LONDON: Three people in the UK have been charged for supporting the banned group Palestine Action.
The trio, two women and a man, were detained on July 5 at a protest in Westminster in London. Twenty-six other people were also arrested.
Jeremy Shippam, 71, Judit Murray, 71, and Fiona Maclean, 53, were charged under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000. They will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Sept. 16.
Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist group in the UK after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton in England in June this year, causing £7 million ($9.38 million) of damage to two military aircraft.
Support for or membership of a banned group in the UK is a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Despite the ban, the group is challenging its terrorism designation after the High Court ruled on July 30 it should be reviewed.
Around 500 people, meanwhile, are set to attend a demonstration in support of Palestine Action in London on Saturday.
It follows previous demonstrations after the group’s proscription in London, Manchester and several other major UK cities, at which more than 200 people were arrested.
The group Defend Our Juries, which is helping to organize the protest, said attendees would hold placards reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said: “Defend Our Juries has confirmed that 500-plus people have committed to holding ‘I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action’ signs on Saturday in central London, as part of the Lift the Ban campaign, to end the proscription of Palestine Action.
“Since the threshold for the conditional commitment requirement has been reached, the action will go ahead as planned.”
Dominic Murphy, head of Counter Terrorism Command at the Metropolitan Police, 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 5 July. 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.”
