A British court has heard that a defendant in a Palestine Action trial accused of planning a raid on an Israeli-owned arms factory was suffering from emotional turmoil at the time the coordination of the action was alleged to take place.
Representing Julija Brigadirova, lawyer Tom Copeland told the court on Wednesday, that her circumstances around the time she was alleged to be planning the Filton action were marked by mental and emotional distress - including an attempt on her own life.
Copeland suggested that the reason Brigadirova appears to be absent from the evidence of the alleged coordination of the Elbit raid in the weeks preceding it, is because “in the context of her life at the time, she may not have been in a place to usefully contribute”.
"You may think she had more important things going on," he said.
Brigadirova, 33, along with co-defendants Hannah Davidson, 53, Ian Sanders, 47; Aleksandra Herbich, 41; Teuta Hoxha, 30; Sean Middlebrough, 33; and Madeleine Norman, 31, face charges of violent disorder and criminal damage in connection with a break-in to an Elbit Systems plant in Filton, near Bristol, in August 2024.
