A UK court has sentenced four activists from the Palestine Action group to prison on terrorism charges for a raid on an Israeli arms company. Judge Jeremy Johnson at Woolwich Crown Court handed down sentences of about five to eight years, branding the August 2024 raid on the Elbit Systems site in Bristol a 'terrorist act'.

Last month, four of six activists on trial were convicted of criminal damage, with one also found guilty of striking a police officer with a sledgehammer. The group said their aim was to 'dismantle drones and weaponry' they believed would be used to kill people in the Gaza Strip. Palestine Action was formally proscribed as a terrorist organization in the UK last July.

Justice Johnson stated there was a 'terrorism connection' due to 'serious property damage' to Israeli weapons, claiming the defendants acted to influence the British government and intimidate Elbit Systems, Israel's largest weapons manufacturer. The Filton 25 Defence Committee NGO condemned the ruling as a 'serious miscarriage of justice' and announced plans to appeal.

Samuel Corner, 23, was jailed for seven years and eight months for hitting police officer Kate Evans twice with a seven-pound sledgehammer, fracturing her spine. The judge described his actions as 'extreme and gratuitous force'. Charlotte Head, 30, who crashed a van through the site gates, received five years, along with Leona Kamio, also 30. Fatema Rajwani was sentenced to four years and eight months.

About 500 protesters gathered outside the court on Friday in support of the activists, leading to 72 arrests for holding signs supporting Palestine Action. The ruling came just before the UK High Court is due to rule on the government's appeal against the lifting of the Home Office ban on Palestine Action, which made membership or support a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Since the ban, some 3,000 people have been arrested at rallies.

Source: www.aljazeera.com