Six of the Filton 24 protestors have been acquitted of all charges against them in "a huge victory for the movement"
A jury at Woolwich Crown Court has refused to convict six Palestine Action activists who broke into Israeli arms factory Elbit Systems on the outskirts of Bristol.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were found not guilty of aggravated burglary yesterday.
The activists also faced charges of criminal damage and violent disorder, but the jury returned partial or no verdicts, meaning prosecutors will now have to decide whether to seek a second trial.
The six are the first of 24 activists, known collectively as the Filton 24, to go on trial.
The activists have spent 17 months in pre-trial detention, far exceeding the statutory limit of six months.
Elbit’s parent company supplies up to 85% of the land-based equipment and drones used by the Israeli army, according to the Database of Israeli Military and Security Export.
Judge Jeremy Johnson told the jury that the “situation in the middle east” and Elbit Systems operations were “not relevant” to the case, and excluded the evidence from the hearing.
Rajiv Menon KC, defence barrister for Charlotte Head, said that the Judge “No Elbit witness has been called. The security guards, you will remember, were not employed by Elbit directly. They were employed by another company.
“So Elbit remains in the shadows, hidden and protected, but not, ladies and gentlemen, in the corridors of power where no doubt they are welcomed, wined, and dined, whilst Charlotte and all the other co-accused in this case have been denied bail and have been locked up for 17 months.”
He added that by excluding the evidence on Elbit Systems “The consequence of that is that you do not know everything that the defendants knew about Elbit before each of them individually decided to take that major step of getting involved in the action against the factory in Filton.”
Naila Ahmed, Head of Campaigns at CAGE, said: “This acquittal is a huge victory for the movement and a powerful affirmation of jury independence and moral courage in the face of extraordinary political pressure.
“Though they cannot get back the 17 months of their life taken from them unlawfully, they should all be compensated and the remaining 18 defendants of the Filton 24 should also be released on bail. This case was used to justify the ban against Palestine Action, a decision that should now be overturned.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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