Kneecap rapper in courtroom on terrorism cost over Hezbollah flag

Hundreds of supporters of Irish rap band Kneecap protested outdoors a London courtroom on Wednesday (August 20, 2025), as one of many band members appeared charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly supporting Hezbollah.

Liam O’Hanna, 27, who performs beneath the stage title Mo Chara, was charged in May accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag throughout a London live performance in November.

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He arrived at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London with different band members to cheers from a sea of supporters brandishing banners and chanting “Free Palestine” and “Free Mo Chara”.

Wednesday’s listening to handled authorized arguments, with the defence group in search of to have the costs thrown out on a authorized technicality.

The courtroom adjourned the case till September 26 for a choice.

Since the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah was banned within the UK in 2019, it has been an offence to point out any help for it.

In current months, Kneecap has grabbed headlines for provocative statements denouncing the struggle in Gaza and in opposition to Israel.

The listening to comes amid a rising UK controversy over authorities strikes to prosecute these deemed to point out help for banned organisations.

More than 700 individuals have been arrested, largely at demonstrations, because the Palestine Action group was outlawed in early July beneath the Terrorism Act 2000.

The authorities ban on Palestine Action got here into power days after it took accountability for a break-in at an air power base in southern England that brought about an estimated £7.0 million ($9.3 million) of harm to 2 plane.

The group stated its activists have been responding to Britain’s oblique army help for Israel through the struggle in Gaza.

Supporting a proscribed group is a prison offence punishable by as much as 14 years in jail.

Provocative

There has been big help for Kneecap and O’Hanna, Liam Og O hAnnaidh in Irish, from the band’s followers since his first courtroom look in June.

Mary Hobbs, 31, from Belfast advised AFP on Wednesday: “I’m glad I could make it. I took a day off just to be here.”

“The charges are ludicrous, ludicrous. The justice system is just broken when you have things like this happening.”

Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove advised the earlier listening to the case was “not about Mr O’Hanna’s support for the people of Palestine or his criticism of Israel”.

“He is well within his rights to voice his opinions and his solidarity,” Bisgrove stated.

Instead, the prosecutor stated, the case was about O’Hanna sporting and displaying “the flag of Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organisation, while allegedly saying ‘Up Hamas, up Hezbollah'”.

After Wednesday’s listening to, Mr. O’Hanna thanked the crowds outdoors the courtroom for his or her help, and urged everybody “to continue to speak about Palestine” and what’s taking place within the battle with Israel.

The raucous punk-rap group has denied the accusations and stated the video that led to the cost was taken out of context.

Daring provocateurs to their followers, harmful extremists to their detractors, the group’s members rap within the Irish language in addition to English.

Formed in 2017, the group isn’t any stranger to controversy. Their lyrics are crammed with references to medication, they’ve repeatedly clashed with the UK’s earlier Conservative authorities and have vocally opposed British rule in Northern Ireland.

Last 12 months, the group was catapulted to worldwide fame by a semi-fictional movie primarily based on them that scooped a number of awards together with on the Sundance pageant.