UK government loses appeal over Kneecap terror charges
The British government has lost an appeal against a court's decision to throw out a terrorism charge against a member of the Irish rap group Kneecap.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh, whose stage name is Mo Chara, was initially charged over allegations that he waved the flag of Hezbollah during a concert in London in November 2024.
The Lebanese group is a proscribed organisation in the UK and the 28-year-old was charged last May under the Terrorism Act, which says it is a criminal offence to display an article which arouses reasonable suspicion that someone supports a proscribed organisation.
After a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, Judge Paul Goldpsring ruled in September that Og O hAnnaidh had been charged after the six-month limit to bring the charge, which could only be dealt with by the magistrates' court, ended. The charge was thrown out.
On Wednesday, the High Court in London ruled that Og O hAnnaidh would not face a new terror trial. The judgement said it agreed with the ruling last September.
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Afterwards at a press conference in West Belfast, Og O hAnnaidh said: "This entire process was never about me, never about any threat to the public and never about terrorism... it was always about Palestine.
"Your attempts to label me a terrorist have failed because I was right and, yet again, Britain was wrong."
“This is a story about Palestine and us is a distraction from the real story,” said Kneecap rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh as he left a London court on Wednesday, where he’s facing a terrorism charge for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag during a gig in London last November. pic.twitter.com/B8jUn9RkpD
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Addressing the government, Og O hAnnaidh said: "We said we would fight you in your court and we would win, we have three times now. Your own High Court has ruled against you.
"I will not be silent, Kneecap will not be silent, the people of West Belfast will not be silent.
Kneecap has denied the charges against its band member, and accused the UK government of using it to distract from Israeli crimes in Gaza.
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