LONDON (AP) — A London court on Friday threw out a terror-related charge against a member of the Irish-language hip-hop group Kneecap, basing his decision on a procedural technicality in the suit against the widely criticized band.
Rapper Mo Chara, whose real name is Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, had been charged with a single count for waving a flag of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, banned in Britain as a terrorist organization, during a London concert last year.
But chief magistrate Paul Goldspring
sitting at Woolwich Crown Court said the case should be thrown out following a technical error in the way the charge against the rapper was brought.
“These proceedings were instituted unlawfully and are null,” he said.
Kneecap has faced criticism for political statements seeming to glorify militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. Hungary and Canada have previously banned the group.
Kneecap has accused critics of trying to silence the band because of its support for the Palestinian cause throughout the war in Gaza. The band says it doesn't support Hezbollah and Hamas nor condone violence.
Ó hAnnaidh, 27, had claimed the prosecution was politically motivated effort to silence the band’s support for Palestinians.
