Palestine Action activists jailed for Israeli firm raid

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Updated - June 13, 2026 12:25 pm IST - London Protesters are detained by police outside Woolwich Crown Court, London, during a hearing where Palestine Action activists are due to be sentenced over a break-in at the U.K. base of an Israel-based defence firm, Elbit Systems site, in London, on June 12, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP A U.K. judge on Friday (June 12, 2026) jailed four activists from the Palestine Action group for breaking into an Israeli defence firm causing some £1.0 million in damage, ruling the raid was "a terrorist act". U.K. ban on pro-Palestine group under scrutiny in court Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani had been found guilty last month of destroying equipment belonging to an Elbit Systems site in southwestern Bristol with sledgehammers and crowbars. Wearing red boiler suits, the four activists damaged computers, drones and other equipment, before clashing with security guards and police who tried to stop them in the August 2024 raid. Corner, 23, hit police officer Kate Evans twice on the back with a seven pound sledgehammer, leaving her with a fractured spine, Woolwich Crown Court was told. The group said their aim was to "dismantle drones and weaponry" they believed would be used to kill people, particularly in the Gaza Strip. But ruling that the raid had been "an act of terrorism", judge Jeremy Johnson jailed Corner for seven years and eight months. He told the former Oxford student that he had used "extreme and gratuitous force against a vulnerable police officer acting in the course of her duties". Head, 30, who crashed a van through the gates of the site, was sentenced to five years, along with Kamio, also aged 30. Rajwani, who like Head broke down in tears during the sentencing, was given a prison term of four years and eight months. About 500 protesters gathered outside the court on Friday (June 12, 2026) in support of the four activists, leading to the arrests of 72 people for holding up signs in support of Palestine Action. Elbit Systems is a defence technology company with around 20,000 staff and revenues of $2.0 billion, according to the firm's website. Friday's (June 12, 2026) ruling comes just before the High Court is due to rule on Monday (June 15, 2026) on the government's appeal against the lifting of the Home Office ban on Palestine Action. The ban under the 2000 Terrorism Act, which went into force on July 5 last year, made membership of or support for the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Since then some 3,000 people have been arrested at rallies and demonstrations. After Palestine Action challenged the ban, the High Court in London ruled in February that the decision was "disproportionate", had a "very significant" impact on human rights and should be lifted. The government has appealed against that ruling, with the judgement due on Monday (June 15, 2026). court / Palestine / arrest / Israel-Palestine Conflict / war / unrest, conflicts and war / act of terror / terrorism (crime) / judiciary (system of justice) / justice and rights / crime, law and justice Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Palestine Action activists jailed for Israeli firm raid

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Palestine Action activists jailed for Israeli firm raid

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