Two activists convicted of harassing justice minister over Israel-Hamas conflict

South Wales Guardian

2 days ago

Ayeshah Behit, 31, and Hiba Ahmed, 26, were found guilty of the charge against Alex Davies-Jones, the Labour MP for Pontypridd, following a trial at Cardiff Magistrates' Court on Monday.
They had filmed a confrontation with Ms Davies-Jones, a justice minister, who had been campaigning in the village of Treforest, Rhondda Cynon Taf, in the lead-up to the general election, on June 26 last year.
Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring found both defendants guilty of harassment and sentenced them to a conditional discharge and fine.
Giving evidence during the trial, Ms Davies-Jones told the court she was 'terrified' after being confronted by the two activists.
As she made her way to the campaign meeting place, she saw Behit and Ahmed with leaflets describing her as a 'full-blown supporter of this genocide' – referring to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Ms Davies-Jones said: 'They asked me about the ceasefire and why I had abstained. I clarified I hadn't abstained, I wasn't in the country, I was paired in that vote.
'It was escalating in terms of passion and intensity. We walked off in the opposite direction. We felt scared and intimidated, and we wanted to leave the situation.
'I had a number of young members with me. They already felt uncomfortable, I didn't want them to feel more at risk.
'They began to follow us. They were shouting and bellowing down the street at us – 'why do you support genocide, why are you murdering babies, Alex Davies-Jones, do you support genocide?''
Later in the day, Behit and Ahmed put posters on the Labour office in Pontypridd – the base of Ms Davies-Jones' campaign for the general election – that referred to politicians 'enabling genocide'.
They also placed stickers in black capital letters reading 'Alex Davies-Jones how many murdered children is too many?' on the office and a poster reading 'Alex Davies-Jones supports genocide' on a bus stop, while a video of the confrontation was uploaded onto social media describing Ms Davies-Jones as racist.
Asked about how their actions made her feel, the politician, who was first elected as MP for Pontypridd in 2019, told the court: 'I was terrified.
'I was worried because of the risk to my team and supporters, and my reputation given it was the general election and what that would mean.'
Sentencing, Mr Goldspring told Ahmed and Behit: 'This was part of a deliberate and sustained campaign targeting the complainant.
'This course of conduct was clearly designed to cause alarm and distress to her and she did experience alarm and distress. She stopped canvassing.
'It was not reasonable and it was oppressive.'
The judge said the defendants did have rights to freedom of speech but this case went 'beyond the boundaries' of this protection and was 'beyond robust scrutiny or political process'.
He sentenced Ahmed, a final year architecture student at Cardiff University with no previous convictions, to a 12-month conditional discharge.
Behit, who has a conviction relating to a protest in Cardiff last year, received an 18-month conditional discharge.
They were both ordered to pay £650 costs and a £26 court surcharge, at a rate of £20 per month.
Mr Goldspring added: 'I would love to say you are remorseful. I suspect you are not.
'I suspect your views will be held until something happens very differently in that area of the world.'
Ahmed, giving evidence, said she and Behit lived in Treforest and had wanted to raise awareness of Ms Davies-Jones' actions on Palestine ahead of the election.
She said the defendants, both of Treforest, had planned to hand out and post leaflets that afternoon when they saw their MP coming towards them.
Ahmed said: 'I was genuinely really surprised when I saw her. I've lived in Treforest for a couple of years, I've never seen her.
'It was like seeing a celebrity almost, like a unicorn in the wild.'
Ahmed said the action taken against Ms Davies-Jones 'wasn't really about her, it was about Palestine'.
Behit told the court: 'She was running for MP and where I lived there were posters everywhere. It was constant, everywhere you looked was pro-Alex.
'My intention was to show a different perspective, to get people to do their own research. It was never about Alex as a person.
'Part of her job as an MP is having people look at her policies, her opinions and how she voted.'
Speaking outside court, Behit confirmed that both defendants would appeal against their convictions.