The terrorism case towards Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (aka Mo Chara) has been thrown out because of a technical error in the way in which the cost was introduced towards him, in line with BBC Information.
Chief Justice of the Peace Paul Goldspring concluded that the cost towards Mo Chara was “illegal” and “null” because it was not introduced throughout the six-month statutory time restrict.
The cost towards Mo Chara stemmed from a November 2024 Kneecap live performance during which he allegedly flew a flag in help of Hezbollah. The group has denied ever supporting Hamas or Hezbollah, and stated footage of the alleged live performance in query has been “intentionally taken out of all context” and is “being exploited and weaponised, as if it had been a name to motion.”
In an announcement posted to Instagram following the Justice of the Peace’s resolution, Mo Chara stated, “This whole course of was by no means about me, by no means about any menace to the general public and by no means about ‘terrorism,’ a phrase utilized by your authorities to discredit individuals you oppress. It was all the time about Gaza. About what occurs should you dare to talk up.
Associated Video
“As individuals from Eire we all know oppression, colonialism, famine and genocide. We’ve suffered and nonetheless endure below ‘your empire.’ Your makes an attempt to silence us have failed, as a result of we’re proper, and you might be improper. We is not going to be silent. We stated we might struggle you in your courtroom and we might win. We’ve. If anybody on this planet is responsible of terrorism, it’s the British state.”
Kneecap had been additionally briefly investigated by UK authorities following their efficiency Glastonbury over the summer time, the place they led chants of “Fuck [UK Prime Minister] Keir Starmer” and “Free, free Palestine.” The investigation was in the end dropped, with officers citing “inadequate proof to supply a practical prospect of conviction for any offense.”
Because of scheduling issues tied to Mo Chara’s courtroom proceedings, Kneecap had been compelled to cancel their US tour scheduled in October. The band subsequently introduced a particular one-off livestream live performance for followers within the US going down on October tenth.
Earlier this month, Kneecap was additionally barred from getting into Canada forward of a scheduled tour within the nation set to get underway in October. Vince Gasparro, the MP behind the choice, argued that the group “amplified political violence and publicly displayed help for organizations designated as terrorist teams in Canada, akin to Hezbollah and Hamas.” Kneecap has promised to pursue authorized motion towards Gasparro for his “wholly unfaithful and deeply malicious” feedback. The group additionally claimed that a number of “Zionist foyer teams” participated in an affect marketing campaign that led to their ban.