Rajiv Menon KC, a long-standing human rights lawyer and the barrister who appeared in court for Charlotte Head, one of the Filton 6, is facing contempt of court proceedings. Menon has a principled history in the anti-racist movement and has been known to FRFI for years. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to two years in prison and struck off as a barrister.
At the end of the first Filton trial in January 2026, Menon in his closing speech reminded the jury that the judge could not direct them to convict and that they hold an absolute right to deliberate using their conscience. He also referred to the fact that the defendants had been prevented from giving evidence about Elbit Systems UK, the Israeli arms company they had targeted. The jury refused to convict any of the Filton 6 and acquitted them on some of their more serious charges. The judge in the case, Jeremy Johnson, subsequently accused Menon of misleading the jury, and initiated contempt of court proceedings against him. This is the first time in British legal history that a barrister faces prosecution for a closing speech. Anticipating attempts from the judge to censor any political defence, the defendants in their retrial ‘sacked’ their lawyers and gave their own closing statements to the jury. Four of them, including Head, were found guilty of criminal damage.
Having failed with his first attempt to prosecute Menon in May, Johnson has since referred the case to a different judge, Matthew Nicklin, who issued a court order stating that he was ‘satisfied that there is evidence which raises a prima facie case that the Respondent may have acted in contempt of court and that it is in the public interest for contempt proceedings to be instituted by the Court’.
This is a direct attack on lawyers who dare to bring politics into the courtroom. The objective is clear: intimidate defence barristers with the threat of proceedings in order to help secure convictions in politically motivated cases. As always, British justice protects British imperialism. In the streets and in the courts we must continue to fight back against the tightening of repression.
Sarah Guebre-Egziabher
