A few days before his participation at the Ile-De-France Rock-in-Seine Festival, the pro-poustic rapper Mo Chara of the Trio de Norte Kneecap appears this Wednesday morning before a London court for “terrorist offense.”
Liam OG or Hannaidh, his real name in Gaelic, was accused on May 21 of having covered himself with a flag of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, classified as “terrorist” in the United Kingdom, during a group concert in London on November 21, 2024. He is also criticized for having shouted “Go Hamas! Go The Hezbolh!”. “
In mid -June, during a first hearing, prosecutor Michael Bisgrove had assured that “this case was not related to the support of Mr. O’Hanna to the Palestinian people, or with their criticisms of Israel.”
The rapper’s lawyers said their positions had taken place outside the legal period of six months. The case had been postponed at the end of August. It is this point that must be examined this Wednesday during the audience. The group has always denied any support for Hezbollah, denouncing a “political” decision.
“Libere Mo Chara”
Hundreds of followers gathered in the Westminster court on Wednesday morning. “Libere Palestina,” they sang, brandishing flags or Palestinian and Irish signs they asked for “releasing Mo Chara.”
Mary Hobbs, 31, came from Belfast to support the rapper. “The accusations are absurd,” he said, calling the “failed” judicial system. Therefore, it is in the crowd that Mo Chara arrived at the Court, his face partially covered with a Palestinian Keffiieh and accompanied by another member of the group, Moglai Bap.
Provocative
A daring provocaters of their fans, dangerous extremists for their detractors, group members have attracted the attention of media and politics in recent months to the United Kingdom. In question: the virulent statements against Israel and the war in the Gaza Strip, launched after the attack on Hamas in Israel on October 7, 2023.
The Israeli offensive has generated 62,064 dead in Gaza, mainly civil, according to the Ministry of Health of Hamas.
In spite of the calls pressed by the conservatives chosen to deprogram Kneecap of the prestigious Glastonbury Festival at the end of June, he was able to act there, persisting in his criticisms against Israel. However, Kneecap was forbidden to enter Hungary at the end of July, where he had to give a concert.
Rock-in-Siine address
The trio of Ireland of the North reached notoriety in 2024 with its album “Fine Art” and a docu fiction survived, Patella. Granted in particular in the Sundance film, in the United States, this film was released in France in June.
Founded in 2017, Kneecap defends the reunification of Ireland and considers its language as an “anti -colonial” cry against British power. The name of the group (“Kneecap” means “articulation of the ball” in English) comes from the practice of the paramilitary groups that fired their victims on the knees during the northern Ireland conflict.
Kneecap now must take the stage this Sunday at the Rock Festival in Seine, in the suburbs of Paris. However, the city of Saint-Cloud decided in mid-July withdrawing its removal of 40,000 euros for the festival due to the presence of the group.
Source: BFM TV
