Irish band slams push to reinstate cost in opposition to rapper Liam O’Hanna as ‘waste of public time and public cash’.
Revealed On 14 Jan 2026
British prosecutors have sought to reinstate a “terrorism” cost in opposition to a member of Irish rap group Kneecap for allegedly displaying a flag of Lebanese group Hezbollah throughout a gig in London, after a decide threw out the case final yr.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) launched a Excessive Court docket problem on Wednesday, arguing {that a} chief Justice of the Peace erred in September when he dismissed the case in opposition to Liam O’Hanna, also referred to as Liam Og O hAnnaidh in Irish, over a technical error.
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O’Hanna, who performs below the title Mo Chara, was charged with displaying the flag at a November 21, 2024, live performance in London, breaching the UK’s 2000 Terrorism Act.
In written submissions unveiled in court docket, the CPS “submits that the Discovered decide was unsuitable to search out that the proceedings … weren’t instituted within the right kind”.
Kneecap – recognized for his or her politically charged lyrics and assist for Palestinian rights – have mentioned the case is an try and distract from what they described as British complicity in Israel’s genocide in opposition to Palestinians within the Gaza Strip.
The band has known as the tried prosecution of O’Hanna a “British state witch-hunt”.
“At the moment extra Palestinians had been murdered by Israel,” Kneecap wrote in a social media put up on Wednesday after the court docket listening to.
“Extra houses demolished and extra youngsters useless as a consequence of chilly and lack of assist not permitted to enter by Israel. That’s the ONLY factor about this entire witch-hunt price speaking about,” the band mentioned, denouncing the authorized proceedings as “a waste of public time and public cash”.
O’Hanna was charged in Might after a video emerged from the London live performance wherein he allegedly displayed the Hezbollah flag, an offence he has denied.
Kneecap beforehand mentioned the flag was thrown on stage throughout their efficiency and that they “don’t, and have by no means” supported Hezbollah.
The cost in opposition to O’Hanna was thrown out in September after a court docket dominated it had initially been introduced with out the permission of the director of public prosecutions and the lawyer normal, in addition to sooner or later exterior the six-month statutory restrict.
However CPS lawyer Paul Jarvis instructed London’s Excessive Court docket on Wednesday that permission was solely required by the point O’Hanna first appeared in court docket, which means the case can proceed.
O’Hanna didn’t attend the listening to.
However his bandmate, JJ O Dochartaigh, higher recognized by the stage title DJ Provai, was in court docket alongside the band’s supervisor, Dan Lambert, and its attorneys.
About 100 Kneecap supporters additionally turned up on the court docket to point out their assist, holding Irish and Palestinian flags, singing songs and listening to speeches.
Kneecap has promised to “win once more”, arguing in authorized filings that September’s court docket determination to throw out the cost “was plainly right”.
