Women charged with terror offence over paraglider images at pro-Palestine march

Two women have been charged under the Terrorism Act in connection with displaying images of paragliders at a pro-Palestine rally in London.

Heba Alhayey, 29, and Pauline Ankunda, 26, are accused of ‘displaying an article, namely an image displaying a paraglider, to arouse reasonable suspicion that they are supporters of a proscribed organisation, namely Hamas’, the CPS said.

It comes after social media footage of a protest in Whitehall on October 14 showed a pair of women with the image taped to their tops, while a third held a placard with it.

Militants from Hamas, banned as a terror organisation by the UK, used paragliders to enter Israel from Gaza on October 7 before killing more than 1,000 Israelis.

The women have both been bailed before they appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 10.

Nick Price, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said: ‘Criminal proceedings against the two women are active and they each have the right to a fair trial.

‘It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.

‘The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider.’

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