French town drops music festival funding over Kneecap booking
Kneecap have been extremely vocal about the Israel-Gaza conflict
The booking of Kneecap for the Rock-en-Seine music festival has led to the local municipal authority withdrawing their funding for the event.
The annual festival takes place between August 21 and August 24 in the Parisian suburb of Saint-Cloud, located to the west of the French capital.
Their presence on the line-up has resulted in the Saint-Cloud city hall confirming that they have dropped their €40,000 subsidy that had been ear-marked for the event organisers.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the authorities confirmed that the figure had been agreed but the decision was made to cut their funding following the final line-up of the festival being confirmed earlier this month.
The local authority said it respected the festival's programming freedom and did not 'enter into any negotiations with a view to influencing the programming'.
Kneecap have been extremely vocal about the Israel-Gaza conflict
Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 17th
The statement added: 'On the other hand it does not finance political action, nor demands, and even less calls to violence, such as calls to kill lawmakers, whatever their nationality.'
The Belfast trio have seen a number of their recent gigs cancelled following backlash over the group's comments about Israel's destruction of Gaza.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was among those to criticise the rappers' appearance at Glastonbury late last month.
A criminal investigation was launched by British police following Kneecap's performance at the English festival, with local police stating there is 'no place in society for hate'.
The group led the packed crowed in chants of 'f**k Keir Starmer' with the BBC opting not to live stream the performance.
Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was previously charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly displaying the flag of Hezbollah at a gig in London last November.
The rapper, who performs under the name Mo Chara, appeared before a court in London over the charge, which he denies.
The Kneecap star could make legal history if he opts to use an Irish language interpreter at his next appearance before the British court in August.
Ó hAnnaidh has indicated he'll ask for a translator at his next court appearance, and Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) director Daniel Holder says it could make legal history.
Irish is recognised in UK law as a minority language, and the rapper could argue he wants to use Irish as his right to freedom of expression without discrimination.
'If you have a case where someone is charged with a criminal offence and they do not understand English it is part of their right to a fair trial that they have an interpreter,' the legal expert recently told Sunday World.
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