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Palestine Action activists who shut down Elbit factory face retrial [1]

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Date: 2024-02 

Six Palestine Action activists will face a retrial over the shutdown of an Israeli arms firm’s UK factories.

The group, originally known as the ‘Elbit Eight’ – now the ‘Elbit Six’ will take the stand once again in June 2025.

Jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court acquitted the defendants of a total of nine charges in December, but failed to reach a decision on 23 others. The activists will now be retried on the charges the jury was unable to reach a verdict on.

The charges – most of which relate to criminal damage – follow a series of direct actions as part of Palestine Action’s relentless campaign to shut Elbit down.

The defendants are Richard Barnard, Huda Ammori, Robin Refualu, Milly Arnott, Caroline Brouard and Nicola Deane.

Speaking ahead of yesterday’s court hearing, Arnott described the wait for a retrial as a “form of psychological warfare on defendants, because it’s another year and a half where we can’t progress with our life – you can’t make long-term decisions, or get jobs. The consequences go way beyond just waiting for this trial".

She said: “I did these direct actions when I had just turned 27. I’m now 30. By the time I get to my retrial, I will be nearly 32. I never anticipated just how long I would be wound up in this whole legal process when I was first arrested."

Lydia Dagostino, the group’s solicitor and director at Kellys Solicitors, agreed and added that the backlog within the criminal justice system has been brought about by “chronic underfunding for a very long time” as well as more recent events including the Covid-19 pandemic and the barristers strike.

“This trial was around six weeks,” she said. “It’s an exhausting process and the prospect of going through that again, for many defendants, is really daunting.

“If you look at it like surgery, it’s like having one major operation and then being told you’ve got to have another one. Just because you’ve been through that pain and you know what to expect, it doesn’t mean it’s any easier.”

Updated 22 January 2024: This article has been amended to include an updated trial date

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[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/palestine-action-protest-trial-elbit-six-retrial-court-snaresbrook-retrial/

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