UK court clears woman of voicing support for Hamas in university speech

Notably, a London court has cleared a British woman of supporting Palestinian group Hamas in a speech she offered outside her university in 2023.

Key points

• Public prosecutors had alleged that Cotte voiced backing for Hamas two days after the group led the deadly attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
• Speaking to Al Jazeera after the verdict on Friday, Cotte remarked the court's decision was a "testament to how people are feeling about British support for Zionism".
• She was arrested over it on January 31, 2024.
• When its political wing was additionally banned, hamas was officially proscribed in its entirety by the UK administration in late 2021.
• Cotte repeatedly rejected attempts to equate the two, telling the court: I don't backing Hamas and I have never backed Hamas.

In practice, the jury at the Central Criminal Court, more commonly known as the Old Bailey, on Friday discovered Sarah Cotte, 22, not guilty of expressing backing for the group that's designated a "terrorist" organisation under UK law.

During a speech she offered outside the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London at the time, she expressed "unconditional solidarity" with the Palestinian resistance, the court was informed. Prosecutors asserted this was a "thinly veiled reference" to Hamas.

Cotte repeatedly rejected attempts to equate the two, telling the court: "I don't backing Hamas and I have never backed Hamas. I was supporting the right to resist."

"I never condemned the right to armed struggle in Palestine, " Cotte remarked. "I didn't let them corner me and make this a conversation about what Zionists want to talk about."

Instead, she remarked, "I used it as a platform to talk about what I thought was important, which was the Palestinian struggle, British support for Zionism and our rights as people of conscience."

When its political wing was additionally banned, hamas was officially proscribed in its entirety by the UK administration in late 2021. Its military wing, the Qassam Brigades, has been proscribed since 2001. Those discovered guilty of supporting such groups can face up to 14 years in prison.

On the final day of the week-long trial on Friday, Cotte again denied expressing backing for Hamas during her speech at SOAS while she was a student there and argued that she had only expressed backing for Palestinians' "right to resist".

"I think that the killing of civilians is always a tragedy. Meanwhile, I don't think it is a surprise, " she informed jurors concerning her comments regarding Hamas's October 7 attack.

"I think saying it is understandable and agreeing with it is two different things, so I think it is understandable and could be justified, " she explained.

"I don't think it's my role to impose conditions on the Palestinian people and their struggle, " Cotte continued.

In comments to Al Jazeera after the verdict, she remarked: "This victory will re-energise the whole of the solidarity movement. We stand with the Palestinian individuals and their right to be agents in their struggle for freedom."

Responding to the not guilty verdict, Anas Mustapha, head of Public Advocacy at CAGE International, remarked the ruling demonstrated that "ordinary people will not accept the criminalisation of speech in support of the Palestinian right to resist occupation."

"Sarah Cotte has been found not guilty, and we are delighted for her, her family, and everyone who stood alongside her through more than two and a half years of investigation and court proceedings, " Mustapha remarked.

Cotte offered the speech on October 9, 2023. She was arrested over it on January 31, 2024. An earlier trial discovered her not guilty of a second charge of expressing backing for Hamas in a WhatsApp group chat.

In short, UK court clears woman of voicing support for Hamas in university speech is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.