SOAS student ‘terror trial’ – final hearing approaches

Wednesday 8 July will be a key hearing in the case of 22-year-old pro-Palestine student activist Sarah Cotte. Like every day of the trial, supporters from the Defend the SOAS 2 campaign will protest outside the Old Bailey. They’ll draw attention to what they say is the application of a pernicious terrorism law that has not just been misapplied in this instance but which should be repealed in its entirety.

They say that a victory in this case would reinforce the right of protesters to support the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, which has been under consistent attack in recent years.

Cotte, a former student at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) , was charged with two counts under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 for a speech she gave on the university steps on 9 October 2023. In the speech she upheld the internationally recognised legal right of the Palestinian people to armed self-defence.

The prosecution followed a complaint by the Zionist group UK Lawyers for Israel. And it led to an early morning police raid on her home in January 2024. After interim hearings at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and the Old Bailey, her trial commenced on Monday 22 June.

The prosecution acknowledged that Cotte did not mention any organisation by name. But it said her words either deliberately or recklessly encouraged support for Hamas. Hamas’s political and military wings are both proscribed under British terrorism law.

The Tony Blair Labour government Introduced the Terrorism Act 2000. It expanded powers used against Irish liberation organisations since the 1970s to encompass a wide range of groups. Most recently and controversially, the Act ensnared the UK direct action group Palestine Action.

SOAS student stands firm

The prosecution evidence consisted of CCTV, online videos, and private messages seized from Cotte’s phone. Cotte then gave evidence in her defence. Under cross-examination she refused to concede any ground, repeating the established position in international law that an occupied people has the right to armed self-defence.

In closing, defence barrister Margo Munro Kerr reminded the jury that Cotte’s speech was completely legal. And she stressed that protecting the expression of solidarity with Palestine is an absolute necessity in a democratic society.

After a week-long hearing, the judge sent the jury out on Monday 29 June to deliberate. On the morning of Wednesday 1 July the judge called the parties in the case into court and imposed a reporting restriction regarding a single aspect of the case. The court will review this on Wednesday 8 July.

Throughout the eight-day hearing, the Defend the SOAS 2 campaign has protested every day outside the Old Bailey. Many pro-Palestine individuals and organisations have joined to show their opposition to the criminalisation of solidarity with the resistance against Israeli genocide.

Supporters have also stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the ‘Filton 8’ defendants. They’re currently undergoing their own trial at the Old Bailey for pro-Palestine actions.

Outside court on Wednesday 1 July, Cotte told the protest:

This trial has been about the Palestinian people and our right to support their right to resist occupation and genocide.

It is about terrorism legislation in this country, the Terrorism Act 2000 and the way it is specifically used to criminalise anti-imperialists, to criminalise socialists, to criminalise people who stand with the oppressed, who stand with people fighting back.

So, we’re going to keep on going, keep on fighting against state repression, defending ourselves inside and outside the court. And we will win!

A spokesperson for the Defend the SOAS 2 campaign said:

What has been on trial in the Old Bailey is not our comrade Sarah, but the British state and its ongoing support for the Zionist genocide. The court of international anti-imperialist public opinion finds Sarah Not Guilty and British imperialism Guilty of abetting genocide and repressing dissent.

All talk of British democracy is illusory. British imperialism has never stood on the side of the oppressed and continues to use every weapon at its disposal to criminalise those who do. Even as we protest today against the Terrorism Act 2000, another draconian piece of legislation is about to be passed in the form of the National Security Act.

We have fought this case politically and always will do. No concessions have been made in the court room or on the streets. We will never give up supporting the risen people of Palestine or opposing the Zionist British state.

Featured image via Defend the SOAS 2