On Friday 17 January, the Palestine Action #Filton18 political prisoners will appear at the Old Bailey, London, to enter their pleas for the first time since their arrest.
Palestine Action: #Filton18 in court
They are expected to plead ‘not guilty’ to charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and, for some, violent disorder, after an August action against Israel’s Elbit Systems research hub in Filton, Bristol.
The action saw activists enter the site, operated by Israel’s largest weapons company, and dismantle the weapons of war inside – including the Elbit ‘quadcopter’ models used for targeted killings of children in Gaza.
Ten of the #Filton18 have been imprisoned since their arrest in August 2024, with a further eight arrested and imprisoned since November, all of them subjected to abuse of ‘Counter Terror’ powers by the British State.
The Crown Prosecution Service are alleging that the charges faced have a ‘terrorism connection’. Amnesty International has stated that the Filton case demonstrates “terrorism powers being misused” to “circumvent normal legal protections, such as justifying holding people in excessively-lengthy pre-charge detention”.
The #Filton18 political prisoners have been subjected to arbitrary and repressive treatment while inside prison – including the withholding of phone calls and mail, prohibitions on communicating with other prisoners, and denials of religious practices and medical privacy.
‘Battle-tested’
Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company, is deeply complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza – providing over 85% of Israel’s armed drones, along with a wide range of munitions, armaments, and military equipment, all of which it markets internationally as having been “battle-tested” on Palestinians.
From Britain, the subsidiary ‘Elbit Systems UK’ is a major exporter to Israel of military drone components, along with arms including weapons sights. The Filton weapons hub was opened in July 2023, with Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotevely in attendance praising the site for the “very best of Israeli technology”, alongside Elbit’s CEO Bezalel Machlis.
If you want to show support for the #Filton18, be at the Old Bailey, City of London, EC4M 7EH on Friday 17 January at 9:30am.
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Featured image via Guy Smallman
