Northern Ireland MP Colum Eastwood is to accept a police warning as an alternative to prosecution for taking part in an unnotified parade in support of Palestine.
Speaking after a hearing, Mr Eastwood called for all charges against “people who have peacefully protested against the genocide” to be “dropped across the UK”.
The former SDLP leader was one of five people charged in connection with a pro-Palestinian rally in the centre of Derry on February 14th, 2024.
The event, which was held in protest against the Israeli military’s actions in Gaza, was held at the war memorial in the Diamond, and those present subsequently walked down Shipquay Street to the city’s Guildhall.
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In Northern Ireland, organisers of such events must apply in advance to the Parades Commission for permission to march. Parades which take place without the Commission’s approval are “unnotified” and therefore illegal.
At a brief hearing at the city’s magistrates’ court on Wednesday, a lawyer for the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) said a diversionary disposal was being proposed as an alternative to prosecution.
Mr Eastwood, an MP for Foyle in Derry, was not present in court. His solicitor, Ciaran Shiels, said his client would accept this alternative, which will be delivered as an “informed warning” by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
An informed warning is a formal reprimand by police which is not a conviction, but which is recorded on the recipient’s criminal record for one year.
The case against Mr Eastwood was adjourned until November 5th, to allow this to be administered.
After this takes place, the charge will be formally withdrawn in court.
The court heard three co-accused – Goretti Horgan (70), of Westland Avenue; Robert Paul Maxwell (61), of Rathlin Drive, and Davina Pulis (37), of Knoxhill Avenue, all in Derry – were also offered warnings as an alternative to prosecution but chose not to accept them.
A warning can only be administered as an alternative to prosecution if the intended recipient admits the relevant offence.
A warning was not offered to a fifth defendant, Jude Coffey (28), of Gartan Square in the city. These proceedings were adjourned until November 12th.
Mr Eastwood said “the case should never have been taken in the first place” and it had been “a massive waste of public money”.
The MP said what he and others had been doing “on that day, and many other days, was holding a peaceful vigil and protest in the city centre, protesting against genocide, protesting against international law being broken”.
He added: “As a city with a powerful sense of justice, informed by our experiences of decades of injustice, it was important that we sent our solidarity to the people of Palestine being oppressed by Israel’s bombardment facilitated by governments that were turning a blind eye to war crimes.
“I think ordinary citizens have a duty to protest that, we had the full support of the people of Derry to do that, and it was frankly a public waste of public resources.”
Mr Eastwood said he was “astonished . . . that while innocent people were being murdered in their thousands and international law laid in tatters, that it was peaceful protesters who were being pursued by the police and prosecutors”.
“But there are also lots of other people across the UK who are up on charges for protesting against genocide, including from Palestine Action, and the British government should drop all those charges,” he said. Additional reporting – PA.
