Filton 25: Inside the UK Case Weaponizing Terrorism Laws Against Pro-Palestine Protesters

“We can’t say genocide is a crime against humanity on the one side and then say that those who act against it are criminalized. It’s one or the other.”

Four Palestine Action activists were sentenced as terrorists in the UK on June 12 — the first time in British legal history that protesters convicted only of property damage have faced a terrorism designation at sentencing.

The four — Charlotte Head, Leona Kamio, Samuel Corner, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani — were convicted after a retrial of criminal damage for dismantling equipment at Elbit Systems’ Filton factory in 2024, destroying over 40 Israeli weapons including killer drones. The jury was never told they could face terrorism-level sentences, and the terrorism designation was kept secret from both the jury and the public until after the verdict. Sentences ranged from five years and eight months to eight years and eight months.

Drop Site contributor Noa Avishag Schnall was at Woolwich Crown Court on the day of the sentencing and explains the ongoing developments of the Filton 25 case, as a second trial of eight more defendants continues at the Old Bailey.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​