Two women pictured at a pro-Palestinian march in London carrying photos of paragliders have been charged with terrorism offences.
The incident happened on 14 October in Whitehall during a march after the 7 October attack on Israel, when Hamas militants used paragliders to cross the border between Gaza and Israel.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Heba Alhayey, 29, and Pauline Ankunda, 26, had been charged “with single counts of carrying or displaying an article, namely an image displaying a paraglider, to arouse reasonable suspicion that they are supporters of a proscribed organisation, namely Hamas, on Saturday 14 October 2023”.
Both women are from south London. Counter-terrorism detectives renewed an appeal to track down a third woman police said was with them, who is also alleged to have held up a photo of a paraglider.
Following the release of their photos last week, the two women handed themselves in at a London police station.
Dominic Murphy, the head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “We have worked swiftly and decisively to investigate this matter and that has led to these two women being charged with terrorism offences only a week after issuing our public appeal.
“We know that the public are very concerned about some people using the veil of legitimate protest to carry out criminal or even terrorist activity and we have shown that we will do everything we can to identify where that happens and that we will seek to bring those who may be responsible to face justice.”
The maximum sentence for the offence if proven is six months’ imprisonment. Both women have been bailed to appear on 10 November at Westminster magistrates court.
Murphy added that the Met also wanted to locate a man at a later protest pictured with a sign declaring support for Hamas: “My officers are working night and day with our colleagues across the country to investigate suspected terrorism offences committed in the real world and online.
“The public’s support is vital to us and I’m grateful to everyone who has reported information to us already … I urge anyone who has information about the man and woman we are still seeking to get in touch. Equally, should the people in the pictures recognise themselves, then I also urge them to come forward so we can speak with them.”
