DEFEND OUR JURIES slammed "feeble attempts" to derail Saturday's upcoming protest against Palestine Action's proscription today as police "rushed through" the first charges for showing support for the group.

Jeremy Shippam, 71, of West Sussex, Judit Murray, 71, of Surrey, and Fiona Maclean, 53, of Hackney, north-east London, were charged under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000. 

They were arrested in Westminster following a protest in central London on July 5 and are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 16. They are accused of displaying an article in a public place, arousing reasonable suspicion that they are a supporter of a proscribed organisation.

The charges were announced after the organisers of Saturday’s demonstration, Defend Our Juries (DOJ), vowed protests would continue until a High Court challenge over Palestine Action’s ban in November.

Earlier this week the group revealed more than 500 people are expected to attend a sit-down protest in Parliament Square.

DOJ organiser and former government lawyer Tim Crosland told a press conference on Wednesday that "there’s a sense there aren’t going to be charges before the judicial review."

The group said today the charges "have been rushed through for three people" before the hearing and "it’s embarrassing that the British government has got itself into such a panic over peaceful people protesting against the genocide in Parliament Square. 

"After all the talk about 14 years' imprisonment, the charges are for section 13, which is relatively a very minor offence. 

"Do Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper really think these feeble attempts to intimidate will keep people away? 

"It’s having precisely the opposite effect, confirming to us the power of our collective action and our cardboard signs.”

Met Police Counter Terrorism Commander Dominic Murphy said: “Anyone who displays public support for Palestine Action, a proscribed organisation, is committing an offence under the Terrorism Act and can expect to be arrested and as these charges show, will be investigated to the full extent of the law.

“We are also planning to send case files to the Crown Prosecution Service for the other 26 people arrested on the same day.”

Defend Our Juries also warned that its website had been taken down on Wednesday night as an “attack on freedom of speech worsens.”