![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2017-06-08T131939Z_1189275883_RC11B0FE7F20_RTRMADP_3_GULF-QATAR-JAZEERA-1714943623.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 1 Apr 20261 Apr 2026<\/p>\n
Two civil society leaders have been found guilty of breaching protest guidelines<\/a> in the United Kingdom during a pro-Palestine demonstration\u00a0in London last year.<\/p>\n Ben Jamal, 62, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Chris Nineham, 63, vice chairman of the Stop the War Coalition, on Wednesday were both accused of failing to march within a designated area set by police during a mass protest on January 18, 2025.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list<\/p>\n The verdict comes at a time of growing friction<\/a> between the police and the UK\u2019s significant Palestine solidarity movement \u2013 and before another march that could bring new tensions.<\/p>\n The pair were found guilty in a trial at Westminster Magistrates\u2019 Court, and were charged with failing to comply with conditions that required the protest to stay in an area in central London and not enter the surroundings of the British Broadcasting Corporation\u2019s headquarters at Portland Place.<\/p>\n Jamal was also convicted of two counts of inciting other protesters to breach police conditions.<\/p>\n The Metropolitan Police had also imposed conditions blocking the pro-Palestine march from gathering near a central London synagogue, citing safety concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth defendants clearly knew the conditions, given their organising roles and involvement in planning the demonstration,\u201d read the judges\u2019 summary of the trial.<\/p>\n \u201cMr Jamal\u2019s speech constituted incitement: It was a suggestion, persuasion and inducement encouraging breach of the conditions,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n The public gallery was full of the defendants\u2019 supporters, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as the judge read the verdicts out, according to the PA news agency.<\/p>\n Reacting to the ruling, Jamal\u2019s Palestine Solidarity Campaign said \u201cthe fight is not over\u201d despite \u201ca disgraceful decision\u201d of the court.<\/p>\n \u201cOur right to protest is precious, and is undermined by this decision, but the fight is not over,\u201d it said in a brief statement on X.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s verdict will send shockwaves through civil society. I believe the targeting of Ben and Chris, two prominent civil society leaders, is political and intended to intimidate and silence dissenting voices of the UK\u2019s ongoing support for an Israeli government responsible for a catalogue of international crimes,\u201d said Yasmine Ahmed, the UK director of Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s verdict lays bare the sheer scale of powers [the government] now possesses to silence dissent through its alarmingly repressive anti-protest laws. This verdict is a black mark on British democracy and should shame a prime minister who built his career defending human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n On April 11, crowds of protesters are expected to gather again<\/a> in London to demonstrate their support for Palestine Action<\/a>, a direct action group whose activists have been arrested and tried in recent months.<\/p>\n To date, thousands of peaceful protesters have also been arrested for signs reading: \u201cI oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action\u201d.<\/p>\n Since Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, tens of thousands of Britons have rallied in support of Palestine.<\/p>\n Human Rights Watch has said its research found a \u201cdisproportionate targeting\u201d of pro-Palestine protesters, \u201cundermining the right to protest freely and without fear of harassment\u201d.<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/afp_69cd0206dc7b-1775043078.jpg\")
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks to supporters of Ben Jamal, director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Chris Nineham, vice chair of Stop the War Coalition, at Westminster Magistrates\u2019 Court in London, UK [Henry Nicholls\/AFP]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Human Rights Watch slams the ruling against Ben Jamal and Chris Nineham as a \u2018political\u2019 move to silence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[252,41,18,250,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-3282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-europe","9":"tag-israel-palestine-conflict","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-protests","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}