Stephen Yaxley-Lennonalso known as Tommy Robinsonreceived an 18-month prison sentence on Monday. A British court found him guilty of contempt of court.
Robinson violated a court order related to a libel case filed by Jamal Hijazi, a Syrian refugee. The order prohibited Robinson from repeating false claims about Hijazi. The claims involved allegations of Hijazi bullying and threatening other students.
Hijazi sued Robinson for libel in 2021.He won the case in London’s High Court and received 100,000 British pounds (approximately $130,000) in damages.
In the recent development, tech mogul Elon Musk took to X to lend support to Robinson. In a post on X, Musk asked, “Why is he in prison for 18 months?”. He shared post shared by Robinson’s team about his time in prison.
Earlier on July 2024, Musk shared a post on his X handle asking why Robinson had been arrested, tweeting: ‘What did he do that was considered terrorism?’
Robinson, 41, founded the English Defence League (EDL), a nationalist and anti-Islamist organization. He has faced legal issues in the past, including imprisonment for offenses like assault, contempt of court, and mortgage fraud.
Earlier this summer, some media and politicians accused Robinson of inciting protests that contributed to unrest in England and Northern Ireland. The unrest followed the murder of three young girls in Southport.
Robinson was unable to attend the London rally due to his current imprisonment. Despite this, a large number of his supporters participated in the event.
Robinson was banned from Twitter in 2018 but was later reinstated following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform, now known as X. He currently has a following of 1 million on the social network.
