Eastwood set to challenge decision to prosecute him over Gaza march involvement

Former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood is set to challenge the basis for prosecuting him for taking part in an unnotified parade in Northern Ireland, a court has heard.

The Foyle MP was in court in Londonderry on Tuesday facing a charge connected with a pro-Palestinian rally that took place in the city last February.

The event in protest against Israel’s military offensive on Gaza was held at Derry’s War Memorial in the Diamond area of the city centre. After speeches, participants walked to Derry’s Guildhall.

Under Northern Ireland’s legislation governing parades and processions, the organisers of such events must apply in advance to the Parades Commission adjudication body for permission to march.

Eastwood, 42, is one of five people facing prosecution in relation to the event on February 14 last year.

The court was told that he and two of the other defendants are to ask Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) to review the basis for pursuing the case.

The two other defendants requesting the review are university lecturer Goretti Horgan, 69, from Westland Avenue in Derry, and fellow pro-Palestinian activist Davina Pulis, 36, from Knoxhill Avenue in the city.

All three were at court on Tuesday as the case was mentioned before district judge Conor Heaney.

The Derry branch of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign organised last February’s rally.

Members of the group protested outside court as the proceedings were heard on Tuesday morning.

Eastwood’s solicitor Ciaran Shiels told the judge that his client was ultimately prepared to challenge the prosecution decision by way of a High Court judicial review.

Mr Shiels told the court: “We’re at a loss to understand how this short procession from the Diamond to the Guildhall, which was totally peaceful and caused no obstruction to the public, and we are not aware of any complaint from the public, and in respect of 50,000 civilians being bombed to pieces, including 20,000 children, we are at a loss why the PPS believe it’s in the interests of justice to prosecute any of these individuals.”

Judge Heaney agreed to adjourn the case until June 3 to allow the defendants to make the review submission to the PPS.

Outside court, the SDLP MP said he would not be deterred from “standing up” for the people of Gaza.

“The people who are standing here today as defendants respect the law, we respect this court,” he told reporters.

“But, actually, we were marching and protesting, and have been for years now, against a bigger, a more important law being broken, and we are seeing the Israeli government in the dock in the highest courts in the world because they are committing genocide in Gaza.

“They are right now deliberately starving children. There are trucks of aid lined up at the border of Gaza that can’t get in.

“They have just announced that they’re going to, as we’ve always known they were going to do, fully occupy the Gaza Strip and try to rid it of the Palestinian people.

“That is the crime that we and many other people in this city were protesting on that evening, and it is, frankly, bizarre to anybody with any basic understanding of the justice system why the PPS would be deciding that this was the thing that they should be focused on.

“I, frankly, given the amount of work I’ve done with victims over the years and other people, can’t understand how this seems to be a priority for them.

“Others can speak for themselves, but I don’t think anybody who’s a defendant in this case will ever be put off standing up for the people of Gaza and standing up for the rule of law around protecting people from a genocide, one that is being committed live on our TV screens, and global powers are doing nothing other than (enabling) it by providing the Israeli government with weapons.”

Eastwood insisted the parading laws in Northern Ireland had not been designed for events such as the one he had participated in last February.

“It’s not for me to determine how this law is adjudicated upon, but it was set up because certain Orange Order bands were determined to march past nationalist estates and end up creating mayhem on the streets,” he said.

“This law was not written and was not brought into law to stop people protesting genocide. That’s not what this was for.

“Nobody was put out on Shipquay Street (in Derry) on that day. In fact, people were beeping their horns in support of us because I know – and people standing here do a lot of door-knocking and talking to people in this city – people are absolutely opposed to what’s happening in Gaza and will stand with whoever has to stand up against that.”

In a similar case in 2023, when Eastwood joined families of those killed on Bloody Sunday in 1972 in an impromptu walk from the Diamond area to Derry’s courthouse, the PPS decided against prosecuting those involved after determining it would not be in the public interest.

The former SDLP leader drew a comparison with that decision as he criticised the PPS move to prosecute in relation to the Gaza event.

“The PPS have some bizarre mechanism it seems for deciding when a previous case, just like this one, was deemed not to be in the interest of justice to prosecute, now this is for some reason,” he said.

“That’s a question that they’re going to have to answer, but I think the court will have a view on that, and it strikes me as a very bizarre decision-making process.”

Mickey McKinney, whose brother William was killed on Bloody Sunday, accompanied Eastwood into court on Tuesday in a show of solidarity.

Co-accused Goretti Horgan told reporters that it was her “duty” to protest against what was happening in Gaza.

“There’s a genocide happening at the minute in Gaza, it’s actually our duty to protest against that, it’s not something that we done for fun,” she said.

“International law has been broken, we are trying to ensure that actually there is something happening to try to stop the genocide there. That’s all we were doing.”

Mr Shiels said the defendants in the case should be “proud” to be before the court.

“If there was ever a case in which one should be proud to be a defendant before a court facing a criminal charge, this is a case where you should be proud to be a defendant,” he told reporters.

A PPS spokeswoman said the decision to prosecute was taken after careful consideration of the evidence in the case.

“After receipt of a file from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in relation to its investigation into a rally which turned into a procession on February 14 2024, the PPS gave careful consideration to all evidence submitted and concluded that the Test for Prosecution was met in relation to five individuals reported,” she said.

“Each of the five are being prosecuted for the offence of taking part in an unnotified procession contrary to section 6(7)(a) Public Processions (NI) Act 1998. This legislation requires public processions to be notified to police in advance, irrespective of the reason for the procession.

“All PPS decision-making in this case was undertaken impartially, independently and fully in line with the PPS Code for Prosecutors.

“The public interest factors for and against prosecution were carefully weighed before the decision was taken. We understand that some of the defendants are intending to make representations and these will be considered and a response issued in due course.

“These proceedings are live and we would urge that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way cause prejudice.”