UK court rejects bid to reinstate ‘terrorism’ charge against Kneecap rapper | Court news

Irish rapper Liam O’Hanna welcomed the verdict, saying it was ‘never about any threat to the public, never about terrorism’.

British prosecutors have lost an appeal to reinstate a “terrorism” charge against members of Irish rap group Kneecap accused of waving a Hezbollah flag at a gig in London.

London’s High Court on Wednesday rejected attempts by prosecutors to challenge a lower court’s decision to throw out the case against Liam O’Hanna in September due to a technical error.

A decision means that the case does not proceed. In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service clarified how the High Court “applies the law” to such cases and said it “accepts the judgment and will update our processes accordingly”.

O’Hannah – also known as Liam Og O Hanaid (his name in Irish) and stage name Mo Chara (“my friend”) – was charged in May last year with breaching the United Kingdom’s Terrorism Act 2000 by displaying a Hezbollah flag at a November 2024 concert in London.

Members of Neacap – who rap in Gaelic and English and have been outspoken in their condemnation of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip – have called the attempted prosecution a “British state witch-hunt”.

O’Hanna welcomed Wednesday’s verdict, telling a news conference in Belfast that the case was “never about me, about any threat to the public and never about terrorism”.

“It’s always about Palestine, what happens if you dare to speak out, what happens if you reach out to large groups of people and expose their hypocrisy, how far Britain will go to cover up Israeli and US war crimes,” he said.

Cheered on by supporters at the event, O’Hannah was joined by Neecap bandmates JJ O Dochartaig and Naois O Cairelain – better known by their respective stage names DJ Provai and Moghlai Bop.

“Your own High Court has ruled against you,” O’Hanna told the UK government.

“What is pathetic about this whole process is that you wrongly tried to brand me as a terrorist by British government ministers who are arming and aiding the genocide in Gaza, the destruction of Lebanon and the senseless slaughter of school children in Iran.”