Benjamin Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Christopher Nineham, vice chairman of the Stop the War Coalition, were both found guilty of breaching protest conditions
Two pro-Palestine activists have been convicted of violating protest conditions.
Benjamin Jamal, 62, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Christopher Nineham, 63, vice chairman of the Stop the War Coalition, were both charged with failing to comply with a condition requiring attendees of a demonstration on January 18 last year to remain on Whitehall in central London at a static rally.
On Wednesday, Jamal and Nineham were found guilty following a trial at Westminster Magistrates’ Court. Jamal was additionally convicted on two counts of inciting fellow protesters to breach police conditions.
Speaking directly to the defendants, District Judge Daniel Sternberg said: “I accordingly find you guilty on each of the charges.”
Protesters targeting the BBC had planned to assemble outside Broadcasting House in Portland Place before marching to Whitehall.
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The Metropolitan Police imposed restrictions blocking the pro-Palestine march from gathering near a central London synagogue amid concerns it would pose a threat to the safety of the Jewish community.
Conditions were initially imposed under the Public Order Act to prevent the rally from assembling in an area close to a synagogue in Great Portland Street, with the force subsequently banning protesters from marching after police and organisers failed to agree on a route, the trial had previously heard.
Commander Adam Slonecki, who oversaw the policing of the protest, opted to prohibit gatherings outside Portland Place, with prosecutors stating he cited concerns that national demonstrations “had a severely adverse impact on a significant portion of the Jewish community who had become fearful of attending the synagogues during protest”.
At a meeting with police on 8 January, Jamal indicated his group were prepared to engage with officers and seek compromises, but would not bow to what he described as “unacceptable political pressure by people who have got a pernicious agenda”, the court heard.
In a statement posted on X on 13 January, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign announced the group would gather in Whitehall before heading towards the BBC “in an orderly fashion”. The post, which concluded with the hashtag #WeWillMarch, was reshared by Jamal, the trial was told.
A recording of a speech Jamal delivered to thousands of demonstrators in Whitehall was played to the court, in which he declared: “This week the police tried to impose upon us a route for a march which had been approved by the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
“We, the Palestine Solidarity Movement, decide where we protest, not the board of deputies, not the Chief Rabbi, not the Community Security Trust, not any Zionist group that has supported Israel’s genocide and its 76 years of apartheid.
“Our intention today was to march to the BBC. We wanted to do so because of its complicity, through the bias of its reporting, a bias confirmed in a recent investigation.”
Jamal told the court that a delegation of leaders from the six groups behind the march planned to walk towards the BBC, carrying flowers they intended to lay at the corporation’s Portland Place headquarters.
Prosecutors said crowds began to follow Jamal and others, with footage shown to the court depicting people moving towards a police cordon that “eventually buckled under the pressure of large numbers of people moving forward”.
At Wednesday’s hearing, the judge handed Nineham a conditional discharge of 12 months and Jamal a conditional discharge of 18 months. Both were ordered to pay £7,500 each towards prosecution costs and a £26 victim surcharge, with the full amount due within 12 months.
Defence barrister Mark Summers KC told the hearing that Jamal and Nineham had “given their lives to voluntary service” and “are not in a position to pay anything”, adding that any sum they were required to pay would be “met with donations from the supporting public”.
The public gallery was packed with supporters of the defendants during the hearing, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with some applauding as they departed the court. Elsewhere, scores of pro-Palestine protesters assembled outside the building, with some brandishing placards bearing the slogans “defend the right to protest” and “drop the charges”.