Statement on the Arrest of Activists under the Terrorism Act

1 December, 2025: Scottish PEN stands in solidarity with writers, artists and activists arrested in Scotland and charged under the Terrorism Act for protesting in support of the ideal of one humanity living in peace in one world. These protesters include acclaimed Scottish screenwriter Paul Laverty and Scottish PEN’s Vice President, Lizzie Eldridge. We support their recent refusal to accept a warning from the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal in relation to these actions. 

Paul Laverty burns his letters from the Crown Office offering him the chance to take a warning instead of going to court on terror charges

(Image [via The National]: Billy Knox/Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee)

As has recently been noted by PEN International and our colleagues at English PEN and Wales PEN Cymru, the use of anti-terrorism powers to target protesters marks a dangerous departure from the principles that underpin a society based on respect for fundamental rights. While unlawful conduct should be addressed under the criminal law, using the exceptional powers under the Terrorism Act risks criminalising political expression and sets a troubling precedent for how dissent is treated in the UK. Peaceful protesters speaking out in support of peace and against these measures should not be subject to a crackdown on freedom of expression and the right to protest that has seen Police Scotland arrive unannounced at people’s homes in order to arrest them under terror legislation.

Paul Laverty and Lizzie Eldridge were wearing t-shirts that have been alleged to indicate support for Palestine Action, a protest group proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government in July. When that proscription was first proposed, Scottish PEN joined PEN International, English PEN and Wales PEN Cymru in calling on the UK Government to refrain from proscribing Palestine Action and to ensure that counter-terrorism laws are not misused to suppress legitimate expression or protest. We also urged the UK Parliament to scrutinise the broader implications of the proscription action for the rule of law in the UK.

It is now clear that our concerns were well-founded. Counter-terrorism laws, and the Terrorism Act specifically, are being used suppress protest by people in Scotland and across the United Kingdom against the continuing genocide in Palestine.Scottish PEN continues to give its full support to Paul Laverty, Lizzie Eldridge, and other writers and citizens who would exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly, in accordance with the PEN International Charter. Not least, we reiterate yet again our commitment to the ideals of the PEN Charter – that the necessary advance of the world towards a more highly organized political and economic order renders a free criticism of governments, administrations and institutions imperative, and that we pledge to oppose any form of suppression of freedom of expression in the country and community to which they belong, as well as throughout the world wherever this is possible.