A woman has been found not guilty of expressing support for Hamas after telling a crowd, one month after the Hamas-led October 7 atrocities, that the terror group was “fighting for freedom”.
Kwabena Devonish, 27, from Pentrebane, Cardiff, denied a charge of expression an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation, contrary to the Terrorist Act 2000.
Bristol Crown Court heard this week during a two-day trial how Devonish attended a march in Cardiff in November 2023, where she addressed a crowd of some 500 people, telling them she was “sick of being told to condemn Hamas”.
Footage of the defendant addressing the anti-Israel crowds in Cardiff was played during the trial. She told the crowd: “I would never condemn the resistance of Palestinians because their resistance is due to the occupation.
“So, if you want to talk about violence, if you want to talk about atrocities, then point the finger to the state of Israel.”
Hamas, she went on, “are fighting for freedom, Hamas are fighting for the people”.
She was arrested in January 2024 after a video of her speech was posted online.
After a jury unanimously acquitted Devonish on Tuesday afternoon, supporters of hers cheered and clapped in the public gallery.
Ah, that's Kwabena Devonish. Here she is "speaking up for Palestine" with Dahan in November 2023. "Hamas are fighting for freedom, Hamas are fighting for the people!”
— habibi (@habibi_uk) April 29, 2025
I think it's disgraceful that Cardiff has allowed these racist extremists to drive anyone out of the city. 4/4 pic.twitter.com/lXiYCPm1G9
She told the court this week that she was a politically active individual and associated with the Black Lives Matter and Stand Up To Racism groups. She told the jury: “I don’t support Hamas, I support the liberation of the Palestinian people.”
She said she had begun referring to Hamas as “the most well-known representation of Palestinian resistance”.
Judge Picton had advised the jury, before they retired to consider the verdict, whether Devonish’s comments were “objectively supportive of Hamas”.
He said it had to be established that Devonish was expressing support for the proscribed group, and that there was a risk her speech could encourage others to back the organisation.
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