Six defendants faced a London court on Friday over roughly 50 charges linked to their alleged efforts to promote Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group banned in Britain.
Prosecutors argued the campaign sought to sustain and legitimise the organisation undermining the enforcement of the group’s ban.
Britain banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws in July, making it a crime to be a member with a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.
Since then, a number of protests have been held in support of the group, which prosecutor Peter Ratliff told London’s Old Bailey court the six defendants – three men and three women – had played a role in organising.
Ratliff said 13 meetings had been held online since proscription where the defendants had encouraged and arranged “mass civil disobedience” at which attendees deliberately committed offences “essentially to make proscription unenforceable”.
So far 1,500 people had been arrested for offences relating to the ban, Ratliff said.
Multiple Allegations
Tim Crosland, 55, David Nixon, 39, Dawn Manners, 61, Gwen Harrison, 48, Melanie Griffith, 62, and Patrick Friend, 26, are accused of numerous counts of arranging or addressing a meeting in support of a proscribed group.
Throughout Friday’s hearing, Nixon stood with his eyes closed, holding a small notice which read “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.
The group, which had carried out protests against Israel-linked companies in Britain, was proscribed shortly after some of its members broke into the RAF Brize Norton air base and damaged two planes in June, for which four members have been charged.
Its co-founder is currently bringing a legal challenge against that ban. Prosecutor Ratliff said London’s High Court was expected to make a decision on this by the end of the year.
The six are due to enter a plea to the charges at a hearing in January, with a four-week trial provisionally listed for June next year.
(With inputs from Reuters)
