Public figures warn against ‘unjust’ terror sentences

Sally Rooney, Greta Thunberg, Steve Coogan, and Lord John Hendy KC are among around 100 public figures warning of a miscarriage of justice if four human rights defenders receive unprecedented terrorism sentences for taking action against an Israeli arms manufacturer.

In an open letter (published below) signatories urged Judge Jeremy Johnson to drop use of a ‘terrorism connection’ in Friday’s sentencing of Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani – part of a group of activists known as the Filton 25.

“To bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone,” said the public figures, who include actors Zoë Wanamaker, Miriam Margolyes, and Zawe Ashton, Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd, Labour MP John McDonnell, and musicians Charlotte Church and Kate Nash.

The jury found the four activists guilty of criminal damage over a 2024 action at an Elbit Systems UK factory near Bristol, but was not told they risked extended prison sentences under terror provisions despite not being charged with such offences.

“Never before has a link to terrorism been imposed at the sentencing stage in a criminal damage case,” said the letter, signed by authors Dame Marina Warner and Kamila Shamsie, scholars Paul Gilroy and Avi Shlaim, and actors Brian Cox and Tobias Menzies. The public figures noted: “The only stated basis for this connection is that the defendants were ‘attempting to influence the Israeli government by restricting their access to weapons’.”

Acclaimed Irish novelist Sally Rooney said: “Protest that poses no threat to the public simply is not terrorism. These activists may have knowingly risked their freedom in taking action, but they now face the prospect of punishment for crimes they were never convicted of and did not commit. This is an obvious effort to undermine solidarity with Palestine, but what it really undermines is UK law.”

The defendants were barred from explaining their motivations to the jury, with the letter signatories, including economist Yanis Varoufakis, solicitor Louise Christian, and award-winning film directors Yorgos Lanthimos, Terry Gilliam and Ken Loach, highlighting that the activists’ “conscientious motives”, though “suppressed throughout the trial”, may “now be brought against them”.

Experts are in broad consensus that Israel has waged genocide in Gaza, while Britain continues exporting arms to its ally. The activists “may well have saved lives” by entering the Elbit facility and dismantling weapons, said the letter, also signed by poet Alice Oswald, composer Brian Eno, and screenwriters Paul Laverty and Ronan Bennett.

Charlotte Church said: “The government failed in its duty to prevent genocide in Palestine. Now the courts are lashing out at young people who acted to try and stop it, when it’s those making weapons for Israel that should be facing jail.”

The letter concluded: “To sentence [the activists] on the basis of a ‘terrorism connection’ would not only be unjust and cruel: it would gravely undermine the right to protest and the impartiality of the judicial system itself. We demand that you reconsider before it is too late.”

Photographed left to right: Paul Gilroy; Zoe Wanamaker; John McDonnell MP; Sally Rooney.

THE OPEN LETTER IN FULL:

We, the undersigned, urge you to drop the use of the ‘terrorism connection’ in the sentencing of Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona (Ellie) Kamio, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani on June 12th 2026.

The four defendants were not charged with terrorism offences. They were not tried under terrorism laws. The jury was never informed of any proposed ‘terrorism connection’ during the trial and did not find any of the defendants guilty of any terror-related crimes. The proposed ‘terrorism connection’ is founded simply on a guilty verdict in relation to criminal damage. To bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone.

It is a consensus view within the international legal community that Israel’s campaign of mass killing in Gaza has crossed the threshold of genocide. International law prohibits arms exports to any nation committing genocide or other atrocity crimes, but the UK has continued to supply Israel with weaponry. The defendants in this trial tried every means at their disposal to call for an end to this illegal arms supply: they marched in the streets, wrote to their MPs and joined university encampments. But the export of lethal weapons, and the mass killings they facilitated, continued.

Finally, in August 2024, the defendants took action. They entered a UK facility run by Israel’s largest arms producer, Elbit Systems, and dismantled weapons themselves. Their actions may well have saved lives. And yet, when facing trial, the defendants were not permitted to explain their motivations to the jury. Deprived of the full moral and humanitarian context, the jury found four of the six defendants guilty of ordinary criminal offences.

The conscientious motives of these activists – suppressed throughout the trial – may now be brought against them at the sentencing stage through the use of a ‘terrorism connection’. The only stated basis for this connection is that the defendants were ‘attempting to influence the Israeli government by restricting their access to weapons’. But virtually every international humanitarian organisation, including a group of expert UN Special Rapporteurs, has called for the same thing: the restriction of Israel’s access to weapons, in accordance with international law.

In this case, the purported ‘terrorism connection’ could extend the defendants’ prison sentences, require them to ‘rescind’ their deepest moral beliefs in order to be eligible for parole, and impose harsh restrictions on their freedoms even after their release. Never before has a link to terrorism been imposed at the sentencing stage in a criminal damage case. The implications for civil liberties in Britain are difficult to overstate.

Over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including over 20,000 children. The Filton activists acted to uphold international law and defend human life. To sentence them on the basis of a ‘terrorism connection’ would not only be unjust and cruel: it would gravely undermine the right to protest and the impartiality of the judicial system itself. We demand that you reconsider before it is too late.”

SIGNATORIES: