Protester ‘thought Hamas paraglider placard was symbol of peace’

‘A parachute is a wellknown symbol of peace. The police have mistaken what they have seen’

A WOMAN who carried a placard showing a Hamas paraglider at a pro-palestinian march thought that it was a “symbol of liberation and peace”, a court heard.

Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, along with Heba Alhayek, 29, and Pauline Ankunda, 26, were charged under the Terrorism Act following the protest in central London on Oct 14.

The incident happened a week after Hamas fighters used paragliders to cross the border between Gaza and Israel during a terror attack in which 1,400 Israeli men, women and children were killed in a series of massacres. They are charged with “carrying or displaying an article, namely an image displaying a paraglider, to arouse reasonable suspicion that they are supporters of a proscribed organisation, namely Hamas”.

Brett Weaver, prosecuting, told Westminster magistrates’ court that a week after the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, there was a large demonstration in central London in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

The march took place between Oxford Circus and Whitehall.

Mr Weaver said: “These three defendants were part of that demonstration. Each had on or about their person an image of a paraglider.

“Since the use of paragliders by Hamas was widely publicised, the prosecution’s case is these defendants displaying images of paragliders in those circumstances would arouse reasonable suspicion that they were a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation.”

Ms Ankunda and Ms Alhayek had the images stuck to their backs, while Ms Taiwo was carrying a placard with a picture of a paraglider.

Ms Ankunda was caught on video chanting: “France is a terror state, the UK is a terror state, Italy is a terror state.” The three women were arrested after a police appeal to identify them through the media.

Ms Ankunda and Ms Alhayek attended Croydon police station, southeast London, and said someone else had stuck the images to their backs but later accepted that was not the case.

Ms Taiwo was arrested on Nov 8 after police officers raided her house. She said she was handed the placard while she was there but had not paid attention to what was fixed to it “as it was a blurry image. She said she believed it to be a symbol of liberation and peace.”

Victoria Brittain, an author and former Guardian journalist, gave evidence for the defence and said images associated with flying are a common theme in the Palestinian imagination.

A lawyer representing two of the defendants has claimed police have “mistaken” what they saw that day, and have been fed a narrative by partisan social media groups.

Mark Summers KC, representing Ms Alhayek and Ms Ankunda, said: “A parachute isn’t a paraglider.” The suggestion that the image was a paraglider started with “an internet group with an agenda”, who circulated it on social media, he said.

Mr Summers continued: “[A parachute] is a well-known nationalist symbol of peace. The police have mistaken what they have seen that day.

“Police have taken the narrative that’s been fed to them and brought it blindly to your door.”

Ms Taiwo, of South Norwood, and Ms Alhayek and Ms Anjunda, of Upper Norwood, all deny wearing or carrying an article supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation.

The trial continues.