"Palestine Action was listed as a proscribed terrorist organisation after causing millions of pounds worth of damage to defence firms. The then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper proscribed the group after internal Home Office security assessments of its activity. Raza Husain KC, for Ms Ammori, told the court the ban was unprecedented. Around 200 people protested peacefully outside during the opening of the challenge - with scores of them silently holding up signs saying "I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.""
"In court, Mr Husain KC told a panel of three senior judges that, in the entire history of home secretaries using exceptional powers to ban a group under terrorism legislation, no minister had ever proscribed a group for being a "direct action" organisation. He said that Palestine Action was followed by hundreds of thousands of people on social media before it was banned."
Lawyers for Palestine Action argued the group's proscription as a terrorist organisation was unprecedented and comparable to how suffragettes would have been treated under current laws. The group was proscribed after actions that caused millions of pounds of damage to defence firms, following internal Home Office security assessments and a decision by then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Around 200 people protested peacefully outside the High Court hearing, with several sign-holders arrested. Since the ban, more than 2,100 people have been arrested nationwide for similar protests. Counsel argued no previous minister had used terrorism powers to proscribe a direct-action civil disobedience organisation.
Read at www.bbc.com
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