{"id":6548,"date":"2026-06-10T17:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/?p=6548"},"modified":"2026-06-11T10:38:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T08:38:39","slug":"legal-revolt-judge-israel-genocide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/2026-06-10\/legal-revolt-judge-israel-genocide\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal profession revolt against the UK judge whose job is to protect Israel&#8217;s genocide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subtitle subtitle-HEEcLo\" dir=\"auto\"><em><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-6549\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Royal-Courts-of-Justice-2-Pal-Act-protest-Pete-Speller-Shutterstock-scaled-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"520\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Royal-Courts-of-Justice-2-Pal-Act-protest-Pete-Speller-Shutterstock-scaled-copy.jpg 520w, https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Royal-Courts-of-Justice-2-Pal-Act-protest-Pete-Speller-Shutterstock-scaled-copy-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px\" \/>Judge Johnson so rigged the trial of anti-genocide activists that 1000s of legal professionals have urged him to step down from the sentencing hearing. But Johnson&#8217;s dirty work is not yet complete<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The trial of the Filton Four reaches its climax on Friday. Judge Jeremy Johnson will decide the sentences of four Palestine Action activists found guilty of criminal damage \u2013 after two juries refused to convict them of far more serious charges brought by the British government, via the Crown Prosecution Service.<\/p>\n<p>Keir Starmer\u2019s government failed to secure the convictions for aggravated burglary and violent disorder it so desperately needed. They would have helped retroactively justify its decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation \u2013 the first time in British history that a direct action group, which targets property, has been proscribed.<\/p>\n<p>Starmer\u2019s hostility towards Palestine Action is personal. It has been a massive thorn in his side during Israel\u2019s near three-year genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>From the outset, Starmer suggested that Israel had the \u201cright\u201d to withhold food, water and power from the 2 million Palestinian residents of Gaza \u2013 a crime against humanity for which the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is wanted by the International Criminal Court.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5HQYfsUAf3s?si=TGpwDB7ObbhKeQVe\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Starmer\u2019s complicity in the genocide has only been underscored by Palestine Action, which has targeted Israeli factories operating in the UK run by Elbit Systems that supply Israel\u2019s genocidal army with <a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@jonathancook\/note\/c-271554821\">killer drones<\/a> for use in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>The so-called Filton trial derives its name from an Elbit factory in the Filton neighbourhood of Bristol that Palestine Action targeted in August 2024. Efforts to destroy these Israeli drones came at a time when Starmer was under enormous popular \u2013 if little political \u2013 pressure to end British arms sales to Israel.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"header-anchor-post\">PR crisis<\/h3>\n<p>Proscription, however, has not worked out well for Starmer. It has entangled him in a self-inflicted public relations crisis of almighty proportions.<\/p>\n<p>Palestine Action activists have been held in remand without trial for an unprecedented period of time, far in excess of the normal maximums, and in especially harsh conditions that have treated them as if they were terrorism suspects, even though their arrests long precede the group\u2019s proscription last year.<\/p>\n<p>These sustained abuses led to a prolonged <a href=\"https:\/\/jonathancook.substack.com\/p\/the-hunger-strike-is-not-being-televised\">hunger strike<\/a>, and a desperate government and media campaign to justify their mistreatment.<\/p>\n<p>Proscription has led to thousands of people, most of them elderly and including upstanding members of British society \u2013 from magistrates and doctors to army veterans \u2013 facing convictions for \u201csupporting terrorism\u201d for holding up placards stating: \u201cI oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This popular backlash cornered the High Court into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org.uk\/latest\/uk-court-draws-line-in-the-sand-against-misuse-of-terrorism-powers\/\">declaring the proscription unlawful<\/a>\u2013 a decision the government is appealing. That has led to another unprecedented situation: police are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cew75lx1j72o\">still arresting people<\/a> for holding the placards, despite the courts ruling that the basis for such arrests is unlawful.<\/p>\n<p>The law has never looked more of an ass.<\/p>\n<p>Which is why the government is pinning its hopes on Judge Johnson riding to the rescue on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Johnson has not been shy about showing where his loyalties lie. Not to the law, but to the British security state.<\/p>\n<p>Which should hardly come as a surprise, given his background.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Johnson made it to the bench after years serving as the most favoured barrister of the \u201csecret state\u201d, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/julian-assange-judge-previously-acted-for-mi6\/\">representing the intelligence services<\/a>, the ministry of defence and the police. His working environment of choice as a lawyer was behind-closed-doors prosecutions held out of view of the public or proper legal scrutiny.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"header-anchor-post\">Rigged trials<\/h3>\n<p>Judge Johnson has done precisely nothing to counter the overwhelming impression that the Filton activists\u2019 prosecutions were entirely political. He quite openly rigged both trials in manifold ways, as former British ambassador Craig Murray has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.craigmurray.org.uk\/archives\/2026\/05\/palestine-action-scottish-judicial-review-stitch-up-incoming\/\">set out<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Let me quote from him at length the ways Judge Johnson flagrantly skewed the hearings to the detriment of the activists and justice:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Judge Johnson ruled that the defendants were not permitted to refer to their motives.<\/p>\n<p>He ruled that the jury may not be informed of their absolute right to acquit.<\/p>\n<p>He attempted to have the leading defence barrister, Rajiv Menon KC, prosecuted for contempt of court for informing the jury of their rights.<\/p>\n<p>He ruled that terms including \u2018genocide\u2019 and \u2018ethnic cleansing\u2019 may not be used in court.<\/p>\n<p>He ordered that the notebooks and other writings of the accused be redacted to withhold from the jury any information related to Elbit\u2019s supply of weapons to Israel.<\/p>\n<p>He enforced the concealment from the jury of the nature of the weapons and equipment that had been damaged.<\/p>\n<p>He granted anonymity to senior Elbit staff and admitted their evidence without the defence being able to cross-examine.<\/p>\n<p>He ruled that the trial had *not* been prejudiced by the Secretary of State [Yvette Cooper] and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police [Sir Mark Rowley] stating the offences as fact throughout national media.<\/p>\n<p>He allowed the release to the media of highly edited and selective prosecution video footage during the trial which gave a false impression of events.<\/p>\n<p>He permitted the admission of Metropolitan Police video evidence which they had given over to Elbit\u2019s sole custody for an entire year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In a trial with so many extraordinary anomalous moments, perhaps the most glaring was Judge Johnson\u2019s efforts to get the main defence barrister in the first trial, Rajiv Menon KC, jailed for contempt of court simply for noting to the jury in his summing up speech that they had a <a href=\"https:\/\/jonathancook.substack.com\/p\/barristers-powerful-speech-at-filton\">hundreds-of-years-old right in law<\/a> to acquit.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Keir Starmer and the media need convictions to justify Palestine Action&#8217;s proscription as a terrorist group. In a mesmerising speech, Rajiv Menon KC spells out to the jury why it is a vital last defence against government tyranny.<\/p>\n<p>Read my latest here: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SFMyZGEGq5\">https:\/\/t.co\/SFMyZGEGq5<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pK0rXqw7sP\">pic.twitter.com\/pK0rXqw7sP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Jonathan_K_Cook\/status\/2011417918207406301?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 14, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Judge Johnson\u2019s behaviour was so unprecedented and certain to have a chilling effect on the ability of defence barristers to represent their clients \u2013 the Filton defendants decided to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.declassifieduk.org\/palestine-action-defendants-dismiss-lawyers-to-address-jury-directly\/\">dismiss their barristers<\/a> from summing up in their second trial to avoid their lawyers facing prison for doing their job and defending them \u2013 that the Court of Appeal had no choice but to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/ckgp5k0ex1zo\">overrule<\/a> Judge Johnson\u2019s contempt proceedings against Menon.<\/p>\n<p>Murray rightly concludes: &#8220;That is an astonishing list of nefarious actions by Judge Johnson. Read it again. Many people will surely conclude, it is Judge Johnson who should be in jail.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"header-anchor-post\">Gagging order<\/h3>\n<p>But even with the convictions for criminal damage secured under these rigged conditions, Judge Johnson is still in a position to cause more harm to the rule of law. He is due to sentence the Filton Four on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Johnson has reserved to himself the right to sentence the four anti-genocide activists not just for the relatively minor criminal damage charge they were convicted of after his rigged trial, but \u2013 once again in an unprecedented move \u2013 treat those criminal convictions as if they were for terrorism offences.<\/p>\n<p>That means he can impose a longer sentence, more draconian prison conditions and more onerous, life-long conditions after their release.<\/p>\n<p>The jury knew none of this when they were considering whether to convict. Judge Johnson placed a gagging order on his decision during the trial which meant the information was withheld from the jury and could not be reported until after the verdict. The gag was broken only by <a href=\"https:\/\/thegrayzone.com\/2026\/04\/12\/uk-jail-palestine-action-terrorism-uk\/\">foreign media<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/novaramedia.com\/2026\/04\/23\/zarah-sultana-exposes-attack-on-civil-liberties-that-british-media-cant-report\/\">Zarah Sultana<\/a>, who used her parliamentary privilege to reveal Judge Johnson\u2019s government-friendly, anti-justice machinations.<\/p>\n<p>In yet another unprecedented feature to the trial, this will be the first time in British history that someone accused of criminal damage is sentenced as a terrorist. Judges were only given these extraordinary powers in a highly controversial amendment in 2021 to counter-terrorism legislation.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Johnson\u2019s logic for taking advantage of his extra powers in this case is quite extraordinary too. He argues that, in destroying Elbit\u2019s killer drones, the activists were seeking to \u201cinfluence\u201d the Israeli government to change its policy in Gaza \u2013 that is, to stop committing a genocide.<\/p>\n<p>Putting pressure on governments is what terrorists try to do, he argues, so this must mean the anti-genocide activists are terrorists.<\/p>\n<p>Opposition to the genocide, in Judge Johnson\u2019s view, has to be treated as an aggravating factor, not a mitigating one.<\/p>\n<p>It is all the more astounding that Judge Johnson is using this argument when he refused to allow the jury to hear any evidence of the activists\u2019 larger political motivations: that they wanted to stop British complicity in Israel\u2019s genocide by targeting a factory that made the drones for use in that genocide.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, all this is happening as Starmer\u2019s government makes unprecedented moves to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cn5lxg2l0lqo\">end many jury trials<\/a> in Britain, leaving us to the mercy of judges like Jeremy Johnson.<\/p>\n<p>As Defend Our Juries <a href=\"https:\/\/novaramedia.com\/2026\/06\/05\/palestine-action-defendants-apply-to-remove-biased-judge\/\">notes<\/a>, the government is looking to create \u201can extraordinary and deeply authoritarian precedent, allowing countless more protesters to be tried for an ordinary offence, but secretly sentenced as terrorists, without juries knowing this when they convict\u201d.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"header-anchor-post\">\u2018Cruel and vindictive\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Judge Johnson\u2019s rogue manoeuvrings have so incensed the legal profession that thousands signed a petition demanding that he take the chance last Monday to recuse himself from the sentencing hearing. He, of course, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeasteye.net\/news\/judge-palestine-action-trial-refuses-remove-himself-sentencing-hearing-amid-bias-claims\">refused<\/a> to do so.<\/p>\n<p>They call his behaviour during the trial \u201cbiased\u201d and \u201cdiscriminatory conduct\u201d and have referred him to the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.<\/p>\n<p>Watch David Whyte, professor of law at Queen Mary\u2019s University of London, who handed the petition to the JCIO, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4rOzoQAjAhg\">explaining<\/a> another reason why so many legal professionals are outraged by Judge Johnson\u2019s actions: he has shown exceptional \u201ccruelty and vindictiveness\u201d in holding the activists in remand for more than three times the normal maximums, even when the prosecution was not asking for them to be remanded, and for refusing them bail between their convictions and sentencing.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4rOzoQAjAhg?si=G3o9VEsT5tquaQBC\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Court of Appeal is due to issue its ruling on the government\u2019s appeal against the earlier High Court decision declaring Palestine Action\u2019s proscription unlawful this coming Monday, days after Judge Johnson\u2019s sentencing of the Filton activists.<\/p>\n<p>If this is all starting to look like theatre, that is because it is. In dictatorships, these are called show trials. Everyone understands that the outcome is predetermined. Everyone understands that justice is non-existent. The verdict is entirely political. It is a faux-legal rationalisation of what the security state wants.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Johnson is the perfect judge to play that part.<\/p>\n<p>The courts will do exactly what is expected of them unless they are worried that public revulsion will discredit their decision. Now is the time to raise our voices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Judge Johnson so rigged the trial of anti-genocide activists that 1000s of legal professionals have urged him to step down from the sentencing hearing. But Johnson&#8217;s dirty work is not yet complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[69,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-6548","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-uk-politics","9":"tag-war-industries"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6548"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6552,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6548\/revisions\/6552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}