A jury has been discharged after failing to reach a verdict in the trial of a Sussex University student who was accused of expressing support for Hamas.
Hanin Barghouthi, 24, was alleged to have voiced her support in a speech at the Clock Tower, in Brighton, on the day after the attacks in Israel on Saturday 7 October 2023.
Barghouthi, from Brighton, was charged with expressing an “opinion or belief” in support of the proscribed organisation and went on trial at Kingston Crown Court last week.
But today (Thursday 12 March), the jury sent a note to Judge Peter Lodder to say that they could not reach a verdict, having retired on Tuesday morning.
The judge discharged the jurors after their 15 hours of deliberations, telling them: “It is clear that you have tried very hard to do so. But you made clear that there will be, in your own words, no movement.”
Michael Bisgrove, prosecuting, told the court that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was expected to share its decision next week as to whether there would be a retrial.
Barghouthi, who denies a single count of expressing support for a proscribed organisation, is due back in court for a hearing next Friday.
During the trial, the court was shown footage of the speech in which Barghouthi can be heard telling the crowd that “yesterday was a victory” and was “beautiful and inspiring to see”.
She said: “We need to celebrate these acts of resistance because this is a success.”
In her evidence, she told jurors that she had “not known” the full details of what had occurred on Saturday 7 October when she made the speech a day later.
She described seeing a video on the morning of Saturday 7 October which appeared to show a “breakout”, during which civilians used a digger to drive into a wall in Gaza.
The defendant said that she had not known about what had happened at the Nova music festival and had not been aware of any hostages and kidnappings.
She told the jury: “I do not support Hamas.”
Michael Mansfield, defending, told the jury during the trial that Barghouthi was a “young woman of good character” who is “without any background in terrorism whatsoever”.
He said that there was no mention of Hamas in the speech made by Barghouthi and that she was concerned with “human rights”.
He added: “What she’s on about is Palestine – not Hamas.”
At the time of the rally, Barghouthi was studying sociology and culture at Sussex University where she was co-president of the feminist society.
The court was told that Barghouthi had also been elected as women’s officer for the student union but did not continue in the role.
