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Conservatives celebrate British far-right activist’s release from prison

Tommy Robinson won an appeal against his contempt of court conviction.

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David Gilmour

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Conservatives rejoiced Wednesday over the release of controversial British far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who was freed from prison on bail after an appeals court overturned a contempt of court charge and sentence.

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The court of appeals judge in England found that part of the ruling made against Robinson, who received a 13-month sentence in May when he pleaded guilty to breaching reporting restrictions, was “flawed” and ordered a retrial.

Outside the Royal Courts of Justice, his supporters and anti-fascist protesters chanted at one another, separated by police, while Robinson promptly paid bail and was freed.

American right-wing media personalities and publications had rallied behind the 35-year-old, a former leader of the far-right, anti-Muslim English Defence League whose real name is Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon. His supporters celebrated online and hailed a victory for free speech.

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A Breitbart News op-ed praised the release of Robinson, who it described as a “brave, decent, principled man.”

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President Donald Trump’s supporters on reddit and across the internet were also thrilled.

Robinson was arrested after attempting to film defendants on a social media livestream in a controversial court case in northern England, which was subject to reporting restrictions. For breaking the restrictions, he had been given 10 months for contempt of court with a further 3 months added because of a suspended sentence.

Robinson’s British supporters led protests in London and rallied online under #FreeTommy. The global hard-right flocked to Robinson’s cause, pushing the conviction as a freedom of speech issue and raising petitions for his release.

Robinson was also gifted over $26,000 in financial donations via bitcoin as American right-wing personalities, in particular, began to raise awareness. Fox News host Tucker Carlson covered the story, and many right-wing influencers wrote about Robinson online.

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While conservative commentary viewed the sentencing through a First Amendment lens, the reporting restriction measures Robinson breached are a long-standing part of the British legal system and put in place in certain court cases to prevent an unfair verdict that might prejudice the jury. Far from a censorship action directed at Robinson, all media outlets must abide until the case is finished and were doing so.

The appeals court judge on Wednesday harshly criticized technical flaws by the judge who jailed Robinson in May. He had been rushed from arrest to court too quickly (in a mere five-hour time period) and had removed the offending video from Facebook on the court’s order. Rather than sentencing him at that time, the judge should have adjourned to allow a defense to be mounted by Robinson’s legal team.

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Robinson’s retrial is likely to take place in September.

 
The Daily Dot