- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- worldnews@lemmy.ml
A British judge has sentenced four Palestine Action protesters as terrorists, handing them custodial sentences ranging from four to eight years.
The unprecedented ruling came despite jurors convicting them of criminal charges not connected to terrorism during the prosecution.
On Friday, the presiding judge, Justice Jeremy Johnson, added a “terrorism connection” to their offences.
In a preliminary ruling in March 2025, Johnson found an “appearance” of a terrorism connection in the case, as he said the activists were attempting to influence the Israeli government by restricting their access to weapons. This information was withheld from the jury who convicted them.
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Such a standard to be met:
He added that those convicted acted “for the purpose of advancing a political and/or ideological cause”.
Guess the legal system has no standards.
I thought the standard was " the activists were attempting to influence the Israeli government by restricting their access to weapons."?
Britain should just follow Doggerland’s example. Aside from spotted dick, nothing of value would be lost.
/s.
The only terrorist I see is the judge. They should be extradited to Hamas for trial.
Fucking Mosley must be laughing right now from hell.
Fucking Mosley must be laughing right now from hell.
Why would he? Was he Palestinian advocate?
No because fascism is manifesting heavily long after he’s dead.
I know that image from The Wall movie, but I guess it’s also its own piece given the signature. That watercolor sky is absolutely beautiful.
Looks like sugar water painting.
“Unprecedented”?
The English courts have been sentencing civilians as terrorists for centuries.
The difference is that none of the charges are commonly associated with terrorism. The judge had to invent a “terrorism connection” in addition to the normal charges.
He didn’t invent it, it was mentioned in the original JTAC assessment of Palestine Action.
Looks like they are one step behind the US and catching up fast.
In terms of personal rights suppression, the UK is already miles ahead.
The unprecedented ruling came despite jurors convicting them of criminal charges not connected to terrorism during the prosecution.
On Friday, the presiding judge, Justice Jeremy Johnson, added a “terrorism connection” to their offences.
Rule Of Law my ass!
Rule of Israel
Speaking ill of israel is a greater act of terrorism than crashing planes into buildings.
If spray painting a plane is the exact same as blowing it up then might as well blow it up.
Adding an offence later in the case and withholding information to a jury has to be grounds a mistrial.
They didn’t add an offence, they added an aggravating factor.
Zionism overrules all other laws, it would seem.
the UK is officially a shithole country now
UK gov: goes out of its way to make the place a shithole
also UK gov: “Why don’t people consider it worthwhile to reproduce anymore?”
Now?
They’re putting the finishing touches on, been degrading for decades, ever since the focus of total control and surveillence shifted to them as a testbed.
Fascism has been achieved
So terrorism just doesn’t mean anything anymore.
It does mean something, just not what’s in the dictionary. The definition: “The use of violence or the threat of violence, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political goals.” Based on that, police are constantly using terrorism, but they’re almost never said to be. The state has a monopoly on violence. Terrorism is just a term they use to support that. You acting against the state?" Terrorism." The state acting against you?" Justice."
It’s always been a label so subjective that it’s essentially meaningless. There’s a reason why most big name news cables have “don’t use the word terror or terrorist” in their style guides.
It’s literally a disinhibitive ruling. Someone somewhere will inevitably think “well if I’m going to be called a terrorist anyway for some property damage, why not shoot at the cop that’s coming to stop me? In for a penny in for a pound.”
Ironically, it means the same it has always meant: resistance to colonization/imperialism/opression, it’s just that in the past it was disguised with the veil of “civilization”, and now the mask is off and you can see the naked brutal truth of how the term has always been weaponized
It never has
In the eyes of the oppressor …
Shameful
Terror is in interesting word, it used to mean a government that oppressed their citizens, then it changed to mean general attacks on civillians by a non government entity.
And now, it means protesting specific government policies.
The first meanings are understandable, they involve harming civillians.
The new definition is just idiotic.
Well, your statement is pertinent, and therefore it terrorises me, so I hope you do not live in the UK.
Free the Palestine Action prisoners!
Remove the shameful judge!
This again…
It wasn’t a new charge. It was an aggravating factor.
It’s the opposite of mitigating factors (for those who are confused). Jury says that for example someone is guilty of robbery. That’s the charge and the verdict. Now the judge has to come up with the sentence and can apply mitigating factors like: it’s his first offense, he showed remorse, admitted guilt and apologized to the victim, hence I will not give him maximum possible sentence…
Aggravating factors work the other way. The judge can say “he used a deadly weapon and is repeat offender: maximum sentence”. Under UK law “terrorism connection” can be added as aggravating factor to any verdict. The judge added it here because Palestine Action is currently proscribed as a terrorist group under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Nothing was withheld from the jury, nothing was added to the charges. Those articles are simply lying about it.
Bullshit. The full context of the situation was denied to the jury.
Remember, the entire reason we have juries is to allow for jury nullification. That’s literally the only benefit of juries. 12 random untrained people will never be better at deciding objective facts of guilt or innocence than a judge with a law degree and decades on the bench. We have juries as a final check against the kind of criminal corruption that has currently overtaken the UK government. The idea is that you can write whatever ridiculous laws you want, but at the end of the day you need to convince 12 average people that an offense worthy of punishment has been committed. The system is intended as a check against out of control government. Again, this is literally how the system is designed. (Judges will of course lie about this to protect their own power.) The government can write a law proscribing the death penalty for stealing a candy bar. But the jury system, if it works as intended, would prevent anyone from being convicted under that law.
The government here deliberately perverted the jury system to avoid jury nullification. They tried them under a minor offense. The jurors probably thought those convicted would get community service or a fine. That’s the rightful and just punishment for such an offense. Any greater a penalty, and jury nullification would have been on the table. Instead, the government secured a conviction under a minor offense but was able to get a sentence on par with a serious felony.
For your talk of the system working as intended, you sure are ignoring the government’s complete perversion of the jury system that is the very bedrock of our system of justice.
They tried them under a minor offense. The jurors probably thought those convicted would get community service or a fine.
"Four Palestine Action activists have been found guilty of criminal damage "
"Corner was also found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm after striking Sgt Kate Evans twice with a sledgehammer, fracturing her spine. "
“An estimated £1m worth of damage was caused during the raid.”
“”"For damage over £5,000 or more serious cases:
Up to 10 years' imprisonment""""Yes, the jury said they are guilty of a crime carrying up to 10 years of prison but thought they would just get a fine. Are you really that dense?
Yea, no, it most definitely is not that simple. Top UK lawyers are not bullshiters:
- https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/top-lawyer-palestine-action-terror-sentencing-5HjdbTp_2/
- https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/10/four-palestine-action-protesters-terrorists-constitutional-threat
“It’s a recategorising the offence without a trial,” he said. “It’s particularly insidious for the obvious reason that they weren’t allowed to explain their motivation to a jury – that was denied them. And yet the state says ‘we’re actually going to elevate what the offences are’ when a jury might well not have convicted had they known they were going to be treated as terrorists.
“The fundamental principle is you should not be convicted on any statutory offence for which you have not been charged.”
Either give them a trial as terrorists or don’t.
It really is that simple. What is “terrorist connection”? Let’s see.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crime-and-policing-act-2026-factsheets/crime-and-policing-act-2026-counter-terrorism-and-national-security-factsheet https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/lbill/58-01/129/5801129en.pdf
“”“The Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 introduced a requirement for courts to consider whether a ‘terrorist connection’ is an aggravating factor when sentencing for a specific set of non-terrorism offences.”“”
So is “terrorist connection” an offense? No. It’s an aggravating factor.
“”“any offence is capable of being subject to a finding or a determination of a terrorist connection, if the offence is not a terrorism offence and is punishable with a maximum sentence of more than 2 years”“”
“”“maximum sentence for criminal damage is 10 years”“”
It’s all as clear as it can be.
The offense is criminal damage. The jury said they are guilty. The sentence can be more than 2 years. The judge can consider terrorist connection as a aggravating factor. He did.
Jury is not involved in sentencing. Nothing was withheld.
“The fundamental principle is you should not be convicted on any statutory offence for which you have not been charged.”
You can argue that The Counter-Terrorism Act and the whole notion of “terrorist connection as an aggravating factor” is wrong and that only jury should be able to determine if someone has a connection to terrorist organization but you definitely can’t argue that the judge is adding some charges here without informing the jury. This is simply not what is happening. They are not even bending the rules here. They are doing exactly what the law allows them to do.
Other commenters: “fascists rewrote the law to allow grave miscarriages of justice that violate the very constitutional foundations of a free society.”
You: “nothing to worry about here guys, everything is perfectly legal. It’s not like “they’re just following the law” literally lead to the Holocaust or something.”
Trouble reading much?
OK so let us know the next time you get a speeding ticket, so I can tack on some terrorism bonus time for you to serve, long after the jury has spoken about your guilt in speeding.
All I need to do is show you have any kind of tangential connection to anything I call terror, and I can turn your small sentence into a large one.
That sounds like the kind of shit China and Russia do. Anyone wants to tolerate that shit happening here in the West is no longer welcome to live in the West, IMO.
This argument makes no sense and only shows your total lack of understanding here.
Of course you’ll say that. You’re exactly someone who should not be welcome here.
Good thing you have nothing to say about it then.
I’m not “arguing” anything in front of any court and I’m not saying the judge did not follow the letter of the law. Top UK lawyers are making the case that as tried this case poses grave constitutional threats. And they’re going to litigate this as far as it goes.
What I am saying is that what you’re presenting as a slam dunk …isn’t. This is unprecedented (the law is from 2020 and it’s the first time it’s used in such a case in such a way) and serious people are raising serious issues.
EDIT: oh and by the way, at the end of the day, legal schmegal, the Palestine Action people are actually morally squarely on the right. They are not terrorists. They are activists putting their lives between Elbit’s butcher machines and Palestinian genocide victims. The cop who got injured should not have been in that Elbit factory because Elbit should not be allowed to build genocide machines period. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter really does apply here, and these are indeed freedom fighters. History will vindicate them. One day, everyone will have always been against this, but these folks will actually have the receipts. Tiocfaidh ár lá.
Palestine Action people are actually morally squarely on the right. They are not terrorists
Maybe they are, but as someone born and raised in Central/Eastern Europe, they are - at best - morally dubious. Or incredibly easy to manipulate.
Palestine Action Plans Sabotage on UK Air Bases Used for Ukrainian Pilots Training
Pro-Palestinian activists reportedly destroy military equipment intended for Ukraine
What I find morally dubious is why Ukrainians are put in the position to collaborate with industries complicit in genocide.
Russia is not the only barbarian in town.
What I am saying is that what you’re presenting as a slam dunk …isn’t
Except it is. We’re talking about some basic legal concepts here: charges, verdict, sentencing and aggravating factors. To claim that the judge withheld something from the jurors and applied additional charges after the verdict is simply a lie. He applied aggravating factors during the sentencing. Something the law clearly allows him to do in this case.
Now I’m sure some lawyers will argue that the whole concept of terrorist connection as aggravating factor is wrong but this is not what this post or articles claim. They claim something that is clearly false.
I’m also not talking who is and isn’t morally right. If you want to address what I’m talking here about (is terrorist connection additional charge or an aggravating factor?) then I’m happy to listen. If you want to talk about something else then please reply to someone else.
because Palestine Action is currently proscribed as a terrorist group
ah so the ruling elite all glaze isreal, which means anyone who doesn’t agree with ethnic cleansing is a terrorist. I gotchu, yeah, very much legal and cool. All above board, nothing to see here. Gotta get those terrorists before they checks notes stop a genocide?
I think you’re a bit confused here. It wasn’t me who proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist group. UK government did. I just stated a fact here. Or was your comment addressed to the UK government? If so than I agree they suck.
I think it was pretty clear. Palestine Action are not terrorists, that’s the insane part
Moreover, they tricked the jury. Instead of trying them for terrorism, they try them for a small offense and then turn it into terrorism without the jury having a say in it. It’s sneaky even if it’s technically allowed
Moreover, they tricked the jury. Instead of trying them for terrorism, they try them for a small offense
Is this really that confusing? They were tried for criminal damage of property worth over $1m. That up to 10 years in prison. How is that a small offense?
The “terrorist connection” aggravating factor doesn’t change the maximum sentence, it only changes the conditions of parole. Everything you said is simply wrong. This is pure misinformation. The charges were not turned into anything. They are not charged with or sentenced for terrorism. Even if the aggravating factor was revealed before the trial the jury would still just be considering if they committed criminal damage.
I think it was pretty clear. Palestine Action are not terrorists, that’s the insane part
Weren’t they the guys who set fire to a couple of storage and production facilities that held equipment meant to be sent to Ukraine?
Are you one of those sea lions that somehow learned how to type, but you just spend your whole day spreading lies?
Hmm?
Palestine Action Plans Sabotage on UK Air Bases Used for Ukrainian Pilots Training
Pro-Palestinian activists reportedly destroy military equipment intended for Ukraine
This is literally 10 seconds on Google.
Again. Why do you spread lies? Where are the fires you claimed?
Why are you lying?
I asked why you lied. Your comment is factually false.
