Another Filton trial jury has been discharged after refusing to return a verdict on charges against eight Palestine Action supporters. The group is accused of helping to organise an attack on a factory operated by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit in Filton, Bristol, even though they were not present during the raid.

Retrial for more Filton activists?

The prosecution will now decide whether to seek a retrial. The Filton defendants are:

Teuta Hoxha, 30, of Southwark
William Plastow, 35, of Manchester
Hannah Davidson, 53, of Edinburgh
Madeleine Norman, 31, also of Edinburgh
Ian Sanders, 47, of Leamington Spa
Aleksandra Herbich, 42, of Brent
Sean Middlebrough, 34, of Liverpool
Julija Brigadirova, 34, of Chorlton

All are accused of criminal damage; Plastow is also accused of violent disorder. They deny all charges. The jury gave up after thirty-seven hours of deliberations. The judge has set a next hearing in the case for 14 September.

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s record suggests the state will seek a retrial of the Filton activists in its eagerness to criminalise anti-genocide protest. Mahmood has also sought – in at least one trial successfully – terrorism sentences against activists even though they have not been charged with terror offences.

The Home Office is doing the same in the case of activists who threw paint on a Barclays Bank building for the bank’s ties to Israel. The judge in the case of Filton defendants sentenced as terrorists is trying to jail their lawyer for even informing jurors of their legal right to acquit. The same judge also ordered that jurors must not be informed that he would impose terror sentences if they returned a guilty verdict.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

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