radiofree.asia

Palestine Action win right to appeal ruling over their proscription

The British government have lost their appeal to stop lawyers challenging a ban on Palestine Action (PA). The non-violent direct action group were proscribed in July. The case is seen by critics as a landmark case for civil liberties.

The Guardian reported:

On Friday, three judges, led by the lady chief justice, upheld Mr Justice Chamberlain’s decision to grant the Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori a judicial review of the group’s proscription under the Terrorism Act”

Palestine Action prevail

Huda Ammori herself tweeted:

The Home Office had tried to argue the “proper forum”:

for Palestine Action to challenge the ban was the POAC (Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission), which parliament had designated for that purpose, rather than judicial review.

The hearing that will now go ahead is scheduled for three days beginning on 25 November. And, as the Guardian reported, the case is significant because it’s:

…the first time that an organisation banned under anti-terrorism law has been granted a court trial to challenge proscription.

Fellow activist group Defend Our Juries were in buoyant mood following the decision:

Your Party co-leader Zarah Sultana called it a “huge win”:

The legal detail of the decision was recorded at the court and can be viewed here.

Absurd, authoritarian ban

In a statement released via Cryptpad, Huda Ammori attacked the “extreme” ban:

The Court of Appeal has rightly rejected Yvette Cooper’s attempt to block a legal review of her absurdly authoritarian ban — while granting us additional grounds on which to challenge it. This is a landmark victory: not only against one of the most extreme attacks on civil liberties in recent British history, but for the fundamental principle that government ministers can and must be held accountable when they act unlawfully.

Ammori called the government out for their cowardice:

The Government’s effort to avoid judicial scrutiny of its blatantly anti-democratic proscription — branding a protest group as ‘terrorists’ for the first time in British history — has backfired spectacularly, and we now head into the Judicial Review in November with an even stronger legal footing.

Staggering misuse

Ammori also condemned the arrest over over 2000 people since the proscription came into effect:

Arresting peaceful protesters and those disrupting the arms trade is a dangerous misuse of counter-terror resources, with over 2,000 people having now been arrested — a staggering 3,100% increase in counter-terror arrests. Rather than being used to protect the public, the Terrorism Act is being used as a political tool to silence them.

And, she argued that the proscription of Palestine Action has wide-ranging ramifications:

This ban doesn’t just affect Palestine Action supporters — it casts a chilling shadow over anyone speaking out against Israel’s atrocities and the UK’s complicity in them, and sets a dangerous precedent that can be used against any protest group. It’s time for the Government to listen to the overwhelming and mounting backlash — including from the United Nations, human rights watchdogs and free speech defenders to the former Director of Public Prosecutions, as well as the vast majority of its own Party members and voices across the political spectrum — and lift this widely condemned, utterly Orwellian ban.

The fight continues, but this staggering abuse of counter-terror powers by the genocide-supporting British government must not be allowed to stand.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

This post was originally published on Canary.