LONDON: Six British pro-Palestinian activists went on trial on Tuesday accused of attacking a factory operated by Israeli defense firm Elbit, aiming to cause as much damage as possible, with one also charged with striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.
Prosecutors said the six defendants were part of a group from the now banned protest organization Palestine Action, which carried out the meticulously planned assault on the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, in August last year.
They intended to “cause serious damage to property and to use or threaten unlawful violence against anyone who stood in their way, if necessary with the use of weapons including sledgehammers,” prosecutor Deanna Heer said.
PROSECUTION ALLEGE STEP-BY-STEP PLAN OF ATTACK
“The premises had been targeted in advance. Willing participants had been identified and a step-by-step plan of action devised and agreed upon,” she said.
