A London court has found 22-year-old British woman Sarah Cotte not guilty of expressing support for Hamas during a speech at her university in 2023.
Cotte was accused of supporting Hamas after giving a speech outside the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London on October 9, 2023, two days after Hamas-led attacks on Israel.
Prosecutors argued that her expression of “unconditional solidarity” with the Palestinian resistance was a reference to Hamas. However, Cotte denied supporting the group and told the court that she was expressing support for Palestinians’ right to resist.
“I don’t support Hamas and I have never supported Hamas,” she said during the trial.
The jury at the Central Criminal Court, commonly known as the Old Bailey, returned a not-guilty verdict on September 18, 2026, following a week-long trial.
Cotte said after the verdict that she believed the decision was significant for people campaigning in support of Palestinians. She also said she had wanted to focus attention on the Palestinian struggle and freedom of expression.
Hamas has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation in its entirety under UK law since 2021. Supporting a proscribed organisation can carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
Cotte was arrested on January 31, 2024. She had previously been cleared of a separate allegation that she expressed support for Hamas in a WhatsApp group.
The advocacy group CAGE International welcomed the latest verdict, saying it demonstrated that support for Palestinians’ right to resist occupation should not automatically be treated as support for Hamas.
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