Speech by Brighton student was ‘not supportive’ of Hamas, jury told

A speech made by a former Sussex University student accused of supporting Hamas a day after its militants entered Israel was “not supportive” of the proscribed organisation and was not intended to be, her lawyer told a jury.

Hanin Barghouthi, 24, is accused of expressing an “opinion or belief” in support of the militant group in a speech at a rally at the Clock Tower, in Brighton, on Sunday 8 October 2023.

Jurors at Kingston Crown Court have previously been shown footage of the demonstration.

Barghouthi can be heard telling the crowd that “yesterday was a victory” and was “beautiful and inspiring to see”.

At the same court today (Monday 9 March), Michael Mansfield, defending, referred to her four-minute speech and said “what she says was not supportive of Hamas, objectively, and it wasn’t intended to be”.

He spoke of the defendant’s reference to “freedom fighters” and said that she was speaking about “those among the Palestinian population who are fighting for freedom”, adding that this was “not Hamas”.

He discussed her use of the words “beautiful and inspiring to see” and said that she was not talking about Hamas but was referring to “a breakout”.

Earlier in the trial, Barghouthi told jurors that she had “not known” the full details of what had happened on Saturday 7 October.

She said that she had only seen a video of a digger knocking down a wall in Gaza, adding that she “didn’t believe there was more news other than the breakout”.

Today (Monday 9 March), Michael Bisgrove, prosecuting, said in his closing speech that on Sunday 8 October the defendant “knew she was talking about Hamas”.

He told the court: “She was expressing and sharing her support for Hamas and the attack that was carried out the day before.”

Barghouthi, from Brighton, previously pleaded not guilty to a single count of expressing support for a proscribed organisation, namely Hamas.

The trial continues.