Kneecap star to deny terror charge, saying: 'We are on the right side of history'

Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, also known as Mo Chara, will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Wednesday. The Kneecap star will be represented by a formidable legal team including Gareth Peirce, who defended the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. Picture: Chani Anderson

Kneecap’s Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh will plead not guilty on Wednesday to a terror charge brought by the UK authorities over the alleged display of a flag in support of Hezbollah at a concert.

The 27-year-old hip-hop star, who uses the stage name Mo Chara, was charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act last month over the alleged incident.

The flag had been thrown on-stage during the Belfast band’s performance on November 21 last year at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London.

The hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London is expected to be brief. Mr Ó hAnnaidh will be asked to confirm his name, age, and address, and that he is aware of the charge against him. A date will then be set for the first Crown Court hearing.

Kneecap in Cork ahead the band's concert at City Hall earlier this year. Picture: Chani Anderson 

It is usually at that second hearing that pleas are entered. However, not only will the musician take the opportunity to plead not guilty on Wednesday, but a statement will also be read out after the hearing.

His fellow fluent Irish speaking bandmates — Naoise Ó Cairealláin, aka Móglaí Bap, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh, the musician also known as DJ Próvaí and who often wears a tricolour balaclava — are expected to attend the hearing.

So too are thousands of the band’s fans, who have all been urged to turn up at the court, which is near Edgware Rd, in central London.

Formidable legal team

Representing him in his defence against the terror charge are some of the world’s most formidable human rights and criminal defence law experts.

They include international human rights lawyer Darragh Mackin, who represented the families of victims of the 1981 Stardust fire, and criminal defence expert Gareth Peirce, who defended the Birmingham Six and Guilford Four.

Kneecap arriving for the Dublin premiere of their film at the Light House Cinema last year. Directed by Rich Peppiatt, it was been nominated for and won numerous awards at film festivals worldwide and at annual award events including the IFTAs and the BAFTAs. Picture: Andres Poveda

The legal team instructed by Phoenix Law includes Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC [King’s Counsel], who represented South Africa at the International Court of Justice in its 2024 case alleging genocide by Israel in Gaza.

Brenda Campbell KC, who has represented families in both the Stardust and Hillsborough inquests, is also representing the musician, as is Jude Bunting KC, a freedom-of-expression expert, and Rosalind Comyn who recently acted on behalf of climate justice activists charged with vandalising Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting.

They were name-checked in a post on the band’s Facebook account recently, under a statement which read: 

“The British establishment is conducting a campaign against Kneecap.

“We are ready for this fight. We are proud to have such a strong legal team with us. We are on the right side of history.”

'We are not the story. Genocide is'

In an earlier social media post, shortly after Mr Ó hAnnaidh was charged, the band stated: “14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of the road and the British establishment is focussed on us. 

We deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is.

They added that while the UK authorities “profit from genocide”, they asked what the objective was in using an anti-terror law against the band for “displaying a flag thrown on stage”. The band has previously insisted they have “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah, which are banned in the UK.

The band was set up in 2017 during a campaign that ultimately led to the passage in 2022 of the UK’s Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Act, which granted the Irish language equal status with English.

Controversial from the start, Kneecap’s first single, C.E.A.R.T.A., was banned from RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta because of its “drug references and cursing”.

Their first album 3CAG — short for the phrase “trí chonsan agus guta” which translates into “three consonants and a vowel” — is named after a slang reference to the drug MDNA.

Two years after formation, they released the award-winning film  Kneecap starring Michael Fassbender, a fictionalised biopic of their life in the North against a backdrop of the campaign to get Irish recognised.