UPDATE ON 23/11/22: JURY FINDS ALL 5 NOT GUILTY
PRESS RELEASE
14/11/22
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- The trial of the ‘Kingsway 5’ begun on Monday 14th November 2022, with five activists appearing in Southwark Crown Court for a week-long jury trial after taking on the London HQ of Israel’s largest arms firm, Elbit Systems, dousing it in blood-red paint in October 2020.
- After waiting over two years to go to trial, the five have pled not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit criminal damage, and will make the case that Elbit – and the operation run out of the Kingsway office – are the guilty ones.
- The five pulled up in a car with fire extinguishers filled with paint to cover the offices of Israel’s largest arms company in a colour symbolising the Palestinian bloodshed that their products spill.
Five activists are appearing in Southwark Crown Court from today onwards for a trial set to last between 5 and 7 days, charged with ‘conspiracy to commit criminal damage’ after taking action against Elbit’s headquarters at 77 Kingsway, Holborn, London. The five activists arrived by car, and sprayed the premises in red paint from buckets and repurposed fire exinguishers. The activists were joined by dozens of protestors, who brought banners bearing ‘Shut Elbit Down’ and ‘Stop Arming Israel’. The five were arrested alongside a journalist, and have waited over two years on bail before the trial commences.[1]
Elbit, whose UK operations include the manufacture of munitions, surveillance equipment, military hardware and drone technologies for Israel’s ‘defence’ forces, had their London headquarters met with consistent direct action from Palestine Action for over a year and a half, before finally abandoning the office around 6 months ago.[2][3] Three activists who used a lock-on to shut down the office and similarly doused it in paint in May of this year, shortly before Elbit left the building, went to trial in Stratford Magistrates Court last week. The three faced 12 combined charges, seeing 8 of these withdrawn and convicted of ‘criminal damage’ for disrupting Elbit’s business-of-bloodshed.
Palestine Action have called for journalists to attend the trial, while supporters and protestors are expected to turn out for the entire proceedings.
ENDS
The #Kingsway5 are being trialled at Southwark Crown Court, 1 English Grounds, London, SE1 2HU. If you are unable to attend court yourself, please do email info@palestineaction.org, for a summary of notes on the proceedings.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
[1] https://www.palestineaction.org/press-release-six-arrested/
[2] https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/