A member of the Irish rap group Kneecap has appeared in a London court over an alleged “terrorism” offence, as hundreds of his supporters gathered outside the building.
Liam O’Hanna, who performs under the name Mo Chara, entered Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday morning, a month after he was charged for allegedly waving a flag of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah at a concert in the United Kingdom’s capital last November.
Under British law, it is illegal to display articles promoting banned groups like Hezbollah.
Kneecap, a Belfast-based group who rap in English but mostly in Gaeilge (Gaelic, the Irish language), have rejected the charge of “terrorism”.
“We deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction,” the band wrote on X last month.
O’Hanna told London’s Wide Awake Festival last month that it was an attempt to “silence us”.
The band has long spoken out against Israel’s actions in Gaza, saying the country is committing “genocide”, something the Israeli government denies.
In court on Wednesday, the prosecution suggested the case was not about the rapper’s stance on Israel and Palestine.
“He is well within his rights to voice his opinions and his solidarity, as is anybody else,” prosecutor Michael Bisgrove said.
“The allegation in this case is a wholly different thing and deals with the video recording showing that, in November of last year, Mr O’Hanna wore and displayed the flag of Hezbollah … while saying ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’.”
In response, Brenda Campbell, the defendant’s lawyer, claimed the charge was brought too late, as it came more than six months after the alleged crime was committed at a gig in Kentish Town, north London.
“If we are right in relation to that, then this court has no jurisdiction and there ends the case,” Campbell said.
Judge Paul Goldspring said a further hearing would be held on August 20 to determine whether the defence was correct in this assessment.
Before O’Hanna’s appearance in court on Wednesday, Kneecap took to X to note that dozens of Palestinians had been killed by Israeli soldiers on Tuesday in Gaza while waiting for aid delivery trucks.
“Meanwhile tomorrow they will try label Mo Chara a terrorist,” Kneecap added.
Outside the London courtroom on Wednesday, an Irish activist who gave his name as Patrick said the charge against O’Hanna was “nonsense”.
“This case has all the hallmarks of a political show trial,” he told Al Jazeera.
Sarah Cotte, 21, said she believed the group was being “targeted because they have been uncompromising and unbowed in their expression of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle and their solidarity with the Irish people”.
The band shot to international prominence last year after a semi-fictional film about them received multiple awards, including one at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Irish trio have been supported by prominent British musicians such as Paul Weller and Brian Eno, who have decried what they call the “concerted attempt to censor and de-platform Kneecap”.
The charge against O’Hanna is not the only controversy faced by the group. Kneecap apologised this year when a video from 2023 surfaced, which appeared to show one singer calling for the death of British Conservative Party politicians.
