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Two prominent leaders in the Palestine solidarity movement in Britain have been found guilty of breaching protest conditions.

Ben Jamal, 62, the director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), and Chris Nineham, 63, vice-chair of the Stop the War Coalition, were accused of failing to comply with conditions imposed on a protest on 18 January 2025. They were subsequently charged with public order offences.

The 18 January protest was one of 34 national pro-Palestine demonstrations held since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

On Wednesday, Jamal and Nineham were found guilty after a trial at Westminster magistrates court. Judge Sternberg said in his verdict that the conditions imposed were lawful and necessary, and that both defendants clearly knew them.

Jamal was also convicted of two counts of inciting other protesters to breach police conditions. Sternberg said the speech Jamal made at the protest constituted incitement because it was “a suggestion, persuasion, and inducement” encouraging a breach of the conditions.

“Protest rights, while fundamental, are not absolute and do not permit breaching lawfully imposed conditions,” the judge said in his verdict.

The Metropolitan police have faced significant criticism over their handling of the protest in central London, at which more than 70 people were arrested.

Trade union leaders were among legal experts, MPs and peers who called for an independent inquiry into what they described as “repressive and heavy-handed policing” at the 18 January demonstration.

Previous marches, which took place after Israeli forces launched the assault on Gaza after the 7 October 2023 Hames-led attack on Israel, had passed largely without incident. Relations between police and organisers, including the PSC, had been considered cordial.

Campaigners said they wanted the march to start or end at BBC headquarters in Portland Place to protest against the public broadcaster’s coverage of the war in Gaza. They said the location had been used twice previously without incident and they had accepted the conditions set by police, but alleged the Metropolitan police later reneged on an agreement over the starting point and imposed an “unprecedented exclusion zone”.

The Met said it placed conditions on the protest after factoring in “the cumulative impact” on Jewish Londoners, adding that the march was in the vicinity of synagogues. Officers said they believed there was a coordinated effort to breach those conditions.

A number of critical letters were sent to the force alleging it falsely accused protesters carrying flowers – including the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and his former shadow chancellor John McDonnell – of forcing their way through police lines, when video footage appeared to show they had initially been waved through by officers.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the court on Wednesday morning. The public gallery was full of the defendants’ supporters, including Corbyn, as the judge delivered the verdicts.