Six pro-Palestine activists have been acquitted on charges of aggravated burglary over their July 2024 raid on an Elbit factory located in Filton, England.
Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer.
Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, Zoe Rogers, and Jordan Devlin are all members of Palestine Action. Last year, Britain designated the group as a terrorist organization and made it a crime to join.
Verdicts could not be reached on the criminal damage charges, and the activists could face retrial on those counts. While inside the factory, the protesters destroyed Israeli quadcopter drones, which have been used to kill Palestinians. Prosecutors claim that the action resulted in over $1 million in damages.
The six protesters were part of the “Filton 24,” a wider group of activists who participated in the action. The remaining 18 are still being held over their alleged roles. Some recently carried out a hunger strike to demand bail, a fair trial, and a lift on the Palestine Action ban.
While defending Charlotte Head, Rajiv Menon KC said that Justice Jeremy Johnson, the trial judge, had repeatedly prevented the defendants from detailing what they knew about Elbit and its role in Gaza.
Menon told the jury that that “the target of this action was a massive weapons company that has played a critical role in the killing of 10s of 1000s of Palestinians, as opposed to, for example, a company that makes fluffy toys for children.”
“How are you to assess the evidence as a whole in this case? How are you to assess
the character of the defendants, the credibility of their accounts, their conduct during their action at Filton?” he added.” How can you assess any of that if you ignore the wider context of what has been happening in Gaza?”
Justice Johnson cautioned jurors not to let emotions affect their ruling. “You must each keep cool heads,” he told them. “Your decision should be a decision in which bias, emotion, sympathy, prejudice, political views, and matters of that sort play no part.”
Members of the defendants’ families released statements in response to the verdict.
“Our loved one’s action against Elbit Systems and the state’s brutal response have exposed the true values of the government,” said Clare Rogers, the mother of Zoe Rogers. “The government is determined to do business with Israel and protect its weapons industry at any cost. Our loved ones dared to poke this beast – and no expense has been spared in policing, prosecuting, and imprisoning them without trial. Imagine if the government had put the same amount of money, resources, and political will into preventing a genocide.”
“Despite having all the odds stacked against them, I can now say with the biggest smile that Jordan has been acquitted of aggravated burglary and violent disorder, and none of the defendants have been convicted of a single offense,” said Jordan Devlin’s sister, Brogan. “The jury could see through the state lies, the political interference, and the corruption.”
Naila Ahmed, Head of Campaigns at CAGE, called for the remaining defendants to be released and for the ban on Palestine Action to be overturned.
“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,” said Ahmed. “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.”
Juries here do have a habit of acquitting where the law that was broken is oppressive, or where a whistleblower is being punished for embarrassing the government of the day.