AFP
Billionaire Elon Musk on Thursday called for the release of a British far-right activist in jail for spreading false allegations about a Syrian refugee schoolboy.
“Free Tommy Robinson!” Musk, the world’s richest man, wrote on X, the social media platform he owns.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sentenced in October to 18 months in jail for violating a court order stemming from a successful libel case brought by Jamal Hijazi, who had been videotaped while being attacked at school, the Guardian reported.
Robinson, 41, claimed in Facebook videos that Hijazi was “not innocent and he violently attacks young English girls in his school.”
Robinson repeated the allegations in several interviews and in a film he made and distributed that has been watched by millions.
Musk, who is serving as an adviser on government efficiency for President-elect Donald Trump, on New Year’s Day questioned why Robinson was in prison.
“Why is Tommy Robinson in a solitary confinement prison for telling the truth? He should be freed and those who covered up this travesty should take his place in that cell,” the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX posted.
Robinson, well known as a one-time football hooligan who has a string of criminal convictions, is a former member of the British National Party and a founder of the anti-Islam English Defense League.
His rallies, protests and social media posts about “radical Islam” have brought him millions of followers.
