UK shared contact details of police, prosecutors with Israel: Report
A report says the UK’s Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has shared the contact details of counter-terrorism police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) related to Palestine Action activists’ legal cases with Israel’s embassy.
The Guardian revealed on Tuesday that Nicola Smith, the head of international law of UK’s AGO had sent an email on September 9 to Daniela Grudsky Ekstein, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UK that included the contact details of counter-terrorism police and CPS members who had been involved in the legal cases of Palestine Action activists.
Last year, these two agencies arrested 18 Palestine Action activists who had protested in front of an Israeli weapons factory.
Lydia Dagostino who represents several Palestine Action activists has said: “The details disclosed … clearly raises questions and needs further investigation.”
“Why, for example, did the Attorney General’s Office provide the contact details for the Crown Prosecution Service, an independent body, to the Israelis? What further exchanges followed and was there discussions about ongoing criminal prosecutions?” she continued.
Readout of the exchanged emails, which have been heavily redacted, has revealed that at the very least the Israeli regime has asked the UK government to interfere in the cases.
Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, has said: “The timing of this correspondence coincides with the ongoing investigation into Palestine Action activists accused of dismantling the […] site of Israel’s biggest arms producer.”
Ammori has warned that the UK government has been actively allowing Israel’s lobby to interfere not only in this case but also in other ongoing criminal cases.
In this particular case, Israel’s lobby has aimed to exert pressure on the UK law enforcement to act against Palestine Action.
Palestine Action is a pro-Palestinian protest network that uses direct action tactics to disrupt the activities of multinational corporations that provide weapons to the Israeli regime.
