Meet the Irish rapper accused of terrorism: what did he do to end up before a judge?

Elbowing your way through the jostling crowd outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court sounds like the last thing anyone would want to do. But for Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, it was all he could have wished for.

These riled-up people, out in their hundreds, weren’t waiting to abuse Liam Óg — they were there to support him. And in good Irish spirit, a band was on stage playing music to keep everyone going.

Ó hAnnaidh, who performs with the rap band Kneecap under the stage name Mo Chara, is alleged to have held up a Hezbollah flag at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, last November.

Hezbollah is a Lebanese political party and paramilitary group that emerged to end Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon.

Ó hAnnaidh’s lawyers claim that the charge against the rapper was brought too late and the case should be thrown out. Ó hAnnaidh was formally charged on May 22, one day after the six-month limit. However, prosecutor Michael Bisgrove argued that Ó hAnnaidh was actually charged on May 21, within the allowed time frame.

For three hours the court heard the case, interpreted into Irish, possibly for the first time ever on British soil. In the preliminary hearing held in June this year, Ó hAnnaidh, who is from Belfast, had requested an Irish interpreter, but the court could not find one.

To further complicate matters, Liam Óg was initially charged under the Anglicised version of his name, Liam O’Hanna.

At the end of the second hearing, Ó hAnnaidh was released on unconditional bail and it was determined by the judge that the 27-year-old will have to wait until 26 September when the chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, will rule on whether he has the jurisdiction to try the case.

Kneecap are an Irish rap trio of Ó hAnnaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin (Móglaí Bap) and JJ Ó Dochartaigh (DJ Próvaí), that have made headlines since they exploded onto the scene due to their support for the people of occupied Palestine, more than 60,000 of whom have died during the genocidal campaign from the Israeli government.

They are also well-known for songs such as ‘Get Your Brits Out’ and ‘Your Sniffer Dogs Are Shite’, and regularly mix both Irish and English in their lyrics. They recently released a self-titled, semi-autobiographical film about their rise in music that also saw them gain a lot of popularity; the film, which featured former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams and actor Michael Fassbender, won the BAFTA for outstanding debut.

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In a statement following the hearing, Kneecap thanked their fans for turning out to support them, adding that: “Kneecap is not the story. Palestine is the story. The British government are aiding a genocide, do not stop calling them out.”

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