Far-right figure jailed in UK for repeating false claims against Syrian refugee

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – Far-right British Islamophobic activist Tommy Robinson on Monday began serving an 18-month sentence for contempt of court by repeating libelous claims against a Syrian refugee, local media reported.

Robinson, 41, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was accused of "thumbing his nose at the court" in front of millions of people by breaching a 2021 High Court order on multiple occasions, including airing a documentary at a rally in London’s Trafalgar Square in July.

During a trial at London’s Woolwich Crown Court, Robinson admitted that he had committed the breaches after being asked by Justice Johnson, the BBC reported.

On Friday, Kent police said that Robinson had been arrested at the direction of the court.

It added that Robinson has also been charged with refusing to provide his phone’s PIN to officers who stopped and questioned him in July.

After a video went viral in 2018 showing how Jamal Hijazi, a Syrian in West Yorkshire, had been attacked by another teenager, Robinson on Facebook accused Hijazi of being a violent thug.

The Syrian teenager and his family later got death threats.

Three years later, Hijazi won £100,000 ($130,000) in damages when the court ruled Robinson's claims against him amounted to defamation and imposed an injunction on the far-right figure, banning him from making the false claims again.

But in February 2922, Robinson began repeating the claims and went on to post a film online claiming he had been "silenced" by the state.

This July, he showed the film to thousands of his supporters in Trafalgar Square, saying he would not be silenced.

Many also accuse Robinson of being one of the main figures behind anti-immigrant riots and protests across the UK this summer fueled by disinformation.

A warrant was issued for the former English Defence League (EDL) leader's arrest after he failed to appear for a contempt of court hearing at the end of July.