Sally Rooney, Greta Thunberg, Steve Coogan, and Lord John Hendy KC are among around 100 public figures warning of a miscarriage of justice if four human rights defenders receive unprecedented terrorism sentences for taking action against an Israeli arms manufacturer.
In an open letter (published below) signatories urged Judge Jeremy Johnson to drop use of a ‘terrorism connection’ in Friday’s sentencing of Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani – part of a group of activists known as the Filton 25.
“To bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone.”
said around 100 public figures, including actors Zoë Wanamaker, Miriam Margolyes, and Zawe Ashton, Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd, Labour MP John McDonnell, and musicians Charlotte Church and Kate Nash.
Defend Our Juries brought the Recusal Case Against Judge Johnson to Court
In addition to the above Defend Our Juries managed to get 5166 Signatories to sign a letter of complaint against Judge Johnson’s pro-genocide bias in the first Filton trials and take it to court. Judge Johnson refused to recuse himself.
Judge Johnson has refused to recuse himself from the sentencing of the Filton 4!
“Any fair-minded observer would not consider there to be a possibility of bias. I therefore refuse to recuse myself” he said.
More than 5,100 fair minded observers (legal experts and professionals) disagreed, signing a letter of complaint delivered to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office this weekend, for his bias and discriminatory conduct throughout the Filton case.
Rajiv Menon KC, chief defence barrister on behalf of Lottie is a leading human rights barrister who worked for:
Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Hillsborough victims Grenfell Tower Inquiry
Johnson accused Menon of contempt of court after his closing speech in January for Lottie.
Rajiv referenced the plaque in honour of the case against Williams Penn and Mead at the Old Bailey setting out the right of juries to give their verdict according to their convictions.
He pointed out that the prosecution had not challenged evidence put forward by the defendants about Elbit’s business interests and the Middle East ‘conflict’.
Rajiv had to appeal Johnson’s accusation of contempt in the middle of Filton 6 retrial.
The Court of Appeal blocked the contempt case from progressing, saying that it was procedurally flawed.
With greater restrictions at retrial, five of the six defendants were compelled to fire their representation and make their own closing speeches to the jury.
Johnson blocked evidence of Elbit’s supply of weapons to Israel from being presented to the jury, as well as evidence to justify defendants’ actions to disrupt Israel’s genocide.
This Friday, Mr Justice Johnson will consider sentencing Ellie, Lottie, Fatema-Zainab and Sam as terrorists on a charge of criminal damage.
The Filton action started in Bristol August 2024 and despite every flex of institutional power against them they continue to defy our government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide!
COME SUPPORT THE FILTON 4 AT WOOLWICH CROWN COURT FRIDAY 12TH JUNE 10am-5pm
“I’m writing this from my cell in Bronzefield, where 13 days have passed since we were re-incarcerated after 3 months out on bail. On 5th May, me and three of my comrades were found guilty of criminal damage at our retrial, with one also receiving an additional conviction. It’s been a long road to get here, given that we were arrested on 6th August 2024, almost 2 years ago. Since then, we’ve faced 18 months of prison, counter-terror custody, unfounded charges of aggravated burglary and violent disorder and treatment that very likely violated our human rights.
Out of 19 charges the CPS levelled against the first 6 of us – there are another 19 people still waiting for their trials – the prosecution only managed 5 “successful” convictions. I wouldn’t blame anyone for getting lost in the myriad legal proceedings that have taken place; it’s designed to confuse, scare and intimidate.
But the situation as it stands now is unprecedented. Now that the press embargo has been lifted, we can finally discuss the most disturbing part of our case, an element as yet undecided: terrorism connection. Whilst we were arrested under the Terrorism Act in August 2024, we were never charged with an offence of terrorism. I believe this is because the CPS did not want to bring Elbit Systems, the alleged ‘victim’, into the spotlight. A terrorism trial would revolve around our mindset, which was to stop weapons and technology made in the UK being used to massacre Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. And that is not where the government wants further attention or scrutiny.
Instead, they’ve opted for a classic smear tactic, often used by Israel, of attacking the messenger rather than trying to discredit the message. This is for the simple reason that they cannot discredit a message that they know to be true. So back to the terrorism connection. In essence, it allows the state to sentence people as terrorists, but without the knowledge of the jury, without the countless legal mechanisms of the Terrorism Act, and needing the say-so of only one judge.
To explain it a bit further, it’s a measure applied at sentencing where the judge deems the case to meet the threshold for having a link to terrorism. The definition of terrorism in the UK is woolly by design.It makes it easier for the word to be manipulated and applied at the state’s whim. Now, we know that we are not terrorists. Even with the rigged judicial system we have gone through, we’ve never been charged as terrorists, despite 2 rounds of arrests and 2 trials. But at the desire of one man and Elbit Systems, we could be sentenced as such.
And all for what? Because we broke into a weapons factory and dismantled equipment that is literally used to kill people? This attempted use of the terrorism connection is unprecedented. It has never been used against protestors before, in fact it’s hardly been used at all. If “successfully” applied here, it will have terrifying implications on free speech and the future of democracy in this country, if Judge Johnson goes through with this outlandish measure, it would be based on an allegation that we were trying to influence a government, ours or otherwise, or a section of the public. But that was never our aim. It was actually the exact opposite. Our government wasn’t listening to calls to stop a literal genocide – a word I’m scared we’ve all become numb to – so we went straight to the source to stop it ourselves.
Now imagine if this application of a so-called terrorism connection became the norm, using it in cases where the state deems the property damage to be political? Direct action for climate activism, queer rights, women’s rights, any civil liberty issues would become a legitimate target.The proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation rightly drew attention from around the world but, in my opinion, this is a far greater threat. Under this rubric, the government wouldn’t need to go to the hassle of proscription. They could use this backdoor policy to punish and intimidate whoever they like.
This cannot become the norm.
We are merely the guinea pigs. This cannot become the norm, and it’s still within our grasp to make sure it doesn’t. The 12th June is just round the corner but there is so much work to be done before then. From my cell, I’m asking you to engage with the campaign any way you can, and show support on sentencing day. This is so much bigger than the 25 of us, than this case, than even Palestine Action. It’s about the fundamental future of direct action in this country and we cannot sit by passively and watch our right to disagree with our genocidally complicit government be stripped away, we can’t wait until its already too late.
Hope, solidarity and strength,
Lottie.”
Ellie (left) and Lottie, both currently in prison for trying to stop a genocide, both awaiting sentencing on June 12th.
