Journalist and activist Tommy Robinson condemned a ruling that found him guilty of contempt of court, for which he now faces jail time, and slammed the British government for hypocrisy while talking to Ruptly.
After Friday’s court proceedings, Robinson joined a crowd of supporters and journalists outside of London’s Old Bailey courthouse to comment on the decision.
“The British government continually slams Russia, continually slams China about free speech and their treatment of journalists,” Robinson told a reporter with Ruptly.
“I’m going to be sent to prison next week because I asked, as a journalist, ‘how do you feel about your sentence?’” he added, describing the actions for which he was first arrested last year.
The activist is accused of violating a government order to delay the publication of details related to dozens of criminal cases involving suspects charged with sexual predation of children, which the court says Robinson disregarded by filming the suspects as they entered a courthouse in May last year. While the order was issued to ensure the suspects received a fair trial, Robinson says the restrictions are eroding press freedoms in Britain.
Robinson was initially arrested and sentenced to 13 months in jail for the incident, but was released after two months following a successful appeal. The case was then sent back to attorney general’s office, which filed new charges in March.
Also on rt.com Tommy Robinson found guilty of contempt of court, faces jail for social media broadcast“The original charges have completely changed – the charges I was released from prison for, the charges I was cleared on – they spent 5 months sitting, looking, and invented more charges,” he said.
Robinson maintains that he shared information that was already in the public domain and that he did not run afoul of the government ordinance.
“I read off a BBC news website, ok? Everything I read, everything I said that day was already in the public domain,” he said.
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