London, United Kingdom – Civil rights groups and Palestine solidarity campaigners are accusing the United Kingdom of “intimidation tactics” after two young pro-Palestinian activists were recently arrested while on bail.
On Monday, 21-year-old Qesser Zuhrah was detained after sharing a social media post calling on people to take “direct action”.
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Masked officers handcuffed Zuhrah at her home in Watford at dawn. Just a month ago, she was released on bail following 15 months in prison awaiting trial, during which she participated in a lengthy hunger strike.
Four days earlier, on Thursday, plainclothes police officers in south London also arrested Audrey Corno, 23, accusing her of tampering with her electronic tag in breach of bail conditions – a charge she denies.
“They just grabbed me,” Corno told Al Jazeera. “I broke down into tears. This was a complete shock and very re-traumatising.”
She was told that a month earlier, her tag had been offline for 20 minutes.
The police surprised her as they emerged from “an undercover car” that was parked “right outside my home address”, Corno said.
“I don’t know how long they had been waiting there for. I was just back from a walk with my friends,” she said. “I would have no idea how to tamper with my tag for it to stop working and then work again.”
Before their latest arrests, both Zuhrah and Corno were imprisoned over their alleged participation in separate raids on military hardware manufacturers in 2024 that were claimed by Palestine Action, the direct action group whose stated mission is to target companies associated with the Israeli war machine.
Although the High Court ruled in February that the UK’s ban on Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organisation was unlawful, it is still illegal to show support for the group as the government prepares for an appeal due to take place later this month.
‘Charges in connection with social media post’
Counterterrorism police on Monday said that Zuhrah’s latest charge was “encouraging or assisting” the commission of an offence, “namely criminal damage”.
“The charges are in connection with posts made on social media,” the force said.
Zuhrah was granted bail again on Tuesday. She is due to appear in court on April 17.
She is a member of the so-called “Filton 24” collective, accused of breaking into a weapons factory in Filton, Bristol belonging to Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, in August 2024.
In Corno’s latest case, she was also released hours after being arrested for a second time.
Naila Ahmed, head of campaigns at CAGE International, said, Zuhrah’s “rearrest” is a continuation of the “active repression” targeting pro-Palestine activists across the UK.
“These laws were not misapplied or stretched beyond their intent – they were designed precisely to criminalise political speech and dissent, and that is exactly what they are doing here,” she said. “Terrorism legislation should be abolished in its entirety. It has never been a tool of public protection – it is and has always been a tool of political control, used to police those who challenge state power and silence those who speak out against injustice.”
Corno was previously accused of offences related to a June 2024 break-in at the Wooburn Green, Buckinghamshire facility of GRiD Defence Systems, which Palestine Action said supplies the Israeli military – a charge denied by the company.
She believes officials are using “intimidation tactics” because several charges against Palestine Action-linked activists have been dropped and dozens of them have been released on bail. All Filton 24 activists, for example, have been acquitted of aggravated burglary, and 23 have been freed from prison.
“This is a reaction to the acquittals and zero convictions in the Filton 24 case so far,” Corno said. “Take direct action” is not a contentious thing to say, she argued.
“Direct actionists who either are released on bail as they should be, or found not guilty, are still being heavily surveilled and heavily repressed by the state as a reminder, that although the public may find us not guilty, the state does.”
Last week, Zuhrah and other Filton 24 defendants spoke about alleged prison mistreatment and said they were planning to take legal action over medical neglect.
Campaigners supporting the group said, “We believe this is a coordinated campaign by the state to retaliate [after failing] to secure a single conviction at the first trial of the Filton 24. There is no doubt that this arrest was politically motivated, as it is unprecedented to charge people under the Serious Crime Act”.
The detentions come at a time of increasing friction between the police and Britain’s significant Palestine solidarity movement – and ahead of a march that could bring new tensions.
On Saturday, crowds of protesters are expected to gather again in London to demonstrate their support for Palestine Action as the genocide in Gaza continues. To date, thousands of peaceful protesters have been arrested for signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.
While London’s Met Police refrained from detaining protesters following the High Court’s ruling, the force recently reversed that policy, meaning mass arrests are once again likely.
Meanwhile, a court is expected on Wednesday to rule in the case of Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Ben Jamal and Stop the War Coalition’s Chris Nineham, who are accused of breaching protest restrictions in January 2025.
Since Israel’s onslaught on Gaza began in October 2023, tens of thousands of Britons have rallied in support of Palestine.
According to YouGov polling, one in three Britons has “no sympathy at all for the Israeli side in the conflict” after Israel killed more than 72,000 people in two years and decimated the Gaza Strip.
The government, led by Labour leader Keir Starmer, has long been accused of cracking down on pro-Palestine solidarity because of a wave of arrests during demonstrations and due to its proscription of Palestine Action.
Human Rights Watch has said that its research found a “disproportionate targeting of certain groups, including climate change activists and Palestine protesters, undermining the right to protest freely and without fear of harassment”.
Iran citizen held in France over pro-Palestine comments returns home | Prison News
Release of Mahdieh Esfandiari comes a week after Iran released two French citizens held on espionage charges.
Published On 15 Apr 202615 Apr 2026
Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari has returned home after being held in France for more than a year as part of what appears to be an exchange of detainees between the countries.
Iran’s state television reported on Wednesday that the “rights activist”, sentenced to one year in prison after making online comments supportive of Palestine and the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that prompted the genocidal war on Gaza, had returned to Iran.
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The University of Lyon graduate, who had been living in France since 2018, where she worked as a translator, was arrested in February last year on charges of promoting “terrorism”, and released on bail in October.
“I think it’s clear for everyone that there is no freedom of speech, at least not in France where I was. The court’s ruling was very unjust,” Esfandiari told state television in a Wednesday broadcast.
Esfandiari’s release comes a week after French citizens Cecile Kohler, 41, and Jacques Paris, 72, arrived in France after being held for more than three years in Iran.
Kohler and Paris were arrested by Iranian authorities in May 2022 but were freed in November last year, after more than three years in prison on espionage charges that their families vehemently deny.
They were taken by French diplomats to France’s mission in Tehran, where they lived under house arrest until their full release on April 7. Upon their release, they were driven from Iran to neighbouring Azerbaijan before taking a flight to Paris.
President Emmanuel Macron’s office said their release was the outcome of a “long-term effort”, but talks accelerated in recent weeks due to pressure from the US-Israel war on Iran, giving a sense of urgency to the situation.
While an exchange was not explicitly acknowledged by France, Iran’s state-run agency IRNA had previously said Tehran reached an agreement with Paris for the release of the French citizens in exchange for Esfandiari.
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UK accused of ‘intimidation tactics’ against bailed pro-Palestine activists | Israel-Palestine conflict News
London, United Kingdom – Civil rights groups and Palestine solidarity campaigners are accusing the United Kingdom of “intimidation tactics” after two young pro-Palestinian activists were recently arrested while on bail.
On Monday, 21-year-old Qesser Zuhrah was detained after sharing a social media post calling on people to take “direct action”.
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Masked officers handcuffed Zuhrah at her home in Watford at dawn. Just a month ago, she was released on bail following 15 months in prison awaiting trial, during which she participated in a lengthy hunger strike.
Four days earlier, on Thursday, plainclothes police officers in south London also arrested Audrey Corno, 23, accusing her of tampering with her electronic tag in breach of bail conditions – a charge she denies.
“They just grabbed me,” Corno told Al Jazeera. “I broke down into tears. This was a complete shock and very re-traumatising.”
She was told that a month earlier, her tag had been offline for 20 minutes.
The police surprised her as they emerged from “an undercover car” that was parked “right outside my home address”, Corno said.
“I don’t know how long they had been waiting there for. I was just back from a walk with my friends,” she said. “I would have no idea how to tamper with my tag for it to stop working and then work again.”
Before their latest arrests, both Zuhrah and Corno were imprisoned over their alleged participation in separate raids on military hardware manufacturers in 2024 that were claimed by Palestine Action, the direct action group whose stated mission is to target companies associated with the Israeli war machine.
Although the High Court ruled in February that the UK’s ban on Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organisation was unlawful, it is still illegal to show support for the group as the government prepares for an appeal due to take place later this month.
‘Charges in connection with social media post’
Counterterrorism police on Monday said that Zuhrah’s latest charge was “encouraging or assisting” the commission of an offence, “namely criminal damage”.
“The charges are in connection with posts made on social media,” the force said.
Zuhrah was granted bail again on Tuesday. She is due to appear in court on April 17.
She is a member of the so-called “Filton 24” collective, accused of breaking into a weapons factory in Filton, Bristol belonging to Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, in August 2024.
In Corno’s latest case, she was also released hours after being arrested for a second time.
Naila Ahmed, head of campaigns at CAGE International, said, Zuhrah’s “rearrest” is a continuation of the “active repression” targeting pro-Palestine activists across the UK.
“These laws were not misapplied or stretched beyond their intent – they were designed precisely to criminalise political speech and dissent, and that is exactly what they are doing here,” she said. “Terrorism legislation should be abolished in its entirety. It has never been a tool of public protection – it is and has always been a tool of political control, used to police those who challenge state power and silence those who speak out against injustice.”
Corno was previously accused of offences related to a June 2024 break-in at the Wooburn Green, Buckinghamshire facility of GRiD Defence Systems, which Palestine Action said supplies the Israeli military – a charge denied by the company.
She believes officials are using “intimidation tactics” because several charges against Palestine Action-linked activists have been dropped and dozens of them have been released on bail. All Filton 24 activists, for example, have been acquitted of aggravated burglary, and 23 have been freed from prison.
“This is a reaction to the acquittals and zero convictions in the Filton 24 case so far,” Corno said. “Take direct action” is not a contentious thing to say, she argued.
“Direct actionists who either are released on bail as they should be, or found not guilty, are still being heavily surveilled and heavily repressed by the state as a reminder, that although the public may find us not guilty, the state does.”
Last week, Zuhrah and other Filton 24 defendants spoke about alleged prison mistreatment and said they were planning to take legal action over medical neglect.
Campaigners supporting the group said, “We believe this is a coordinated campaign by the state to retaliate [after failing] to secure a single conviction at the first trial of the Filton 24. There is no doubt that this arrest was politically motivated, as it is unprecedented to charge people under the Serious Crime Act”.
The detentions come at a time of increasing friction between the police and Britain’s significant Palestine solidarity movement – and ahead of a march that could bring new tensions.
On Saturday, crowds of protesters are expected to gather again in London to demonstrate their support for Palestine Action as the genocide in Gaza continues. To date, thousands of peaceful protesters have been arrested for signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.
While London’s Met Police refrained from detaining protesters following the High Court’s ruling, the force recently reversed that policy, meaning mass arrests are once again likely.
Meanwhile, a court is expected on Wednesday to rule in the case of Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Ben Jamal and Stop the War Coalition’s Chris Nineham, who are accused of breaching protest restrictions in January 2025.
Since Israel’s onslaught on Gaza began in October 2023, tens of thousands of Britons have rallied in support of Palestine.
According to YouGov polling, one in three Britons has “no sympathy at all for the Israeli side in the conflict” after Israel killed more than 72,000 people in two years and decimated the Gaza Strip.
The government, led by Labour leader Keir Starmer, has long been accused of cracking down on pro-Palestine solidarity because of a wave of arrests during demonstrations and due to its proscription of Palestine Action.
Human Rights Watch has said that its research found a “disproportionate targeting of certain groups, including climate change activists and Palestine protesters, undermining the right to protest freely and without fear of harassment”.
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UK pro-Palestine activist arrested weeks after being released on bail | Conflict
UK pro-Palestine activist Qesser Zuhrah has been arrested on terrorism charges after being released on bail last month. Video shows masked officers taking her from her home at dawn over what supporters say was an Instagram story.
Published On 31 Mar 202631 Mar 2026
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Pro-Palestine protester Leqaa Kordia freed from US immigration detention | Donald Trump News
The 33-year-old Columbia University protester had been held in immigration detention centre for a year.
Published On 16 Mar 202616 Mar 2026
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Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman detained in the United States after taking part in pro-Palestine demonstrations in 2024, has been released after a year in custody.
The 33-year-old, who grew up in the occupied West Bank before moving to the US in 2016, was held at a detention facility in the state of Texas since March last year.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m free! I’m free! Finally, after one year,” a smiling Kordia told reporters after leaving the detention centre on Monday.
An immigration judge had ruled Kordia was eligible to be released on bond three times. Immigration officials appealed the first two rulings but Kordia was freed on $100,000 bond after government lawyers did not challenge the third.
After her release, Kordia said she was looking forward to going home and hugging her mother “so hard.” But she also said she would keep fighting on behalf of people still being held at the detention centre
“There is a lot of injustice in this place,” she said. “There is a lot of people that shouldn’t be here the first place.”
Kordia, who lost nearly 200 members of his family during Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, was among several protesters targeted by immigration officials for taking part in pro-Palestine demonstrations at Columbia University in 2024.
Until Monday, she was the only person targeted in connection with the demonstration who was still in immigration detention after the release of others, including Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi.
Kordia, who was held at Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, was recently hospitalised for three days following a seizure after fainting and hitting her head at the privately run detention facility.
At a hearing on Friday, Kordia’s lawyers said she had a neurological condition that had worsened while in custody, putting her at an elevated risk of seizure. They reiterated that she could stay with US citizen family members and did not pose a flight risk.
The immigration judge, Tara Naslow, agreed.
“I’ve heard testimony. I’ve seen thousands of pages of evidence presented by the respondent, and very little evidence presented by the government in any of this,” Naslow said.
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