Ezra Levant recaps Tommy Robinson's appeal hearing from London
The British journalist and activist is currently in solitary confinement in the notorious HMP Woodhill prison.
Tommy Robinson’s hearing at the UK Court of Appeal was held today. It wasn’t long — just 75 minutes. Tommy himself joined by video link from prison, but he wasn’t allowed to say anything, he could just observe.
Tommy had an excellent lawyer, a senior barrister named Alisdair Williamson, KC. He was the barrister who won an important case for Tommy against the Metropolitan Police, when they illegally banned Tommy from entering London.
Today’s appeal was for the sentence Tommy received for his contempt of court conviction. Normally, an appeal is just on the existing record — that is, the evidence that was heard by the sentencing judge.
There is no new evidence; it’s not a do-over. The higher court merely weighs whether or not the trial judge got it right or wrong.
Williamson made the case today that there was important “fresh evidence” that the Court of Appeal should consider — namely, that an independent psychologist has visited Tommy in prison, and written up a detailed, 39-page diagnosis of his mental health after so many months in solitary confinement.
Williamson said that information was obviously not in the hands of the sentencing judge, but the Court of Appeal should consider it.
The government’s main lawyer was Aidan Eardley, KC. I felt like he was weaker. And his argument in response to the psychologist’s report was essentially, “so what?”
As in, he didn’t care that Tommy was being made mentally ill by keeping him in isolation; he told the three-judge panel that if Tommy really wanted to get out of prison, he should just delete the Twitter video that got him thrown in prison in the first place.
I thought Tommy’s lawyers did well. But appeals are inherently uphill battles. Higher courts are reluctant to overturn lower courts unless the trial judge got something very wrong. It’s up to the Court of Appeal to decide whether to allow that fresh evidence in, and whether to give it any weight.
I’m really starting to worry that it is now impossible for Tommy to get justice in the UK legal system. He has been so demonized, and the government is so obviously pursuing a vendetta, he really has become an “enemy of the state”, as his book is titled.
I saw a story in the Times of London last week that said on any given day in the UK, police arrest 30 people for social media posts — 30 per day! Frankly, I doubt Russia’s Vladimir Putin arrests that many for social media posts.
An entire system has been built to censor ideas and block people from speaking out. Tommy has been the “test case” for that.
The judges concluded by saying they’ll release their ruling in the days ahead. I’m not optimistic, but you never know — remember, Tommy beat the Met Police in court, and that was the same lawyer. He’ll keep fighting for freedom.
I flew seven hours to London and took a cab for another hour — that’s a long way to come for a 75-minute hearing. But I’m glad I did, and I hope you followed along with my live-tweeting.
It's the least I can do; is keep going to court to ensure that the mainstream media isn’t the only source of news as to what happened.
If you think my journalism is valuable, please take a moment to chip in a few dollars or a few pounds to help me defray the cost of my flight to London. Unlike the BBC, I don’t get £3 billion from taxpayers!
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Ezra Levant
Rebel Commander
Ezra Levant is the founder and owner of Rebel News and the host of The Ezra Levant Show. He is the author of multiple best-selling books, including Ethical Oil, The Libranos, China Virus, and most recently, Trudeau's Secret Plan.
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COMMENTS
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Judith Schuett commented 2025-04-12 15:47:01 -0400so glad my ancestors left this God-forsaken country long ago… -
Jamie Perritt commented 2025-04-12 02:00:01 -0400Also, it’s a bloody Twitter post. Like, get the hell over it.
People should have the right to post whatever the hell they want on social media. You don’t like what you’re reading? Then stop reading it!
Western governments are sticking their noses in places where they just have no business sticking it. -
Jamie Perritt commented 2025-04-12 01:57:12 -0400If this judge has any common sense and any interest in delivering justice, he’ll release Tommy ASAP. This is not rocket science. This is not up for debate.
It’s just cruel and inhumane.
So the UK tortures people in the 21st century. Yeah, that looks real good on them. -
Wayne Currie commented 2025-04-11 22:15:38 -0400Of course it’s not the gov’t’s failing that Tommy won’t cry “uncle” – that’s all Tommy’s fault. The gov’t lawyer is reminiscent of the unhinged psycho Steven Johnson who prosecutes Freedom Convoy participants: tremulous & puerile little pansies who cover the sheets over their heads while fantasizing of titillating ways they can torment the object of their hatred.
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Bruce Atchison commented 2025-04-11 19:26:52 -0400It’s obvious that the state has it in for Tommy Robinson. If they were impartial, Tommy would have his freedom today. The UK is becoming a police state where dissent is punished harshly. And there doesn’t seem to be any hope on the horizon for change.
