A three-day judicial review into the government's decision to ban the campaign group Palestine Action as a "terrorist organisation" began, with Amnesty International UK arguing the move was a "disproportionate misuse" of counter-terrorism powers.
The group was officially designated a "terrorist group" on July 5, 2025.
Since then, more than 2,200 people have been arrested under terrorism legislation, with 254 charged solely for taking part in peaceful protests.
Amnesty and the civil liberties organisation Liberty are intervening in the case.
They say the proscription marks a significant break from the UK’s traditional approach to protest movements that use direct action, and argue it breaches Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK's director of campaigns and communications, said in a statement that the "proscription of Palestine Action was an enormous overreach of the UK’s terrorism powers and should never have happened."
"The UK has a deeply flawed and overly broad definition of terrorism, which human rights monitors, including Amnesty International, have been warning about for years. Palestine Action's proscription only serves to highlight that those warnings were justified.
"The consequences of the proscription decision have been chilling. Over the past four months, organisations have been silenced, and thousands of people have been arrested for sitting peacefully with placards saying they support Palestine Action," he said.
"The Government must wake up and realise that the world is watching, and that people are extremely disturbed by the erosion of protest rights in the UK."
The Two Davies' arrest
The latest arrests in the UK against people who support Palestine Action happened on Wednesday in Scotland, after two podcasters — David McGuiness and David Milligan — were arrested under the UK "Terrorism Act 2000" for opposing Palestine Action's ban.
The Scottish daily The National said they had been arrested "for showing support for a proscribed organisation," with a report to be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal, a public prosecutor in Scotland who decides whether to bring criminal charges against someone.
It is understood that the charges relate to a video the pair recorded opposing the UK government's decision regarding the designation.
In a Facebook video, McGuiness said he had been arrested at home in the early morning.
"The serious crime squad came to my front door and arrested me under section one of the Criminal Justice Act Scotland, where I was taken to Motherwell Police station, where I was then charged under section 12 of the UK Terrorism Act," he said. "So, we went from being an extremist to being a bloody terrorist."
"I believe that my colleague and co-presenter Mr. Milligan is in Clydebank cop shop right now, where he is also being charged under the Terrorism Act," he added.
McGuiness said he had been released with "no restrictions," adding: "So folks, I guess I'm now on the watch list officially."
