Elbit Systems pushed for retrial after charges against Palestine Action co-founders were dismissed, new documents show.
Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems, lobbied the Home Office for a retrial after criminal charges against Palestine Action’s co-founders were dismissed, Declassified can reveal.
Jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court acquitted six pro-Palestine activists of nine charges in December 2023, while failing to reach a decision on 23 other charges.
Now, a letter seen by Declassified shows that Elbit’s UK security director, Chris Morgan, wrote to Britain’s then policing minister Chris Philp on 15 January 2024.
He noted that “the founders and controlling minds of the Palestine Action criminal group, Richard Barnard and Huda Ammori, were on trial for a multitude of offences”.
Morgan added: “Whilst Barnard was found guilty of criminal damage at one of our sites, the jury failed to reach a verdict on seven other charges for them both – including two counts of burglary which took place in 2020”.
To this end, Morgan raised concerns that “a re-trial is not a certainty” and suggested “it is very much in the public interest for this trial to be re-heard at the earliest opportunity”, emphasising “the prolific and serious nature of Palestine Action’s offending”.
The letter provides further evidence of Elbit Systems pressuring the British authorities to crack down on Palestine Action, which the UK government has said it will proscribe.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) subsequently ordered a retrial for the activists, which was scheduled for later this month. (more...)
Israeli Arms Firm Lobbied Home Office on Palestine Action Court Case
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