Thursday, September 08, 2011

Tommy Robinson Legal Fund

Free Tommy!

The English Defence League has set up a legal defense fund for Tommy Robinson. Here’s the relevant information from the EDL website, including a Paypal link and instructions for bank transfers:

Tommy Robinson Legal Fund

In Tower Hamlets Tommy made a very clear statement:

“When you let me out of court with any bail conditions that restrict my democratic right to oppose militant Islam, I will break them the minute I walk out of that court room.”

The question then becomes: is Tommy Robinson being held captive because he has dared to challenge the authority of the court (in the way that radical Muslims and supporters of Sharia Law do every day), or because he dared to challenge the government’s view that we should engage with, appease, and even fund militant Islam?

What is more dangerous, the possibility that Tommy Robinson may inspire people with similar restrictions on their freedoms to violate their bail conditions or that his example will once again underline the fact that the government’s counter-extremism strategies just don’t work?

Tommy is currently in a cell in Bedford Prison, having broken his bail conditions in order to attend the EDL demonstration in Tower Hamlets. There were many good reasons why we chose to demonstrate in Tower Hamlets, and Tommy simply felt that he could not sit idly by whilst the movement he founded took to the streets to protest against the formation of Britain’s ‘Islamic Republic’ (not our words, but those of a “very senior figure in the Tower Hamlets Labour Party”).

Ever since the EDL was founded we have found ourselves battling against politicians, but we have also sought to maintain a commitment to peaceful protest, respect the role played by the police, and never seek to undermine the law of the land. Tommy’s decision to break his bail conditions was, therefore, far from an easy one. It was not a reckless decision, but one made with a full appreciation of the likely consequences.

Tommy judged that the right to free speech, the right to peaceful protest, and his duty to speak out against the tyrannical influence of radical Islam, outweighed the court’s decision to place such strict limitations on his freedoms; a decision lent weight by the European Court of Human Rights’ rulings on the right to freedom of assembly.

He judged, quite rightly, that in breaking his bail conditions he would treated far more harshly than we have seen radical Muslims treated. He was certain this would send a clear signal to anyone concerned about freedom of speech or about the influence of radical Islam in this country, that our freedoms are under attack, and the government, the courts, and the media are yet to wake up to the threat. In the worst cases, they’re even complicit in this attack on freedom.

If anything, the fact that Tommy will spend the rest of the week in prison just confirms what many of us will have suspected for a long time: the charges against him are motivated more by politics than they are by the desire to see justice done.

It’s now time for us all to make a statement:

We need to support Tommy to ensure justice is served and Tommy is acquitted and his freedom and liberty is respected. You can show your support for Tommy by making a donation to his legal fees. Tommy deserves the best legal representation we can provide, but we need to ask for donations in order to achieve that. You can make a contribution, no matter how big or small in any of the following ways:

Paypal:
payments@englishdefenceleague.org

Bank Transfer:
Swift Code: barcgb22
IBAN: gb58barc
Sort Code: 20-53-30
Account: 43463583

3 comments:

Nick said...

I'm sure that Pamela Geller will be contributing to Tommy's defence; after all she's just written another book. Maybe she and Spencer will send some of their royalties somewhere other than their own bank accounts.

Then again maybe not, eh ...

Gregory said...

Wish that I hadn't been out of work for so long. I would be happy to send him a few shekels. All I can do now is pray for him.

Durotrigan said...

It's very sad that he is currently imprisoned and I hope that his release is secured soon. This comes at a time when his interview has just been broadcast to millions of listeners on Radio 4's influential 'Today Programme'. Interestingly, he was allowed to put his position across and, in a perhaps significant development, the normally rigidly PC John Humphrys almost seemed to acknowledge that the EDL may have a point when it comes to Islamisation. See what you think of the following broadcast transcript and commentary: http://durotrigan.blogspot.com/2011/09/john-humphreys-on-luton-islam-and-edl.html