AWARD-WINNING Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty has had his court date cancelled, with the “final decision” on his terrorism charge still pending.
Laverty, who has won the Palme d’Or for his collaborations with director Ken Loach, was arrested in August under a terrorism charge for wearing a T-shirt that read: “Genocide in Palestine, time to take action”.
In other cases, the statement has been alleged to be in support of Palestine Action, a protest group proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the Labour Government in July.
Laverty, who was arrested in the Summerhall courtyard in Edinburgh, was due to appear in court on September 18.
However, in a statement posted on social media and shared by Loach and the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Laverty said his court date has been cancelled.
“In the last hour I have just received a hand delivered note from the Procurator Fiscal's office cancelling my court appearance for tomorrow morning, where I intended to plead not guilty to a charge under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for wearing a t shirt with the words ‘Genocide in Palestine. Time to Take Action’,” he wrote.
“I am told that the charge is still pending and a final decision will [be] taken later.”
Laverty went on to say: “Yesterday, the 16th Sept, yet another detailed report from the UN Commission concludes that Israel is committing Genocide.
“It states ‘There is nowhere that the people of Gaza can escape slaughter.' Nowhere! It proves what Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich has said as he taunts the world with 'This has no precedent and nobody is stopping us'.”
He added: “It is hard to find the words in the face of this nauseating barbarism. Perhaps we have to look to the Bard once again, William Shakespeare, in his play King Lear.
"'Tis the times' plague, when madmen lead the blind’."
Last month, the Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) warned that policing of Palestine protests risked infringing on people's right to freedom of expression and assembly.
The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Turk, has warned that Labour’s proscription of Palestine Action puts the UK "at odds" with international law.
It comes after a team of independent experts commissioned by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council concluded this week that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
