LONDON (AP) — Fans of the Irish-language hip-hop group Kneecap mobbed sidewalks outside a London court Wednesday as a member of the trio faced a terror-related charge in what he says is a politically motivated effort to silence the band’s support for Palestinians before its appearance at the Glastonbury Festival.
Rapper Mo Chara, whose real name is Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, was released on unconditional bail after the hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. His next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 20.
Chara is charged with one count of supporting a banned terrorist organization after he allegedly waved a Hezbollah flag during a Nov. 21 concert in north London. The case was filed after counterterrorism police were alerted to video of the incident posted online, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said.
Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the court that support for the Palestinians and criticism of Israel were not the reasons for the charge filed against Chara.
“He’s well within his rights to voice his opinions and solidarity, as is anybody else,’’ Bisgrove said. “The allegation in this case is a wholly different thing and deals with a video recording showing that, in November of last year, Mr. O hAnnaidh wore and displayed the flag of Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organization, while saying ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah.’’’
Kneecap, which raps about drugs, working-class life and the reunification of Ireland, has supported the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza. The band has been the center 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. That decision was overturned after the Labour Party won last year’s parliamentary election and Prime Minister Keir Starmer took office.
The trio is scheduled to perform at Glastonbury on Saturday, alongside performers including Neil Young and Olivia Rodrigo. The internationally watched music festival is a five-day event that attracts about 200,000 people to a farm outside the small town in western England every summer.
As they entered the courthouse, the members of Kneecap, all of whom hail from Northern Ireland, gave the thumbs up sign to hundreds of supporters who had gathered outside waving signs reading: “Free Mo Chara” and “Defend Kneecap.”
Before the hearing, the band posted billboards around London bearing the slogan “More Blacks, More Dogs, More Irish, Mo Chara.” The message echoes the signs landlords placed in the windows of some London boarding houses in the 1950s, stating “No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish.”
“British courts have long charged people from the North of Ireland with ‘terrorism’ for crimes never committed,” Kneecap said in a statement posted on social media. “We will fight them. We will win.”
