{"id":171271,"date":"2025-09-26T21:41:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T21:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/171271\/"},"modified":"2025-09-26T21:41:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T21:41:09","slug":"court-throws-out-terror-related-charge-against-member-of-irish-rap-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/171271\/","title":{"rendered":"Court throws out terror-related charge against member of Irish rap group"},"content":{"rendered":"

A London court on Friday threw out a terror-related charge against a member of the controversial Irish rap group Kneecap, basing its decision on a technical error in the way the charge was brought forward.<\/p>\n

Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring sitting at Woolwich Crown Court said the case should be thrown out, agreeing with O’Hanna’s lawyers that the prosecutors had missed the deadline for the charge by a day.<\/p>\n

\"LiamLiam \u00d3g \u00d3 hAnnaidh, aka Mo Chara, right, a member of the Irish language band Kneecap, celebrates as he leaves Woolwich Crown Court in London, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, after Chief Magistrate, Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring, dismissed a terrorism offence relating to displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah during a performance with the band in November 2024, on a technical error. (AP)<\/p>\n

\u201cThese proceedings were instituted unlawfully and are null,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There were huge cheers from the public gallery as the chief magistrate handed down his decision, while O’Hanna smiled and gave a thumbs up to his supporters.<\/p>\n

The Belfast trio, who rap in English and Irish about drugs, working-class life and the reunification of Ireland, has faced criticism for political statements seeming to glorify militant groups including Hamas and Hezbollah.<\/p>\n

Canada and Hungary have previously banned the group.<\/p>\n

Kneecap has accused critics of trying to silence the band because of its support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The band says it doesn’t support Hezbollah and Hamas, nor condone violence.<\/p>\n

O’Hanna, 27, had claimed the prosecution was a politically motivated effort to silence the band\u2019s support for Palestinians.<\/p>\n

\"SupportersSupporters of Kneecap outside Woolwich Crown Court on September 26, 2025 in London. (Getty)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not be silent,\u201d the rapper told supporters outside the court after the charges against him were thrown out. \u201cAs people from Ireland, we know oppression, colonialism, famine and genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland\u2019s First Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill welcomed the move, saying the charges were part of \u201ca calculated attempt to silence those who stand up and speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKneecap have used their platform on stages across the world to expose this genocide, and it is the responsibility of all of us to continue speaking out and standing against injustice in Palestine,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The Crown Prosecution Service said it was \u201creviewing the decision of the court carefully\u201d and pointed out that it can be appealled.<\/p>\n

London’s Metropolitan Police said it was working with the prosecutors to \u201cunderstand the potential implications of this ruling for us and how that might impact on the processing of such cases in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kneecap has been the centre of controversy in Britain since last year, when the previous government sought to block an arts grant for the band, citing its anti-British politics.<\/p>\n

That decision was overturned after the Labour Party won last year\u2019s parliamentary election and Prime Minister Keir Starmer took office.<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s members played themselves in Kneecap, which won an audience award when it was screened at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.<\/p>\n

It was shortlisted for best foreign-language film and best original song at this year\u2019s Academy Awards, though it did not make the final cut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A London court on Friday threw out a terror-related charge against a member of the controversial Irish rap…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-171271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}