St Leonards man pleads ‘not guilty’ to Terrorism Act charge for holding sign referencing ‘Palestine Action’

A St Leonards resident charged under the Terrorism Act for holding a sign in Parliament Square bearing the words ‘I support nonviolent resistance. I support Palestine Action. I oppose genocide’ entered a plea of ‘not guilty’ at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday (15 October). Erica Smith reports.

Gabriel Carlyle (51) from St Leonards was one of 29 people arrested for holding a sign in Parliament Square on 5 July.

Over 2,000 people – including a blind man in a wheelchair and an 83-year-old Anglican priest – have since been arrested for holding near-identical signs at similar protests around the UK.

Around a dozen residents of Hastings and St Leonards are believed to be included in that figure.

Free speech crackdown

The government proscribed (ie. banned) the nonviolent direct action group Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act at the beginning of July.

Among other things this makes it illegal:

• to express an opinion or belief that supports a proscribed organisation, where the person is ‘reckless’ as to whether the expression will encourage others to support the organisation (Section 12 Terrorism Act 2000);
• to wear clothing or carry articles in public which arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of Palestine Action (Section 13, Terrorism Act 2000); or
•  to publish an image of an item or logo that may arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of Palestine Action (Section 13, Terrorism Act 2000).

The ban – which received overwhelming support from MPs, including Hastings MP Helena Dollimore and self-styled free speech warrior Nigel Farage – has been condemned by UN experts, cultural figures including Steve Coogan, Paul Weller and Tilda Swinton, and hundreds of lawyers.

On 30 July the High Court granted permission for a judicial review of the ban which should be heard in November.

On 22 August Amnesty International launched its first ever urgent action regarding the right to protest in the UK, in response to the mass arrests stemming from the ban.

In September the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights wrote to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, calling on her to review UK protest laws, noting that that ‘domestic legislation designed to counter “terrorism” or “violent extremism” must not impose any limitations on fundamental rights and freedoms, including the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, that are not strictly necessary for the protection of national security and the rights and freedoms of others.’

In July, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive Sacha Deshmukh said: ‘Peaceful protest is a fundamental right. People are understandably outraged by the ongoing genocide being committed in Gaza and are entitled under international human rights law to express their horror. The protesters, half of whom were over the age of 60, were not inciting violence and it is entirely disproportionate to the point of absurdity to be treating them as “terrorists”…

‘Instead of criminalising peaceful demonstrators, the Government should be focusing on taking immediate and unequivocal action to put a stop to Israel’s genocide and ending any risk of UK complicity in it.’

Stop arming genocide

Gabriel Carlyle told HOT: ‘The world’s two leading human rights organisations – Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch – and Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem have all concluded that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza. Yet instead of fulfilling its legal obligations under the Genocide Convention and ending all UK arms sales to Israel (whether direct or indirect), the UK government has instead chosen to misuse anti-terror powers to repress nonviolent protest and freedom of speech about these arms sales.

‘I call on my MP, Helena Dollimore, to disavow her recent vote to ban Palestine Action, acknowledge that Israeli actions clearly fit the legal definition of genocide and join other Labour MPs in signing Early Day Motion 1310 calling for the immediate suspension of all UK arms sales to Israel.’

Mr Carlyle’s trial has been set for 23 March 2026 at Stratford Magistrates Court.

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