Protesters gathered outside court ahead of the sentencing of 15 activists who blocked the take-off of a deportation flight from Stansted Airport.
Around 100 people gathered outside Chelmsford Crown Court to show their support for the so-called Stansted 15, who are due to be sentenced after being convicted of an aviation security offence.
The activists cut through the airport's perimeter fence and locked themselves around a Boeing 767 chartered by the Home Office to transport people from UK detention centres to Africa.
It happened in March 2017 and the Stansted 15 were convicted in December 2018 following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Ahead of their sentencing on Wednesday, protesters lined the street outside the court holding signs which read “we are all Stansted 15” and “non-violent resistance is not terrorism”.
The defendants were found guilty of the intentional disruption of services at an aerodrome, contrary to section 1 (2) (b) of the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990.
Lawyers for the activists said this law was passed in response to the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
In a statement released after their conviction, the defendants said they were "guilty of nothing more than intervening to prevent harm". They are appealing against their conviction.
Raj Chada, partner at Hodge Jones & Allen, which represents the activists, described their conviction as a "travesty of justice that needs correcting in the appeal courts".
He said the defendants, aged between 27 and 44, face up to life imprisonment when they are sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court.
They are: Helen Brewer, 29, Lyndsay Burtonshaw, 28, Nathan Clack, 30, Laura Clayson, 28, Melanie Evans, 35, Joseph McGahan, 35, Benjamin Smoke, 27, Jyotsna Ram, 33, Nicholas Sigsworth, 29, Melanie Strickland, 35, Alistair Tamlit, 30, Edward Thacker, 29, Emma Hughes, 38, May McKeith, 33, and Ruth Potts, 44.
Twelve of the defendants' given addresses are in north London, Burtonshaw's is in Brighton, Potts's is in Bristol and McGahan's is in Reading.
