We have come together to stand in solidarity with Rajiv Menon KC, the criminal defence barrister from Garden Court Chambers, who is facing contempt of court proceedings. We do so as individuals and organisations concerned about violence against women and women’s rights and freedoms.
Menon has been cited for contempt in relation to the closing speech he made to the jury at the trial of Charlotte Head and her fellow activists from Palestine Action: they had been charged with various criminal offences arising out of their protest against an Israeli arms factory in the UK. The context, of course, is provided by the grave and ongoing human rights violations amounting to crimes against humanity and genocide in Palestine - atrocities about which the British state would rather we remain silent so that they can remain complicit.
As women’s rights defenders, we have a duty to speak out and stop his persecution. Now more than ever, we need to come together in collective defence of Rajiv Menon and, by extension, our own rights as well as those of others who are under assault in the UK and elsewhere.
Sign up to lend support to this statement as an individual or organisation here: comms@projectresist.org.uk