Daily Mirror

This isn’t political, he threatened defendants’ right to a fair trial

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TOMMY Robinson is not a political prisoner. He is not a victim of UK censorship. Nor is he living in a country “straight out of George Orwell’s 1984”.

It’s been claimed online that the UK press had colluded with the authoritie­s to cover up what happened.

And that Britain is now an authoritar­ian state where the Government orders media FURY Robinson’s supporters protest outside Downing Street blackouts. None of it is true. This is what happened: Robinson filmed himself ranting about a court case which has been subject to a blanket reporting ban.

If a member of the jury had seen his video, it could have prejudiced their verdict when deciding whether the defendants were innocent or guilty.

Robinson’s actions threatened the right of people to a fair trail and that is why he was in contempt of court.

Our court reporting rules are not perfect. This paper and others frequently challenge them if we believe they are too heavy-handed. But we accept the rule of law. So should Robinson’s supporters.

You can put faith in the rumours, conspiracy theories and accusation­s that spread like wildfire through social media.

Or you can trust a system of justice that is the keystone of a fair and decent society.

Read more at mirror.co.uk:/authors/ jason-beattie/

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