UK court clears woman of voicing support for Hamas in university speech
Summary
A London court found Sarah Cotte not guilty of supporting the Palestinian group Hamas in a speech she gave outside her university in 2023. The court decided that her words expressed support for Palestinian resistance but did not directly support Hamas, which is banned as a terrorist group in the UK.Key Facts
- Sarah Cotte, 22, was accused of supporting Hamas in a speech at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London in October 2023.
- Hamas is officially banned as a terrorist group in the UK, with strong penalties for those supporting it.
- Prosecutors claimed Cotte showed support for Hamas shortly after the group’s October 7 attacks on Israel.
- Cotte said she supported the Palestinian right to resist but not Hamas itself.
- The jury at the Old Bailey court found her not guilty of the charges related to her speech.
- This verdict follows a previous not guilty ruling for Cotte on a related charge about messages in a WhatsApp chat.
- Cotte and supporters said the ruling defends free speech about the Palestinian struggle.
- She was arrested about three months after her speech and faced over two years of legal investigation and court proceedings.
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