The terrorism case against Kneecap‘s Mo Chara has been adjourned until next month. Watch footage from the band’s exit from court above.
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Arriving to chants of “free Mo Chara” from the huge crowd gathered, the rapper – real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today (August 20) over terrorism charges levelled against him in May for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag onstage at a London show last November.
The musician first appeared at the court in June, when he was released on unconditional bail.
After today’s hearing, judgment has been reserved, with the next hearing set to be held on Friday September 26 at 10am, as reported by The Belfast Telegraph. There, Judge Paul Goldspring will give his decision on whether he has jurisdiction to hear the case.
At Westminster Magistrates Court today, Judge Goldspring said he is “conscious and anxious” that a “speedy resolution” will be wanted.
Mo Chara’s lawyers are seeking to throw out the case, arguing that the terror charge against him was brought outside the time limit. They claim that it was brought a day after the six-month limit for such charges. However, prosecutors say the charge was brought exactly within the time limit.
Defence counsel Brenda Campbell KC told the court that the Attorney General had not given permission for the case to be brought against Mo Chara when police informed him he was to face a terror charge on May 21.
However, prosecutor Michael Bisgrove said permission was not required until the defendant’s first court appearance.
Mo Chara, who has yet to enter a plea but denied wrongdoing, was released on unconditional bail until his next court appearance.
Speaking outside the courts following the hearing, Mo Chara thanked supporters for coming and told them: “We know this story is more than just about me. It’s more than Kneecap; this is a story about Palestine and us as a distraction from the real story.
“We know, unfortunately, this story will end up in the media today, while Israel commits genocide at the same time,” he continued. “So, everybody, continue to speak about Palestine, free Palestine, thank you all for coming.”
Kneecap’s manager, Daniel Lambert, also addressed the crowd, first thanking the band’s legal team, who are led by Darragh Mackin. “We’ve an unbelievable legal team, brilliant people. They’re put in a lot of time, and they deserve huge credit,” Lambert said.
He went on to thank supporters, adding: “We’re back here on September 26, where we believe that our jurisdiction point will win and hold and that the court will rule that they have no jurisdiction, but we’d ask for your support again on the 26th.”
Finally, Móglaí Bap took to the microphone, saying: “Keep talking about Palestine, keep calling it a genocide, and that’s the real story. This is just another distraction.”
Their appearances followed a full morning of performances and speeches from activists and musicians.
Responding to the terror charge in May, the group denied the offence and vowed to “vehemently defend ourselves”. “This is political policing,” they wrote. “This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is.”
Kneecap have consistently denied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah, and said that they do not incite or condone violence. They have also argued that the footage at the UK shows had been taken out of context, and described the legal action as a “carnival of distraction”.
Throngs of supporters for both Kneecap and Palestine appeared at the courts in June, which prompted the Metropolitan Police to issue Public Order Act conditions for today’s court date. Per the Metropolitan Police, the conditions are being enacted to “prevent serious disruption being caused by a protest” outside the court.
Kneecap criticised the decision, saying they believed the police action was “designed to try and portray support for Kneecap as somehow troublesome.”
At Mo Chara’s first appearance in June, Paul Weller was spotted among the supporters. The solo icon and former Jam frontman had previously signed an open letter by Love Music Hate Racism, which rallied “against the attempts to silence [Kneecap] for speaking out for Gaza”.
Speaking about waving the flag and the incidents that led to the charge back in June, Mo Chara said: “It’s a joke. I’m a character,” he said. “Shit is thrown on stage all the time. If I’m supposed to know every fucking thing that’s thrown on stage, I’d be in Mensa, Jesus Christ.”
“I don’t know every proscribed organisation – I’ve got enough shit to worry about up there. I’m thinking about my next lyric, my next joke, the next drop of a beat,” he added.
Asked about whether he regrets the comments about killing MPs, he said: “Why should I regret it? It was a joke – we’re playing characters, it’s satirical, it’s a fucking joke. And that’s not the point. The point is, that wasn’t an issue until we said ‘Free Palestine’ at Coachella. That stuff happened 18 months ago, and nobody batted an eyelid.”
Since Hamas’ attack on Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023 that killed over 1100 people and saw 250 taken as hostages, multiple UN human-rights experts and UN bodies have stated that Israel’s military actions in Gaza may amount to genocide, and the International Court of Justice has found claims of genocide plausible.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 62,004 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. Israel rejects the genocide accusations and denies committing any war crimes, maintaining that its operations are lawful acts of self-defence.
