A few days ago, I posted how UK Israel-haters from Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion blocked the entrance of a factory belonging to Israel’s Elbit, and then vandalized it.
It turns out Palestine Action’s co-founder has been arrested. For blackmail!
Palestine Action co-founder arrested for blackmail two days after successful Elbit factory shutdown
-Richard Barnard was arrested for blackmail at approximately 15:00 on Wednesday and taken to Fresh Wharf Custody Base
-Barnard and co-founder Huda Ammori had their house raided and passports seized
-Barnard’s arrest comes a day after eight activists from Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion North were released from custody after shutting down Elbit-Ferranti in Oldham for 16 hours on Monday
And the haters are livid:
Since hearing about the arrest, demonstrators have been gathering outside Fresh Wharf Custody Base in Barking to protest an escalating pattern of police harassment and intimidation against human rights activists.
Commenting on Barnard’s arrest yesterday afternoon, Ammori said:
“The only thing we can assume this is about is [Palestine Action] demanding that companies do not associate with war criminals, and if they do we will take action. This is not blackmail. This is asking for companies to abide by International Law and Human Rights Conventions.
“This is just another extension of harassment by the police. We will not be deterred by police harassment; we will only grow stronger and call on everyone to join us in forcing war criminals out”.
Monday’s action – which allegedly cost the company £20,000 of damage – marked six months since Palestine Action’s inception, and coincided with news that the Ministry of Defence handed Elbit a £102 million contract for new “sensor to shoot” systems.
On one hand, they complain about police harassment. On the other, they have no problem harassing others.
And the chutzpah doesn’t end there. They proudly gloat about the huge financial and property damage to the company they caused, yet claim it was not blackmail, rather “asking” the company to do something they want.
To be clear:
Blackmail can be a very serious offence which has strict rules in the UK. Section 21 of the Theft Act 1968. The act explains UK blackmail law, in legal terms, to be when one makes unwarranted demands with menaces in order to attain personal gain or project loss on another. It does not matter whether the demands are possible or in what fashion the demands are made. These could be express, implied, written, spoken or through conduct.
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The penalty for blackmail can be a sentence of up to 14 years in prison
Here’s hoping it’s Barnard to the prison yard.
Update: Now with video goodness!
