Four Palestine Action protesters sentenced as terrorists would be ‘constitutional threat’

A protest banner erected in support of the four Palestine Action protesters found guilty of criminal damage at an Israeli arms site last month. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images View image in fullscreen A protest banner erected in support of the four Palestine Action protesters found guilty of criminal damage at an Israeli arms site last month. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images Four Palestine Action protesters sentenced as terrorists would be ‘constitutional threat’ Human rights lawyer warns activists’ potential sentencing when jury did not convict them violates legal principles Middle East crisis – live updates One of the UK’s leading human rights lawyers has said the potential sentencing of four Palestine Action protesters as terrorists when the jury did not convict them of a terrorism offence violates fundamental legal principles. Michael Mansfield KC, known for his work on landmark cases such as the Grenfell Tower fire, Stephen Lawrence and the Birmingham Six, claimed the sentencing of Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21 represents a “constitutional threat”. Last month, they were found guilty of criminal damage over a 2024 break in at an Israeli arms manufacturer’s UK site. On Friday, the trial judge, Mr Justice Johnson, will decide whether there was a terrorism connection to their offence – which would mean a harsher sentence – despite the jury never having been told of this possibility. New breed of political prisoner arises in Britain as anti-protest sentences rise Read more Mansfield is the highest-profile signatory of an open letter signed by more than 50 lawyers and legal experts warning that such a finding would be “wrong in principle”. “It’s a recategorising the offence without a trial,” he said. “It’s particularly insidious for the obvious reason that they weren’t allowed to explain their motivation to a jury – that was denied them. And yet the state says ‘we’re actually going to elevate what the offences are’ when a jury might well not have convicted had they known they were going to be treated as terrorists. “The fundamental principle is you should not be convicted on any statutory offence for which you have not been charged.” As well as harsher sentences, if Johnson finds a terrorist connection, the four, who smashed up drones and other equipment at the Elbit Systems UK factory near Bristol, would serve a greater proportion of their sentence in prison than normal and have to notify police for life about certain changes in their personal circumstances. Highlighting examples from the suffragettes and the women of Greenham Common to Extinction Rebellion and the Trident Ploughshares movement, the letter said: “Blurring the distinction between principled direct action and terrorism is the hallmark of authoritarian regimes.” Another signatory, Penny Green, professor of law and globalisation at Queen Mary University of London, said: “It is beyond shocking that acts of criminal damage, designed