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Kneecap member Mo Chara – real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – is scheduled to appear at the Westminster Magistrates Court today over allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag onstage at a show last November.
This will be his second appearance at the Westminster Magistrates Court for the Irish rapper, following an appearance on 18 June, after which he was released on unconditional bail.
Today’s court proceedings will see fellow artists appear in support of Kneecap, reportedly including Nadine Shah and Maverick Sabre.
Kneecap have been vocal supporters of Palestine in the Israel-Gaza conflict and sparked controversy for their repeated and defiant pro-Palestinian support during concerts and festivals. They have consistently denied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah.
Many supporters and fans for both Kneecap and Palestine appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court in June, and this has prompted the Metropolitan Police to issue Public Order Act conditions for today’s court date.
The conditions are being enacted to “prevent serious disruption being caused by a protest” outside the court, stated the Metropolitan Police.
Kneecap reacted to these Public Order Act conditions, writing on X: “We massively appreciate the support of what we know are the majority of the public, who can see this farce for what it is. It is a distraction from war crimes that the British State support. In our view this police action is designed to try and portray support for Kneecap as somehow troublesome.”
Their post continued: “It is a calculated political decision the night before Mo Chara’s court appearance. There is no basis for this, our last hearing was entirely peaceful and a loving show of solidarity with the most disruptive attendees the right wing media. We know all of our supporters will be, but please go out of your way to be compliant with all instructions issued, irrespective of how pitiful. Free Palestine.”
Prior to the Metropolitan Police issuing the Public Order Act conditions, Kneecap shared another statement regarding Mo Chara’s last court appearance in June.
“Since his last court appearance Israel has murdered another 9,000 Palestinians, mainly children and women,” Kneecap wrote. “Over 1,000 murdered whilst queuing for aid, starved due to their siege, whilst pitiful amounts of aid delivered by a sham agency controlled by Israel. Young children gunned down by snipers as they scramble for a bag of flour. Whole families, from babies to grandparents, murdered as they huddled in makeshift tents.”
The band described the situation as “evil beyond any f*cking words” and urged people to “come down and show your support / solidarity outside the court” today.
They ended their statement with: “British courts have long charged people from the North of Ireland with “terrorism” for crimes never committed. We will fight them. We will win.”
Kneecap were supposed to be headlining the last night of this year’s Sziget music festival but ended up being banned not just from the event but from Hungary for three years.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced last month that the trio were deemed a “national security threat” and officially banned from entering Hungary for “anti-Semitism and glorifying terror”.
Still, that didn’t stop the band from getting their voices heard loud and clear. Read more about it here.
Stay tuned to Euronews Culture for more updates from today’s court appearance.