3 defendants avoid jail in UK for displaying paraglider images at pro-Palestinian march

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - Three defendants in the UK avoided jail Tuesday after they were found guilty of showing “support for a terrorist group” last October, according to media reports.

Heba Alhayek, 29, Pauline Ankunda, 26, and Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, were charged with showing for displaying images of paragliders during a pro-Palestinian march, according to SkyNews.

Judge Tan Ikram said he would not “punish” the trio but decided to give them 12-month conditional discharges.

“I do not find a reasonable person would interpret the image merely as a symbol of freedom,” said Ikram. “You’ve not hidden the fact that you were carrying these images. You’ve crossed the line, but it would have been fair to say that emotions ran very high on this issue. Your lesson has been well learnt.”

Alhayek and Ankunda were accused of affixing images of paragliders to their backs, while Taiwo was reported to have placed one on the handle of a placard.

Metropolitan Police initiated a social media appeal to track down the individuals, leading Alhayek and Ankunda to voluntarily surrender at the Croydon Police Station.

The trio were charged under the Terrorism Act for displaying an article that would lead someone to believe they supported the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

Prosecutor Brett Weaver said the act of displaying the images could be interpreted as endorsing the use of paragliders as a tactical approach.

The incident occurred one week following the use of paragliders by Hamas to infiltrate Israel in early October.

But the king's counsel Mark Summers, representing Alhayek and Ankunda, countered and asserted that police misconstrued the intention behind the display.

Summers argued that the images were meant to symbolize peace, with the paraglider depicted as a "cartoon parachute" and not a representation of support for any banned organization.