First people charged with supporting Palestine Action after ban due in court

The first people charged with supporting Palestine Action after it was banned as a terror group – including two in their 70s- are set to face court.

Two women and a man were arrested after a protest in Parliament Square, Westminster, on July 5.

Jeremy Shippam, 72, of Yapton, West Sussex, Judit Murray, 71, of West Ewell, Surrey, and Fiona Maclean, 53, of Hackney, north-east London, are accused of displaying an article in a public place, arousing reasonable suspicion that they are a supporter of a proscribed organisation, under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

The charge sheet alleges that they held placards reading “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.

They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Palestine Action was banned as a terror organisation in July after the group claimed responsibility for an action in which two Voyager planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton on June 20.

The Home Office is to appeal against a High Court ruling allowing Palestine Action’s co-founder, Huda Ammori, to proceed with a legal challenge against the Government over the ban.

Ms Ammori took legal action against the department over then-home secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to proscribe the group under anti-terror laws, which made membership of, or support for, the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

There have been multiple protests since July.