Palestine Action protesters arrested in Cardiff released on bail
The 13 people arrested during a protest against Palestine Action being designated a proscribed terror group in Cardiff have been released on bail.
The individuals were held on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act at the protest in the vicinity of Central Square on Saturday, South Wales Police (SWP) said.
They were among more than 70 people arrested at Palestine Action protests across England and Wales on the same day.
Protesters sat outside the BBC Cymru HQ and held signs that read “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”, according to campaign group Defend Our Juries, who organised the demonstration.
Investigation
In a statement on Sunday, the force confirmed that the individuals had been bailed but that an investigation into the incident, led by Counter Terrorism Policing Wales, was ongoing.
They were detained for an initial 24-hour period in custody before a further maximum of 12 hours extension was granted on Sunday, SWP said.
The terror group designation means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
The move to ban the organisation came after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused about £7 million worth of damage.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action three days later, saying that the vandalism of the planes was “disgraceful” and the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage”.
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£7million, show me the quote, think of a number and double it…
Complete waste of police time. They have far more urgent and important work yo do. This is not one of them. The weak government should never have pandered to the zionists and proscribed this group.
Meanwhile IDF bomb and shoot civilians trying to get food. Contractors alleged to have shot at people trying to get food.
Hold up a sign, grrrrrr…
Disgraceful,the government pandering to the Zionists. Where’s their condemnation of the terrorist state of Israel?
So much for policing with consent! The Police are an arm of the state used to silence protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza. The Police are being turned against their own citizens. A shameful situation.
Proscription was disproportionate to the threat posed and non violent protectors are not terrorists.
This lot have been committing acts of trespass, vandalism and property damage for a number of years, culminating in the vandalism of an RAF aircraft, costing millions. They were known to be planning multiple other, similar attacks, and have openly voiced support for Hamas: another proscribed terrorist organisation. They live in a democratic country but they are not interested in democracy, only violence and vandalism. In the words of Mrs Gump…stupid is as stupid does.
I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but I don’t believe this group have committed acts of violence at all?
It seems that an act against state property outweighs genocide. That surely can’t be equitable?
How many Palestinians have been killed by the protestors that were arrested?
How many have the IDF killed waiting for food?
How many parts have the UK supplied, and UK intel flights have we done that contributed to the deaths?
So good to see that you are such a strong supporter of freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and freedom to protest.
Perhaps the government should also ban that other well-known terrorist organisation Farmers for Action. After all, they clog up our roads and cause mass inconvenience with their noisy protests. Or would that mean banning a right-wing group that you happen to agree with?
The terorist are the police and UK government, who act against us in this disgusting manner.Tge right to protest without violence is a huge importance. The way they chucked out the word terror dilutes its meaning. We pay their wages, they serve us
I never thought I’d see a UK Labour government introducing tyrannical legislation like the draconian law against Palestine Action. There is no doubt that Hamas has engaged in terrorist activity that I certainly condemn. However, the government and military of Israel match, if not surpass, Hamas as terrorists. Palestine has every bit as much right as Israel to have a state of their own.
No government is going to overlook – indeed it can’t ever overlook! – the sort of activity which ‘Palestine Action’ activists undertook at the RAF establishment at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Nor should it. And the offence now strikes me as all the greater because I read that the activists didn’t just spray the aircrafts’ exterior with paint, but jetted it into the engines too. Presumably the consequences of that action will be seriously more costly to remedy, and the sentence imposed by the courts should clearly take account of that. But even so, Palestine Action seems to me to… Read more »
Balls! Even if you were to disagree with them, offences such as aggravated trespass, burglary and criminal damage are more than ample to cover the scale of this so-called threat. There again, I suspect that you might struggle to find a jury which was prepared to convict? Free Palestine!
Isn’t it weird how supporting Palestine Action makes you a terrorist, but openly fantasising about waging nuclear terrorism against festival attendees is simply being Rod Liddle?
So free speech means you can be a treasonous rodent threatening mass murder, but you mustn’t dare speak out against an ongoing genocide in another country.