3 Arrested Over Palestine Action Attack on UK Airbase
UK police arrest Palestine Action members over RAF Brize Norton attack, as government considers labeling the group a terrorist organization.
- Publish date: since 6 hours
Three individuals have been arrested under terrorism laws over a Palestine Action attack on the UK airbase that has led to multimillion-dollar damage to two aircraft.
A 29-year-old woman and two men, aged 36 and 24, were arrested on suspicion of a terrorist offence, police said. A fourth individual, a 41-year-old woman, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
The arrests were made on Thursday, June 26, in Newbury, Berkshire, and in London.
Palestine Action's activists claimed an incident, which ruined the Voyager aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire last Friday.
The group released footage of the activists breaking into the defence site and using modified air extinguishers to spray paint inside the two planes; a crowbar was also used.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealed that the cost of the damage reached up to “millions of pounds”.
A police statement said that the arrests were made "on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000".
The statement also read, "Those arrested are currently in police custody while enquiries are ongoing."
This news comes after the UK revealed plans to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist group.
Palestine Action released a statement about the arrests, saying that it "further demonstrates that proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws – it’s about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine”.