Prosecutors Appeal Decision to Dismiss Charge

Prosecutors in the United Kingdom are appealing a judge’s decision to toss the terror-related charge against Kneecap’s Mo Chara.

As the BBC reports, the Crown Prosecution Service announced its decision Tuesday, Oct. 7, with a spokesperson saying, “We are appealing the decision to dismiss this case as we believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified.” 

The case against the Belfast rapper — real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh — was thrown out last month on technical grounds, with a judge ruling that the CPS had not filed the charge in time. Ó hAnnaidh was accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag at a November 2024 Kneecap concert in London, but the police weren’t made aware of the alleged incident until April 2025, after Kneecap sparked controversy for their criticism of Israel and the war in Gaza during their set at Coachella.

Ó hAnnaidh was charged not long after in May. But his lawyers — in their filing to dismiss the case — argued that the charge was brought one day after the six-month limit for such charges expired. Judge Paul Goldspring ultimately sided with the defense, calling the charge “unlawful and null.” 

In a statement shared on Instagram, Kneecap responded to news of the appeal, saying it was “unsurprising,” but also a “massive waste of taxpayers money, of police time, of court time.” 

They continued: “It is unsurprising because this whole process has not been driven by the police or the courts, it has been driven by politicians backed up by British media. This is political policing. There is no ‘important point of law.’ The CPS have submitted nothing new in their appeal. What there is though, is a state wide witch-hunt against Palestinian solidarity. The media were gleefully informed about this appeal before we were.” 

It’s unclear what “important point of law” prosecutors plan on highlighting. At trial, they argued that the notice they gave Ó hAnnaidh of the charge on May 21 — before the deadline expired — was official, even though they hadn’t yet received permission from the Attorney General to bring the case. (That came the following day, May 22, one day after the six-month limit passed.) Judge Godspring said the CPS’ arguments at trial “defy logic.”