9AA Óghts move to bloca Al Guds :ay court action
THE CAMPAIGN Against Antisemitism is taking the Crown Prosecution Service to court for halting the private prosecution of the leader of the annual Al Quds Day march.
Nazim Hussein Ali was due to stand trial in July, facing charges of inciting racial or religious hatred over his comments at the controversial 2017 proPalestinian march, where he linked the Grenfell Tower disaster to “Zionists”.
Addressing the notorious London march — where Hezbollah flags are flown — Mr Ali referred, days after the fire, to “Zionists who give money to the Tory Party to kill people in high rise blocks”.
He added: “We are fed up of the Zionists. We are fed up of [sic] their rabbis. We are fed up of their synagogues. We are fed up of their supporters.”
The CAA launched a private prosecution but, on June 28, the CPS wrote to them saying there was not enough evidence for a conviction and, therefore, they were assuming control of the prosecution and shutting it down.
The CAA said it was challenging that decision on the basis that it was “irrational” and “unreasonable.”
A spokesperson said: “Our demonstration and event monitoring unit Nazim Hussein Ali: caused uproar with speech to Al Quds Day marchers
attended the parade and captured extensive video evidence, which was passed to the Metropolitan Police Service. However, the CPS declined to prosecute Mr Ali last year, leaving us with no option but to launch our private prosecution, led by Jonathan Goldberg QC.
“Moreover, having refused to uphold the law by prosecuting Mr Ali, in June, the CPS blocked us from doing so privately.”
Gideon Falter, CAA chairman, said: “This is a case that the CPS should have prosecuted itself. Our emphatic legal advice is that their decision to prevent us from doing so was irrational. We hope to succeed and resume the prosecution.”
The CAA is being represented by barrister Sam Grodzinski QC, with David Sonn acting as solicitor. The CPS resfused to comment.