Five activists charged with criminal damage following action at Elbit HQ

Feb 10, 2021 | 2 comments

  • Five activists from direct-action network Palestine Action have been charged with criminal damage
  • Charges follow a successful action at London HQ of Elbit Systems last October (10th October 2020, 2pm)
  • Latest in string of crackdowns on Palestine Action including arrest of co-founder Richard Barnard

Five activists have been charged with ‘conspiracy to commit criminal damage’ and ‘criminal damage’ following a direct action that saw Elbit’s main office on Kingsway covered in red paint in October 2020. The activists were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and police assault during a protest outside Elbit Systems’ headquarters. No assault charges have been brought.

The five are due at Highbury magistrates court on March 9th at 9.30AM.

The activists were immediately apprehended by police officers after emerging from a car and dousing the front of the building in red paint during a well-attended public demonstration.

One female arrestee said:

“The police at the scene were very aware of the fact that protesters were filming. After using heavy force to arrest me, officers huddled around and shouted to ‘stop resisting’ despite the fact that I was not moving at all.

“After being arrested I was held against the wall by an officer, who was then approached by his superior and told that it was ‘ok to turn on the bodycam now’. An impartial legal observer tried to approach me but was kept away by police. It was very clear that they intended to follow through with charges at the time, or they wouldn’t have resorted to such underhand tactics”.

Another female arrestee said: 

“Who should really be charged with criminal damage? The activists that spilled paint? Or the war criminals that spill blood and destroy entire communities?

To the government and your army of policy –  you don’t intimidate us, your hypocrisy only angers us and motivates us to continue. 

To Elbit Systems – We look forward to seeing you in court and exposing the crii=minal damage that you have committed. 

And to supporters of human rights and believers of justice – Join Palestine Action and help shut Elbit down”

Another woman arrested during the protest added:

“Everything about it was unnecessary – I was thrown to the ground by three large policemen who then dragged me across the ground by my arms while cuffed. We were all covered in bruises when we left the police station and one of us had a head injury.

“The fact that three of us were accused of ‘assaulting police officers’ but they haven’t followed through on those charges shows how shallow their tactics are – they’ll just think of a charge off the top of their heads and then decide in hindsight whether they can actually support it.

“The continuous police crackdown on our actions does prove that what we’re doing to eventually kick Elbit out of the UK is working in some way – if the authorities weren’t worried about our group’s potential they wouldn’t spend so much of their precious time and funds on harassing us.”

The charges come less than a week after Palestine Action co-founder Richard Barnard was ambushed outside his home and arrested on suspicion of blackmail. He was then taken to Fresh Wharf Custody Base in Barking and held in custody for 24 hours. 

Police have previously raided the homes of numerous activists allegedly linked to Palestine Action and seized their devices. Barnard and co-founder Huda Ammori were even stopped under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which enables police officers to interrogate individuals for prolonged periods of time without the standard safeguards, in November. The pair were interrogated for several hours before being arrested, having refused to hand over laptop passwords.

Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest private arms firm and has 10 sites across the UK, including four weapons factories. The company provides the Israeli military with over 80% of its drone fleet. In September, the Home Office revealed that the Elbit-manufactured Hermes 900 drone was being trialled to replace police helicopters in the UK. This particular drone was first used in the 2014 Israeli bombardment of Gaza, in which more than 2,000 Palestinians were killed.

ENDS

Notes to editors

For more information or to arrange interview contact: 07840150925

Palestine Action

  • Palestine Action is a direct-action network of groups and individuals formed with the mandate of taking direct action against Elbit Systems’ UK locations at grassroots level, calling for them all to be shut down and for the British government to end its complicity in Israeli apartheid
  • Palestine Action aims to shut down Elbit’s UK operation and has hit the firm’s sites, and those of their landlord LaSalle Investment Management, around 40 times since launching in August 2020
  • These actions include shutting down Elbit factories in Shenstone on four occasions (the most notorious of which caused £145,000 of damage), and a series of occupations and public protests at Elbit’s London HQ
  • In the tradition of Palestine Action, further disruptions will be in store. 

Elbit Systems

Police crackdowns

Donate towards the numerous devices confiscated from activists by police: https://palestineaction.org/donate/

add_action('wp_footer', function() { ?>
Review Your Cart
0
Add Coupon Code
Subtotal
Checkout