Latest news with #Filton18
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Palestine activist's prison wait for trial 'outrageous'
The mother of a man charged in relation to an alleged break-in at the UK site of an Israel-based defence firm has said it is "outrageous" that he faces 21 months in prison before his case goes to Plastow, 34, is one of the 'Filton 18' accused of taking part in a Palestine Action protest at an Elbit Systems UK factory in Filton, Bristol last Plastow is still awaiting his trial which is scheduled for April next year. His mum, Jane Plastow, believes it is the longest anyone has been held in prison pre-trial on protest-related Judicial Office told the BBC it could not comment on individual cases. An earlier court hearing was told that during the incident a vehicle was driven into the doors of buildings and two responding police officers and a security guard were with many of the rest of the group, Mr Plastow, from Manchester, is charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary which he denies. The Home Office has previously told the BBC: "The CPS has decided that there is sufficient evidence to submit to the court that these offences have a terrorism connection."However, none of the 18 have been charged with terror Systems UK is run separately to Israel-based Elbit Systems. It previously told the BBC that claims the facilities supply the Israeli military are "completely false".An Elbit Systems UK spokesperson told the BBC it will not comment on an ongoing legal process."I think [for Mr Plastow] there's a great sense of helplessness and hopelessness," Ms Plastow said."There have been lots of people locked up as political prisoners in Britain recently, there is Palestine Action and Just Stop Oil - but nobody has been locked up longer than my son and some of his comrades." 'Gross overreach' Ms Plastow said her son applied for bail, promising the judge that he would stay with his mother and wear an electronic tag."We had discussed the most onerous terms, it basically amounted to house arrest," Ms Plastow said she offered to pay £50,000, from a recent inheritance, but he was denied bail."My son has never been violent. It is a gross overreach," Ms Plastow added."The idea that at the moment it looks like he will be locked up for 21 months is outrageous."
Middle East Eye
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Legal experts question UK sharing of police details in Palestine Action case with Israel
Legal experts and rights groups have raised the alarm after documents emerged suggesting the UK had shared contact details of counterterrorism police with the Israeli embassy during ongoing investigations into Palestine Action (PA) activists. Freedom of Information (FOI) disclosures revealed an email sent by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to the Israeli embassy that appeared to be sharing contact details of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the "SO15" Counter Terrorism Command, which is overseeing the investigation of 28 PA activists - including the "Filton 18" and the "Instro 10". The email, which is redacted apart from the subject heading: "to Israelis re CPS/SO15 contact details' was sent by Nicola Smith, the head of international law at the AGO, to Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, Israel's deputy ambassador to the UK, in the weeks following the first arrests of the 'Filton 18' activists in August 2024. The Filton 18 are currently held in remand after being arrested on terrorism charges in connection with an action in August 2024 when activists drove a modified van into the research and development hub of UK-based Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems, in Filton, Bristol. Ten activists were initially arrested at the scene in August 2024. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Two months after the email, 10 more activists were rounded up in raids by counterterrorism police, with eight of them charged and remanded to prison. In response to a request for comment by MEE, the AGO said: 'It has been routine under successive governments for AGO to help embassies get in contact with the relevant authorities purely for purposes of sharing information that could be relevant to a case." 'Decisions to prosecute, convict and sentence are, rightly, made independently of Government by the Crown Prosecution Service, juries and judges respectively," the statement added. PA warns the revelations suggest political interference - a violation of the CPS's principles - and are calling for charges against the activists to be dropped. Anas Mustapha, head of public advocacy at CAGE International, said in a statement that the alleged Israeli interference in the case "is deeply concerning and amounts to an abuse of process". "Every additional day the Filton 18 remain detained is a violation of their fundamental rights. They must be freed, and the case against them must be dropped immediately," Mustapha said. 'The [sharing of these documents] is a complete corruption of the legal system' Spokesperson, Palestine Action Simon Pook, a solicitor representing several of the Filton 18 activists, told Middle East Eye: "It raises questions as to why the correspondence is so heavily redacted. It calls into question the transparency of the communications between the Attorney General and the Israeli embassy. 'I'd like to know what, if any, reference was made to any of those arrests in the communication, and were those arrests the result of a request from another government?' Pook added. The email sent on 9 September, in the weeks following the first arrests, appears to be a follow-up to a meeting held on the 28 August between Smith, Ekstein, the Embassy's Counsellor of Political Affairs Yosef Zilberman, and AGO Director Douglas Wilson. A read-out of the meeting between Smith and Ekstein was heavily redacted. 'There was no correspondence before this, so the logical conclusion is that it was a follow-up on the meeting,' the PA spokesperson said. 'It implies it must have been discussed in this meeting.' 'Everyone already knew there was something political happening behind the scenes, this gives us a glimpse into the fact that there is something going on and the Israelis are very likely involved,' they added. 'It's a complete corruption of the legal system". 'Terrorism connection' While the defendants were not charged under the Terrorism Act, CPS said in a press release that it would argue in court that the offences have a 'terrorism connection', a term which refers to a classification of offences not included in the Terrorism Act but which according to the CPS website, ensures that the charges "properly reflect the conduct concerned". Offences with a terrorism connection can carry heftier sentences. The use of counterterrorism legislation in the case, which has been condemned by four UN special rapporteurs, has resulted in harsher detention conditions for the 18, including prolonged pre-trial detention and restrictions on their mail correspondence. 'It's unprecedented, there hasn't been a case like this where people have been accused of having a terrorism connection,' a PA spokesperson said. Just days after the revelations, 10 more PA activists, known as the "Instro 10," became the second group to face charges with a terrorism connection in relation to an action in June 2024 targeting Instro Precision, a weapons manufacturer, allegedly causing over £1m ($1.34m) in damages. In Britain, Palestine and climate activists face an 'unprecedented' wave of criminalisation Read More » Unlike the Filton 18, the Instro 10 were not arrested under the Terrorism Act, but both groups of defendants are facing the same charges, including aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder. "The terrorism definition is broad. If it's serious property damage of an ideological cause, they claim that we're intimidating Elbit or influencing the government. That's all they need," the PA spokesperson said. According to PA, eight of the activists are on bail, while two of them are in the Filton 18 case. PA reported that the police operation targeting both the Filton 18 and the Instro 10 is known as "operation recomply". Amnesty International issued a statement on X expressing concern about "reports of a further misuse of anti-terrorism powers against Palestine Action". "This is now the second instance in which direct action protest has been subject to the UK's overly broad terrorism laws, which are wide open to misuse and abuse. We will continue to monitor developments in this case closely," the statement read. An abusive process PA also highlighted that the correspondence coincides with the counterterrorism police raid targeting journalist Asa Winstanley. 'What is going on there? Why did that happen a few weeks after the deputy Israel ambassador was in contact with the CPS and counterterrorism police?' the spokesperson said. Journalist Sarah Wilkinson was arrested by counterterrorism police in a dawn raid on her home shortly before the correspondence on 29 August 2024, while journalist Richard Medhurst was detained under the Terrorism Act upon arrival at London Heathrow Airport on 15 August. On 30 August, Palestine Action co-founder Richard Bernard was charged with violating the Terrorism Act - although he was arrested in October 2023. 'A lot of things happened around the same time,' the spokesperson said. PA have called for a full investigation into the correspondence, and for the release of the 18 activists. The group highlighted that the potential political interference in the case could constitute a violation of the CPS's General Principle 2.1, which stipulates that, "Prosecutors must be free to carry out their professional duties without political interference and must not be affected by improper or undue pressure or influence from any source. UK counterterrorism police raid home of Electronic Intifada journalist Asa Winstanley Read More » 'Any political pressure amounts to an abusive process, and we have evidence of that, so they shouldn't be continuing these prosecutions. The Filton 18 should not be in prison right now, but especially not in light of this," the spokesperson said. 'I would like the Attorney General to release unredacted material to the solicitors, to show that, in fact, this is a trial that hasn't been influenced in any way, and that the actions of the police and of the Crown Prosecution Service are independent as we expect them to be,' Pook told MEE. 'Any questions should be answered and we should have documents before us if they are relating to any case that's before the courts,' he added. PA say the documents are the latest in a series of disclosures detailing apparent interference in cases concerning the group. Past disclosures revealed apparent requests by the Israeli embassy for intervention in individual cases. In August 2023, documents seen by the Guardian indicated that Israeli embassy officials pushed for AGO director Douglas Wilson to interfere with court cases relating to protesters. While the disclosed emails and meeting minutes are heavily redacted and specifics of the officials' demands are unclear, Wilson refers to the 'operational independence and the sensitivities of engaging with them on individual cases'. Wilson was also present at the meeting in August 2024 between Smith and Ekstein. MEE asked the AGO why the FOI response was so heavily redacted, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
She Wanted to Protest the War in Gaza. Now She's in Prison Indefinitely.
Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. When four police officers showed up on Clare Rogers' doorstep in North London with a search warrant for her daughter's bedroom last August, she was in complete shock. They told her that her daughter Zoe, who was about to start her first year of university, was in a police station in Bristol. While this might have come as a complete surprise to most parents, Clare quickly put two and two together. Clare told Slate that one thing to know about Zoe, 21, is that she has always had a 'massive social justice streak.' When Israel's war on Hamas escalated in Gaza, her daughter couldn't look away from videos about the conflict on social media. She went to marches across the told her mother she felt nothing was changing. Then Zoe found Palestine Action, a U.K.-based pro-Palestinian protest network, and began talking about direct action. 'Zoe said, 'Protesting is like asking the government to dig a well. Direct action is just digging the well, and daring the authorities to stop you,' ' Clare recalled. 'At that time, she clearly decided that she was not afraid to go to prison.' In August 2024, Zoe, alongside a group from Palestine Action, hired a repurposed prison van and rammed through the gates to break into a factory in Filton, Bristol, run by Elbit Systems, Israel's largest arms manufacturer. The 'Filton 18,' as they have become known, used sledgehammers and axes to cause over $1 million in damage. Seven of the protesters, including Zoe, were arrested on then, she has been in prison—and will be for the foreseeable future. Hundreds of Brits have been involved in direct-action protests with the group, including hacking holes in factory roofs and parking trucks full of manure outside of factory gates, and dozens have been arrested. One recent action saw a man scale Big Ben and fly a Palestinian flag for 16 hours. 'Free the Filton 18,' the protester screamed. Elbit—which has advertised their weapons as 'battle-tested' in Gaza and the West Bank—has drawn the ire of the group due to their presence in the U.K. and the fact that they are the primary arms producer for Israel. Cargo documents show exports to Israel from at least four companies associated with Elbit Systems U.K. since the war began, including from the Filton site. Sam Perlo-Freeman, research coordinator at the political advocacy group Campaign Against Arms Trade, told Slate that one of Elbit's subsidiaries 'has a very steady stream of licenses, described as being of a component for targeting equipment.' He added that 'although we don't know exactly what equipment this is going to, it is very likely that this is being used by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza.' The protests seem to be having the impact they intended: Nine U.K. companies have cut ties with Elbit since October 2023. It was revealed last month that the landlords of an Elbit site in Leicester sold the premises and no longer work with the company. In November, Elbit lost its largest arms contract, worth over $2.5 billion, after the Ministry of Defence scrapped a drone program with Elbit subsidiary UAV Tactical Systems. Elbit Systems U.K. did not respond to Slate's request for comment. 'You can't put the genie back in the bottle now,' Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, told Slate. 'There's so many people involved in Palestine Action now that it's unstoppable at this point, no matter what the state tries to do.' In the U.K., protesters have paid the price for their actions. The imprisonment of Elbit protesters under anti-terrorism charges has caused widespread outrage. Some Filton protesters were initially denied access to legal representation and classified as high-security prisoners with a terrorism connection. Nearly 45,000 people have signed a petition calling for the British government to stop using counterterrorism powers against pro-Palestinian protesters. Last month, a human rights expert appointed by the United Nations wrote to the British government with concerns about the charges. In a statement, a government spokesperson for the U.K. Home Office told Slate that 'criminal activity against legitimate businesses should always be taken seriously, but it is up to the operationally independent police force and judiciary to decide what action is necessary in any individual cases.' Clare did not hear from her daughter Zoe, who has autism, for two weeks after she was arrested. She had been placed in solitary confinement. 'One, two, three days went by, the phone call never came,' Clare said. 'It was literally disappearing her.' Palestine Action was started in July 2020 with the aim of using direct action to disrupt U.K.-based companies supplying weapons to Israel. Later that year, five members climbed onto the roof of an Elbit factory in Staffordshire and spent three nights using hammers and tools to break it before police hauled them down. In 2022, the group had two big victories. After relentless attacks on Elbit's London headquarters, the firm abandoned its office. And after targeted action on its factory in Oldham, Manchester—which caused the sites to be closed for weeks at a time and caused millions in damages—Elbit sold off one of its subsidiaries in the U.K. Following the start of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, though, Palestine Action 'saw a huge increase in people who wanted to take direct action, and it's only continued to grow,' Ammori said. Across the U.K., members of the group have performed direct actions such as conducting a raid in Filton where activists broke in and smashed weapons, breaking down the walls of an Elbit drone factory in Staffordshire on Christmas Day, and spraying red paint on the offices of Allianz, which provides insurance to Elbit. The protests have also been taking place in the U.S. In Boston, Palestine Action collaborated with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement to protest weekly at an Elbit facility in late 2023. In August, Elbit confirmed it had shut down the facility. The FBI also reportedly opened an investigation into Palestine Action last year following protests against Elbit's factory in Merrimack, New Hampshire. While Elbit has not publicly confirmed that the protests are the reasons for the closures, Palestine Action and other pro-Palestinian advocates say that this is proof that their activism has worked to hinder the work of the company. 'It hasn't yet stopped them from operating in the U.K., but clearly it does seem to be a very effective form of direct action,' said Perlo-Freedman from the Campaign Against Arms Trade. Regardless, it's clear that Elbit is at least feeling the pressure. In 2022, members of the British government, including former Home Secretary Priti Patel, met with Martin Fausset, CEO of Elbit Systems U.K., to discuss Palestine Action, according to documents obtained by the Freedom of Information Act and seen by Slate. During the meeting, Patel reassured Fausset that 'the criminal protest acts' against the company were being taken seriously by the government. Since they began their efforts, there have been 118 court convictions of Palestine Action activists, with 33 others found not guilty, and 24 more court hearings listed this year. Activists are typically charged by police with offenses such as criminal damage, violent disorder, grievous bodily harm, and aggravated burglary. But some of the activists, including Zoe, were rearrested while already in custody under the Terrorism Act, a controversial law that allows law enforcement to further detain and interrogate suspects and delay their rights to legal support. The mother of another Filton demonstrator was arrested under the act and held incommunicado for five days. The Counter Terrorism Policing South East and Regional Organised Crime Unit confirmed to Slate that those 'arrested in connection with this incident were arrested under terrorism legislation,' but said they cannot comment further due to active legal proceedings. The Crown Prosecution Service, the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England, told Slate, 'Our decision to submit to the court that these alleged offenses have a terrorist connection is based on our independent assessment of the evidence available and the relevant legislation.' 'There is an irony of using terrorism legislation against people who are trying to stop arms being used against a civilian population,' Tim Crosland, a coordinator with the campaign group Defend Our Juries, told Slate. The moves by the U.K. government have been widely criticized—even drawing the ire of international bodies. A U.N. panel has demanded that the U.K. government 'explain the factual and legal grounds justifying the alleged arrest and detention of the activists under counter-terrorism laws.' Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, said that activists have experienced seemingly never-ending raids at their homes. 'They are intense police raids,' said Ammori. 'If you are going to arrest people, just arrest them, but the way they have gone about it has shown that they have significantly upped the amount of state resources to try and stop Palestine Action.' For Zoe, the end is not in sight. Her next court date is in November 2025, and the second in May 2026. Clare visits her daughter in the women's prison once a week, which is two hours away from her home. She remains haunted by the image of her child being led away in court back in August, when she was denied bail. 'It was the most traumatic moment of my life, being in the courts, seeing her through two layers of glass and hearing the judge say 'No,' ' Clare said. 'I just sobbed at the top of my voice.'
