Kneecap’s Mo Chara Granted Unconditional Bail at First Listening to on Terror Cost

Kneecap’s Mo Chara was launched on unconditional bail at his first courtroom look in London on terror charges tied to an incident the place he allegedly displayed a Hezbollah flag at a live performance.

The preliminary listening to on the Westminster Magistrates’ Courtroom Wednesday June 18 was largely procedural. The Belfast rapper, actual identify Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, spoke solely to substantiate his identify, and the decide scheduled his subsequent courtroom date for Aug. 20. If convicted, Ó hAnnaidh might withstand six months in jail, and a effective.

The fear cost is predicated on footage from a November 2024 live performance in London, the place Ó hAnnaidh allegedly displayed the Hezbollah flag and yelled, “Up, Hamas, up Hezbollah,” in addition to, “The one good Tory is a useless Tory.” Each Hamas and Hezbollah are banned within the U.Ok., and it’s a crime to publicly help them. 

Ó hAnnaidh and Kneecap have repeatedly denied the allegations, stating previously that they “don’t, and have by no means, supported Hamas or Hezbollah.” They’ve claimed footage of the November 2024 live performance was “intentionally taken out of all context,” and instructed the fear cost is a reprisal for his or her outspoken support for Palestine, their requires an finish to the battle in Gaza, and their criticism of the U.Ok. and U.S. governments for persevering with to fund and provide arms to Israel. 

At Wednesday’s listening to, prosecutor Michael Bisgrove insisted the case was not about Ó hAnnaidh’s help for Palestine or criticism of Israel, including that he’s “nicely inside his rights to voice his opinions and solidarity, as is anyone else” (through The Associated Press). Somewhat, Bisgrove mentioned the case is centered across the video of Ó hAnnaidh on the November 2024 live performance. 

Ó hAnnaidh’s lawyer, Brenda Campbell, countered that authorities charged the rapper outdoors the six-month statute of limitations for a terror offense. Whereas the live performance happened on Nov. 21, 2024, London Metropolitan police solely grew to become conscious of the alleged incident in late April 2025, not lengthy after Kneecap’s controversial set at Coachella, the place they displayed messages in regards to the battle in Gaza. The cost was introduced Could 21, precisely six months after the London live performance.

“If we’re proper in relation to that, then this courtroom has no jurisdiction and there ends the case,” Campbell mentioned of the timeline.

Ó hAnnaidh and his bandmates Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) and DJ Próvai (JJ O’Dochartaigh) all arrived on the London courthouse sporting Palestinian keffiyeh scarves. They had been greeted by a crowd of supporters outdoors, a lot of whom had been waving Palestinian and Irish flags. 

On social media final night time, Kneecap wrote, “British courts have lengthy charged folks from the North of Eire with ‘terrorism’ for crimes by no means dedicated. We’ll battle them. We’ll win.”

We’ve plastered London with a number of messages forward of this witch-hunt.

British courts have lengthy charged folks from the North of Eire with “terrorism” for crimes by no means dedicated.

We’ll battle them.

We’ll win.

From Rolling Stone US.