I can see what the t-shirt says?’ Even though she’d made the decision to arrest him, a member of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
“The bottom line is, the case has not moved forward any further. It’s now nearly a year. More than 40 of us have been charged under section 13 of the Terrorism Act for wearing a t-shirt that says: ‘Stop the genocide in Palestine. Take action now.’
“And by the way, UK terror police have sent an advisory to Police Scotland saying don’t arrest anyone wearing those t-shirts because it’s not a criminal offence. It’s a political statement, it’s not a crime.
“Police Scotland? I don’t know. I just hope they’re not putting up anybody for Mastermind any time soon. So the case has been adjourned. Everybody you can see behind me is absolutely frustrated. Another wasted day.”
Ridley, who has been a long-term supporter of the Palestinian cause and has a daughter with a former colonel in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, finished the video saying: “The acoustics in Edinburgh Sheriff Court – you can’t hear anything. The staff have their heads down and they just mumble. They won’t speak into the directional microphones so nobody can hear what the hell is going on. If this is justice in Scotland, it sucks and somebody ought to do something about it.”
Ridley, who is originally from the north-east of England, worked in Cardiff for several years in the 1990s before working for a number of UK national papers in London.
In 2001, in the aftermath of 9/11, she entered Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban. After being released she converted to Islam and is now a well-known figure in the Muslim world.
Last year she participated in a flotilla of boats taking aid to Gaza that was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters. With other flotilla members Ridley was kidnapped and held in an Israeli prison. After being released she said she would rather spend two months in a Taliban jail than two days imprisoned by Israel.
All the cases were adjourned to notional trial diets on February 9 next year.
Prosecutors moved to delay any trial until after the Supreme Court rules on the legality of former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group.
Scriptwriter
Also among those charged is Paul Laverty, an award-winning scriptwriter, and a long-term collaborator of film-maker and activist Ken Loach.
Laverty has written screenplays for films including Carla’s Song, Sweet Sixteen and I, Daniel Blake. He also collaborated with Loach on The Wind That Shakes the Barley, winner of the prestigious Palme d’Or award at Cannes.
Palestine Action uses direct action to disrupt the arms industry, which it accuses of being complicit with Israel in carrying out a genocide in Gaza.
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Burnham’s government must reverse this stupid decision to proscribe Palestine action. The really terrorists are the evil genocidal child murdering zionist government and their idf goons.
The labour government are in full support of the regime you mentioned. They’re making good money out of it too.
The arms industry is really good money. Russia, China, Iran, and the US among others do well out of it as does France and the UK. When the Germans and Japanese get going again we will really be ready for WW3.
You were bang on the money till you mentioned Japan and Germany “getting going again”
That indicates a rather worrying level of delusion.
I agree. But this beyond delusional, this is mind-blowing hate speech against 2 nations who have chosen to learn from their past ans swore never to repeat them again. Whereas those descending from the victims of Auschwitz are hellbent on delivering the treatment their ancestors received on to semitic Palestinians. Shame on the Bani Israelis for what they have become.
Just a moment, both those countries are rearming in respect to near neighbours, this is a war game between many players and Waddington’s best are needed to write some rules again…
It is not hate speech it is a prediction based on the reality. The significance of WW2 and the consequent post war world order have lapsed. Russia is real threat to Europe and Trump has made it clear that he is not going to fund NATO at the previous level. Europe is already rearming and Germany will be part of that. Likewise Japan is concerned about China and will do the same.
I think it is very likely as well as undesirable. However as Russia and China become neighbourhood threats and as the US pulls back on support for Japan and for NATO it is very likely that both countries will rearm using their industries to do that.
Sadly that’s not going to happen… Burnham, along with several others in his cabinet, is still a member of Labour Friends of Israel. There will be fine words, as usual, but no action that might actually stand in the way of the on-going genocide.
Starmer went nuts on this path. Burnham treads the same path.
Do we check the UK nationals that have served in the IDF and return to the UK? The ones that would have carried out war crimes? No? well then.
Where are the “free speech warriors” of the right now? Oh, they only believe in free speech that involves punching down against marginalised groups? Well that’s a shame.
The police in Scotland are on the payroll of the SNP government. I would have thought the SNP would be more sympathetic towards the people of Palestine.
That she basically went to join the Taliban after 9/11 says much about her. That said, she obviously has Stockholm Syndrome so we should have some sympathy. Nevertheless, it still doesn’t excuse the hate she espouses.
So anyone going to safeguard wonen and chikdren in a war zone has Stockholm syndrome?
All the brave health care workers going to work in war zones and ebola infested areas also have Stockholm syndrome according to your reasoning.
You need to rethink your reasoning.
That is not the case. Plenty of people go to help as aid workers and in health care and education but not all become zealots.
These women usually middle class turn up from time to time as convinced participants in terrorism. They are among the most consistently dangerous terrorists.
She went to live with the Taliban after 9/11? Blimey. Strange that she isn’t shouting about the plight of Afghan women and girls.
Would that make headlines if she did?
I very much doubt she would get arrested for that.
But shout about the plight of wonen and children in Ghazza and we get arrested.
Also, it doesn’t actually say she went to live with the taliban.
But, afghan women and children also struggled during the war after 9/11.
The health systems that were in place in taliban 1.0 before 9/11 were dismantled by george bush’s crusade.
Afghanistan was already a ruin after Brezhnev invaded much earlier than Bush did.
Kidnapped says the internet.
But that does not detract from what Isreal are doing.
how are things in Talloussah.
Ah Jeff, still being a mysoginist every time a woman tries to speak up, especially about very relevant women’s issues. Plus ca change.
Do the women and children in Ghazza and West Bank have no right to life, a home, a secure roof over their sleep, no access to nourishment, dignity and respect?
But, hey, let’s distract the audience away from the pain and suffering inflicted upon the semitic Palestinian people by the evil zionist genocidal regime and their idf goons.
Allah willing, evil will never prevail.
The immediate fate of the Gazans is a consequence of Hamas.
Good point. The Taliban are the best example of the death cult aspect of Islam not being prepared to allow the education of women even as midwives.
There have to be limits. The fact is that Hamas is a terrorist organisation and franchise and splinter groups supporting it are terrorist in motivation. None of these people accept reasoned argument as a basis for putting their point of view. They have committed various terrorist acts too. And before anyone mentions the Suffragettes they too were terrorists (unlike the Suffragists) and just as the IRA gave up its bombing campaign when radical Islam started so the Suffragettes abandoned violence during WW1. Same playbook. Tells you more about Man as an animal than anything else.