A UK court has on Friday thrown out terrorism charges against a member of the Irish rap group Kneecap, due to the way in which the charges were brought.
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.
The 27-year-old was charged in 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 that Og O hAnnaidh was charged after the six-month limit to bring such a charge which can only be dealt with by the magistrates’ court.
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“The charge is unlawful and null and this court has no jurisdiction to try the charge,” the judge said, which was met by cheers from the public gallery.
“We have won!!!!!! Liam Óg is a free man. We said we would fight them and win. We did. (Twice),” Daniel Lambert, Kneecap’s manager, wrote on X.
“Kneecap has NO charges OR convictions in ANY country, EVER. Political policing has failed. Kneecap is on the right side of history. Britain is not. Free Palestine.”
This is a developing story…
