THE award-winning Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty has given a statement following his arrest and charge under terrorism laws.
Laverty, whose films have twice won the Palme d’Or, was lifted by police in Edinburgh on Monday for allegedly supporting the proscribed group Palestine Action.
Laverty had been wearing a T-shirt produced by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign which read “Genocide in Palestine time to take action” when he spoke at a demonstration in support of activist Moira McFarlane.
After being processed, Laverty was released and gave a statement to his supporters gathered outside the police station in which he accused law enforcement of running a “Mickey Mouse court”.
“It's quite surreal getting your fingerprints taken and a swab at the age of 68, never having been in a problem with police in my life,” he said. “But it's an interesting ritual and there was some comedy in it, I have to say, because apparently the T-shirt was proscribed. That's quite hilarious.”
“I now have been charged with a terrorism offence and I go to court on September 18. Charged with terrorism, charged with terrorism because you oppose starvation, oppose the execution of the starving.
“Another journalist was murdered this morning, another attack on a hospital, and I'm being accused of terrorism.”
Laverty went on: “I thought it was very, very important that we actually change the narrative. It's not about this T-shirt. It's actually about genocide.
“Now you can see the way the court system is actually tilted, not in our favour. You can see how the ICJ [International Court of Justice] has been undermined. You see how the ICC [International Criminal Court] has been undermined.
“So the whole court system just does not work, and although we have the law on our side, we cannot implement it. So I think we have to change the narrative. I think we'll have to remember that the most important court in the world is the court of public opinion.
“Ordinary people are appalled to see starvation and genocide and the selling of arms to the apartheid state in Israel.”
After calling on the Labour Government to take concrete steps against Israel, he went on: “That is the really important court, not the one on 18 September, not the Mickey Mouse court, not those pedantic little people who have got a microscope up and look at the size of the font on the T-shirt: Genocide in Palestine time to take action.
“What we have to do is see the big picture. What we have to do is stop arms sales which are being used today to cause misery, starvation, and genocide. The court of public opinion, that's what counts.
“It's actually a great pleasure to be here in solidarity with all those people who have decided not to let their conscience be quiet, so, let's get on with it.
“Let's stop murder, genocide in Palestine, and carry out the obligations under the genocide convention.”
Laverty’s charge comes with focus on Police Scotland’s policing of Palestine protests, which the Scottish Human Rights Commission has warned may be breaching human rights to free expression.
Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain responded to the concerns earlier in August, saying charges would be considered by a specialist who would “determine what action, if any, should be taken in the public interest”.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Following a protest outside St Leonards Police Station on Monday, 25 August 2025, a 68-year-old man has been arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 for showing support for a proscribed organisation. Enquiries are continuing."
