Liam O’Hanna said after case thrown out last month that charges aimed at silencing dissent over Gaza war.
Published On 7 Oct 2025
Prosecutors in the United Kingdom are appealing a court decision to throw out a “terrorism” charge against Liam O’Hanna, also known as Og O hAnnaidh, a member of the Irish rap group Kneecap.
O’Hanna was accused of displaying a flag of the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah during a London concert in November, but the case was dismissed in late September by a London court on account of a technical error.
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“We are appealing the decision to dismiss this case as we believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified,” a spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Tuesday.
The rapper, also known as Mo Chara (“my friend” in Gaeilge), was charged in May under the United Kingdom Terrorism Act, which states that it is a criminal offence to display an article in a way that arouses reasonable suspicion that someone is a supporter of a banned organisation.
On September 26, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Woolwich Crown Court that the case was “unlawful” and “null” since it had been brought outside the six-month statutory limit.
There was no immediate comment from Kneecap regarding the CPS’s appeal announcement. After the charges were thrown out last month, O’Hanna said the case had more to do with Gaza and “what happens if you dare to speak up” rather than “any threat to the public”.
“As people from Ireland, we know oppression, colonialism, famine and genocide. We have suffered and still suffer under ‘your empire’,” he said. “Your attempts to silence us have failed because we are right and you are wrong. We will not be silent.”
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill said at the time that the charges were “part of a calculated attempt to silence those who stand up and speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza”.
The members of Kneecap have been accused by some countries of promoting “terrorism” due to statements made in support of Palestinians during Israel’s war on Gaza.
Hungary and Canada have banned the group from entry, and some of the group’s concerts in Germany and Austria were cancelled this year.
The group has consistently maintained it does not support Hezbollah or Hamas or condone violence.
