After months of legal battles and public turmoil, the increasingly popular figure has given Britain’s Sky News the inside scoop on why he decided to storm a courtroom in the southeast English city of Canterbury, breaking the law.
The right-wing British political activist, Tommy Robinson, has said that he “doesn’t care” if he “incites fear” of Muslims as long as it “prevents children from getting raped.”
Robinson, the founder of the ‘English Defence League’ (EDL), made his comments in an interview with the UK’s Sky News television network on Thursday, September 27, 2018.
The interview was largely focused on Robinson being found guilty of contempt of court in May of last year for live-streaming the suspects of what was at that time an ongoing case in Canterbury court into the alleged gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl.
Four men, Shershah Muslimyar, Tamin Rahmani, Rafiullah Hamidy, and a 17-year-old who cannot be named for legal reasons, were later convicted for the crime.
At the time, Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, repeatedly referred to the convicted as “Muslim child rapists” and “Muslim paedophiles.” Judges were concerned that Robinson’s live-streaming of the suspects on Facebook could have prejudiced the jury and risked the integrity of the trial.
In the Sky interview, when probed about the importance of respecting the law and the right of the suspects to a fair trial without outside influence, Robinson retorted by explaining that, “if I believe I’m morally right then I’m not bothered about what your law says.”
“All I wanted to do was get a video of their faces and I want every single child and parent who lives in that vicinity to know what those men were alleged to have done,” he said.
Sky also asked the former EDL leader whether he felt like his actions contributed to the possible demonisation of Britain’s Muslim community, to which Robinson replied, “to be honest with you, I don’t care if it incites fear as long as it educates the children and prevents them from being raped.”
Mr Robinson received a three-month jail sentence after recording the suspects, which was suspended for 18 months on the condition that he did not commit any more offences. Canterbury’s leading judge, Heather Norton, reportedly gave Robinson an ear-bashing in the courtroom as he was handed the sentence, saying that, “this is not about free speech, not about the freedom of the press, nor about legitimate journalism, and not about political correctness. It is about justice and ensuring that a trial can be carried out justly and fairly. It’s about being innocent until proven guilty. It is about preserving the integrity of the jury to continue without people being intimidated or being affected by irresponsible and inaccurate ‘reporting,’ if that’s what it was.”
Mr Robinson also told Sky News that since his ordeal in Canterbury, he has received legal training in order to avoid such trouble again in the future.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
