Palestine Action activists in court over UK RAF base break-in

Four Palestine Action activists were remanded in custody on Thursday when they appeared at a London court over a break-in at an air force base that provoked a government move to ban the protest group.

Two aircraft at the base in southern England were sprayed with red paint last week, causing an estimated £7 million ($9.55 million) in damage and prompting the government to seek lawmakers' approval for a ban.

The group has condemned the move as an "unhinged reaction" and is challenging its planned proscription, which the government said could come by the end of the week.

Counter-terror police on Wednesday charged the four suspects with "conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage."

Prosecutors will argue the offences were terror-linked.

Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 35, Jony Cink, 24, and Lewie Chiaramello, 22, appeared at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

They were remanded in custody until their next appearance at London's Old Bailey criminal court on 18 July.

A 41-year-old woman who was arrested "on suspicion of assisting an offender" has been released on bail.

The proposed ban on Palestine Action would make it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group, punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Announcing the clamp-down, interior minister Yvette Cooper listed other attacks by Palestine Action at the Thales defence factory in Glasgow in 2022, and two last year against Instro Precision in Kent, southeast England, and Israel-based Elbit Systems in Bristol, in the country's southwest.

An urgent hearing to challenge the proscription will be held at the High Court in London on Friday.

The challenge was backed by Amnesty International and other rights groups.