Three people charged with showing support for Palestine Action
The first people have been charged with showing support for Palestine Action in England and Wales after the group was recently banned as a terror organisation, the Metropolitan Police said.
Two women and a man were arrested in Westminster following a protest in central London on July 5.
Jeremy Shippam, 71, of West Sussex, Judit Murray, also 71, of Surrey, and Fiona Maclean, 53, of Hackney, north-east London, were charged with showing support for a proscribed organisation under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 16.
Planned protest
The charges come ahead of a planned protest in support of the group on Saturday afternoon in London’s Parliament Square, with organisers expecting more than 500 people to attend.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Anyone who displays public support for Palestine Action, a proscribed organisation, is committing an offence under the Terrorism Act and can expect to be arrested and, as these charges show, will be investigated to the full extent of the law.
“These charges relate to three people arrested in central London on July 5.
“We are also planning to send case files to the Crown Prosecution Service for the other 26 people arrested on the same day.
“I would strongly advise anyone planning to come to London this weekend to show support for Palestine Action to think about the potential criminal consequences of their actions.
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Stupid proscription. Really weak government. Unnecessary waste of police and judiciary and ruthlessly attacking free speech.
Were they showing support for Palestine in England and Wales at the same time?
The government should know what terrorism looks like. It looks like pipebombs under ordinary public sector workers vehicles, it looks likes rucksacks filled with explosives in underground tunnels or on busses. It looks like killing sprees in crowded music venues. Terrorism is not embarrassing the Royal Air Force for not being able to secure it’s own airplanes or causing several millions of pounds worth of damage to military assets. It certainly doesn’t look like targeting factories that aid the determined genocide of innocent civilians. The UK needs to check its hypocrisy. Happy to condemn others that fail to take action… Read more »