{"id":1584,"date":"2026-08-21T17:10:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1584"},"modified":"2026-08-21T17:10:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T17:10:04","slug":"uk-judge-decides-against-sentencing-palestine-action-activists-for-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1584","title":{"rendered":"UK Judge Decides Against Sentencing Palestine Action Activists for Terrorism"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<!-- begin partial\/series-card --><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><i><span>Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with <\/span><\/i><i><span>a donation<\/span><\/i><i><span> of any size.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1582\">AIPAC Loses Yet Another House Race It Poured Millions of Dollars Into<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Five Palestine Action activists who were convicted in June of vandalizing a Barclays bank in the UK will not be sentenced as terrorists.<\/p>\n<p>As reported by <em>Al Jazeera<\/em> on Friday, Judge Robert Altham determined that the five defendants \u2014 Brendon O\u2019Hagan, 28; Amanda Kelly, 31; Hmeera Atiqnisar, 31; Mohammed Malik, 28; and Alma Yaniv, 70 \u2014 did not commit crimes that rose to the level of terrorism.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the judge said, they will be sentenced in September for criminal damage to the bank, which will carry significantly shorter prison sentences compared to a terrorism sentencing.<\/p>\n<p>According to <em>The Guardian<\/em>, attorneys representing the defendants argued that their clients\u2019 Palestine Action membership should not influence a decision to sentence them on terrorism because the group wasn\u2019t proscribed as a terrorist organization until long after the vandalism took place.<\/p>\n<p>The five activists were found guilty two months ago of causing damage exceeding \u00a3200,000 to the Barclays bank in Burnley, Lancashire in August 2024. Palestine Action activists across the UK targeted Barclays branches due to its investments in Elbit Systems, and Israeli defense technology firm.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1580\">Bessent Says He Doesn\u2019t \u201cUnderstand\u201d Oil Price Spike After Trump War Escalation<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The activists issued a joint statement after the ruling saying they were \u201cextremely relieved\u201d by the outcome, while emphasizing that a terrorism sentence should never have been under consideration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis should never have been an option,\u201d they said. \u201cWe were on trial for charges of criminal damage, for damaging some windows and spraying red paint on a Barclays branch. At no point during the trial were we, or the jury, informed that, if convicted, we could face being sentenced as terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Supporters of the activists erupted in cheers outside the court after hearing the news. Dove Malik, mother of defendant Mohammed Malik, expressed relief in an interview with <em>Al Jazeera<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a victory for us,\u201d said Malik, \u201cit\u2019s a victory for Palestine, it\u2019s a victory for protesting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1578\">Frontline Farmerworkers Are Most at Risk From the Cyclospora Outbreak<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a victory for us, it\u2019s a victory for Palestine, it\u2019s a victory for protesting,\u201d said the mother of a defendant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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