British anti-Islam Tommy Robinson was arrested on Sunday July 28 following a protest he organized in London under schedule seven of the Terrorism Act 2000. Robinson was released earlier today, July 29, at 12:15 am on bail.

Robinson, who was a part of several far-right political groups in the UK, previously served as a political advisor to former UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Gerard Batten and was named deputy leader of the fascist group British Freedom Party (BFP). He also founded the far-right English Defence League (EDL) and led it for several years.

Robinson organized a protest on Sunday against mass immigration in London, which was attended by approximately 10,000 people. Robinson was arrested during the protest. Following his arrest, Robinson’s team released a transcript of a phone call made between him and his ex-wife during his arrest. In it, he says that the police ‘already admitted they know I’ve done nothing (terrorism-related)’, but regardless held him for six hours. Robinson states that the police asked him to give them his phone and its passcode so that they could access it. Robinson protested against this.

I read the literature they gave me, and it said, ‘an examining officer may not ask a question… [which] would require you to disclose or confirm the identity of a source of journalistic information or disclose information that is subject to legal privilege’. So, I told them… that information (on my phone) is ‘privileged information’, because [the judge presiding over a case he was involved in] fell out with his own dad before my case. And that’s new evidence…Also, not just that, I’m a journalist, and I interview [and these interviews are on his phone]…

In this transcript, Robinson states that he believes that his publishing of a documentary (called ‘SILENCED‘) regarding a legal case he was involved in ‘triggered’ his arrest. The claimant in the case was a Syrian refugee schoolboy named Jamal Hijazi, who had previously been attacked by a white schoolboy, Bailey McLaren. The video of the incident went viral online in 2018. Justice Nicklin, the presiding judge of the case, described that in the video ‘Bailey..grabs the [Jamal] by the throat and forces him to the ground…[and] holding him down, pours water over his face from the bottle he was carrying…At no point does the Claimant offer any violence to Bailey or do anything to provoke the incident.’ Robinson subsequently accused Jamal of being an aggressor and specifically of violence against his female schoolmates in several Facebook videos. Jamal Hijazi sued Robinson for libel. Justice Nicklin found for Hijazi and filed injunctions against Robinson for posting any further slanderous Facebook videos.

The documentary Robinson published violates this injunction. Robinson was due to appear in court earlier today for a hearing regarding how this documentary violated the terms of the injunctions, but on Sunday night Robinson left the UK via the Eurotunnel train. After being held for six hours, authorities were no longer able to hold him and prevent him from leaving the country. In his absence, a senior judge issued a warrant for Robinson’s arrest, citing contempt of court. If Robinson does not return before October, the contempt of court hearing will proceed without him, for which he could possibly face a jail sentence.