BELFAST — A London Magistrates' Court dismissed a terrorism charge against Kneecap member Mo Chara that stemmed from his alleged display of a Hezbollah flag during a performance. Mo Chara denied the charge, saying he picked up a flag thrown onto the stage without knowing what it represented.

Kneecap, a Belfast-based Irish hip-hop trio, split seven weeks of album recording to attend the proceedings in London. The group performed a gig at Wembley Stadium while Chara faced the court case.

The trio got their start rapping about drugs and their ire toward the British government, and they rap primarily in Irish while also using English in their lyrics. Kneecap is known for pro-Palestinian activism and for being outspoken critics of Israel. Canada and Hungary have banned the group from entering or performing there. A Canadian Parliamentary secretary said last year that Kneecap's music amplified political violence. Chara said the group never lost or had their North American visas stripped.

The court proceedings coincided with the release of the band's third album, Fenian. "We want to be taken more seriously as musicians," Chara said of the new record.

On the album, Kneecap reclaims the word "Fenian" from the Irish language. The term originally referred to an ancient Irish warrior and was embraced in the 18th and 19th centuries by Irish rebels fighting for freedom from the British. In modern times, the word was used as a derogatory slur against Irish people in Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K. Ireland was Britain's first colony for 800 years.

The album includes the song "Palestine," which features Palestinian rapper Fawzi and expresses Irish solidarity with Palestinians during Israel's war in Gaza. The track "Irish Goodbye" honors one bandmate's mother who died by suicide. The song "Carnival" includes recordings of fans shouting "Free Mo Chara" outside a courthouse.