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Kneecap rapper Mo Chara, also known as Liam O’Hanna, has been charged with a terrorism offence over allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London concert last November.

The hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London is expected to hear legal arguments on whether the charge falls outside a six-month time limit, a court official confirmed.

Since Hezbollah was banned in the UK in 2019, it has been an offence to show support for the Iran-backed Lebanese force.

Kneecap has grabbed headlines for statements denouncing Israel’s assault on Gaza.

The hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London comes amid a growing controversy surrounding support for banned organisations.

More than 700 people have been arrested, mostly at demonstrations, since the Palestine Action group was also outlawed in early July under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The government ban on Palestine Action came into force days after it took responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England that caused an estimated $9.3 million of damage to two aircraft.

The group said its activists were responding to Britain’s indirect military support for Israel during the war in Gaza.

Supporting a proscribed group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Hundreds of fans cheered outside the central London court in June when O’Hanna, Liam Og O hAnnaidh in Gaelic, made his first appearance in June.

Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the previous hearing that the case was “not about Mr O’Hanna’s support for the people of Palestine or his criticism of Israel. He is well within his rights to voice his opinions and his solidarity,” Bisgrove said.

Instead, the prosecutor said, the case was about O’Hanna wearing and displaying “the flag of Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organisation, while allegedly saying ‘Up Hamas, up Hezbollah’.”

The punk-rap group has said the video that led to the charge was taken out of context.

Last year, Kneecap was catapulted to international fame by a film based on them that scooped multiple awards, including at the Sundance festival.