ENGLISH Defence League members held a protest yesterday (Wednesday) outside Bedford Prison, where the organisation’s leader Stephen Lennon is being held.
He was arrested on Sunday for breaking bail conditions by attending a demo in London, and was remanded in custody at Luton Magistrates’ Court on Monday. He was charged with breaching bail conditions imposed on him by Blackburn Magistrates’ Court, where he is due to go on trial on September 29.
The trial relates to an EDL protest in the Lancashire town on April 2, during which it is alleged he assaulted a man, a charge he denies.
The EDL says Mr Lennon, who calls himself Tommy Robinson, is ‘a patriot and a martyr’, and said he was on hunger strike because he was a “political prisoner”.
They encouraged members to demonstrate outside the prison to show their “disgust as what could be the final nail in the coffin for free speech”.
Mr Lennon addressed EDL members in London on Saturday after travelling to the event disguised in a beard and hat, which the Jewish Chronicle website said was intended to make him look like a rabbi.
One supporter outside Bedford Prison said: “The EDL is a saving grace for the working classes and people who are opposed to the working classes are opposed to the EDL.
“We believe that if you commit a crime you should accept the punishment but his bail conditions were against his human rights.”
See Natalee Hazelwood’s video of the prison protest at www.lutontoday.co.uk
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