Demonstrations in support of the Belfast-born rapper Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh — who performs under the stage name Mo Chara in the band Kneecap — have been organised outside the court
Kneecap fans have been issued a stern warning by police ahead of planned protests outside a court where band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh is due to face terrorism charges. The Irish language rapper, 27, will appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Wednesday.
Demonstrations in support of the Belfast-born singer — who performs under the stage name Mo Chara — have been organised outside the court, where he will face charges relating to accusations he displayed a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig.
At a previous appearance in June, Ó hAnnaidh and his bandmates – Naoise Ó Cairealláin, who performs as Móglaí Bap, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh, stage name DJ Próvaí – arrived to a crowd of hundreds of supporters who cheered as their vehicle pulled up.
Ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, the Metropolitan Police has imposed conditions limiting where the demonstration outside the court can take place on Wednesday, saying they were needed to “prevent serious disruption”.
In a statement issued on Tuesday night, a Met spokesman said: “We’ve imposed Public Order Act conditions to prevent serious disruption being caused by a protest outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.”
The police force published an image of the area outside the court building and warned any protesters they “must remain in the red area”, while any stage “must be erected in the green area”.
Responding to the statement, Kneecap urged its supporters to “go out of your way to be compliant with all instructions issued, irrespective of how pitiful”.
In a post on X, the band said: “We massively appreciate the support of what we know are the majority of the public, who can see this farce for what it is. It is [a] distraction from war crimes that the British state support.
“In our view this police action is designed to try and portray support for kneecap as somehow troublesome. It is a calculated political decision the night before Mo Chara’s court appearance. There is no basis for this, our last hearing was entirely peaceful and a loving show of solidarity with the most disruptive attendees the right wing media.
“We know all of our supporters will be, but please go out of your way to be compliant with all instructions issued, irrespective of how pitiful.”
On Tuesday night, a mural was unveiled in his hometown ahead of the hearing, emblazoned with the phrase “Saoirse don Phalaistín” — “Freedom for Palestine” in Irish.
The band wrote on X: “Tonight in West Belfast hundreds of friends and neighbours or Liam Óg tuned out for the unveiling of a mural to him, kneecap and Palestine. West Belfast knows political policing. West Belfast knows colonialism. West Belfast knows solidarity.”
The court previously heard Ó hAnnaidh is “well within his rights” to voice his opinions on the Israel-Palestine conflict, but the alleged incident at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, was a “wholly different thing”.
Ó hAnnaidh is yet to enter a plea to the charge and is expected to request an interpreter to be present and to speak in Irish at Wednesday’s court appearance.
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