UK court tosses terror charge against Kneecap member
A London Court accused a member of the argument on a controversial Irish Rap Group of terrorism against a member of the series and based its decision on a technical mistake in the way the accusation came to the fore.
Liam Og O Hannaidh, also known by Anglicize Liam O’hanna and performed under the name of Mo Chara, was accused of shaking the flag of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, who was banned as a terrorist organization in England during a London concert in 2024.
Paul Goldspring, the chief peace judge sitting in Woolwich Crown Court, said the case should be fired and that O’Hhanna’s lawyers and prosecutors had kidnapped the accusation for a day.
“These transactions were illegally established and empty.” He said.
O’Hhanna smiled and gave a thumb to its supporters.
In English and Irish, he encountered criticisms for political expressions that seemed to have glorified militant groups, including Belfast Trio, Hamas and Hezbollah, who were rap about drugs, working class life and the reunification of Ireland.
Canada and Hungary previously banned the group.
Knecap accused critics of trying to silence the group for his support for the Palestinian cause during the war in Gaza.
The group says that he does not support Hezbollah and Hamas or that he is not violent against violence.
27 -year -old O’Hhanna claimed that the prosecution was a politically motivated effort to silence the group’s support to the Palestinians.
“We will not be quiet,” the rapper said to the supporters other than the court after the accusations were fired.
“We know pressure, colonialism, famine and genocide as people from Ireland.”
Michelle O’Neill, the first minister of Northern Ireland, welcomed the movement, saying that the charges were “an attempt to silence the Israeli genocide in Gaza and calculated to silence the speakers”.
“Kneecap has used its platforms in the world stages to reveal this genocide, and it is the responsibility of all of us to continue to speak and stand against the injustice in Palestine.” He said.
The Royal Prosecutor’s Office said that he had “carefully reviewed the court’s decision” and pointed out that he could be appealed.
London’s metropolitan police, together with the prosecutors, said that “this decision is to understand the potential consequences for us and how to affect the future processing of such cases”.
Kneecap has been the center of discussions in England since 2024, when the previous government has tried to prevent an art grant for the group.
This decision was overthrown after the Labor Party won the parliamentary elections of 2024 and took office by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
