HUNDREDS gathered in London for an anti-censorship march in support of the Scots prankster fined £800 for hate crimes after releasing a viral video in which he trains his dog to Sieg Heil and react to the phrase "gas the Jews".
The march came after Mark Meechan, 30, was fined £800 after being found guilty at Airdrie Sheriff Court of communicating a video which was deemed to be "grossly offensive" and in breach of the Communications Act.
The Free Count Dankula demonstration, named after Meechan's online pseudonym, was organised by The Liberalists UK, who describe themselves as a "mix of centre-left (social liberal) and centre-right (classical liberal) individualists"
The Free Count Dankula demonstration, named after Meechan's online pseudonym, involved around 500 marchers led by five demonstrators with duck tape over their mouths and a banner declaring 'You wouldn't tell a joke'.
But there was disquiet over police filming the demonstration as people gathered in Leicester Square.
READ MORE: Mark Meechan given £800 fine for hate crime after filming pug giving 'Nazi salutes'
One member of the group confronted police with a megpahone saying: "What on earth are you doing. Why on earth are you filming a bunch of people who have gathered to try and stop you people from imprisoning us for making jokes...
"It is very suspicious behaviour."
One police officer who discussed the issue with the protesters said that officers were live streaming the demonstration back to the control room to monitor what was happening.
"We do tend to film large demonstrations," she said. "Everybody has a democratic right to protest," she said. "We are trying to safeguard that."
Bagpipes played for the march to Downing Street in a protest over the right to be offensive in a joke.
One placard said, "Free Count Dankula" and another said, "Freedom is in peril. Defend it with all your might." Another placard which had the headline, 'Countries where comedians can be sent to jail for a joke' placed Scotland alongside Russia under Stalin and Germany under Adolf Hitler Some protesters wore blue t-shirts saying: "Comedy censorship: It's No Joke".
One of the demonstrators warned the crowd about police in the area adding: "Be careful what you say. You do not want to say anything that the police might be able to interpret, that might upset anyone, or might alarm somebody.. just be nice to everyone. Just say, 'I love you all'. The Liberalists UK said the fact Meechan had faced jail time for making a joke "is not acceptable in a liberal democracy".
In an invited to join the march, the group added: "It is a gross violation of the principle of free speech and liberty in this country and sets a dangerous precedent for the future. It is dangerous not least because what counts as ‘grossly offensive’ is vague and necessarily ill defined.
"We invite you to protest this grossly offensive miscarriage of justice and march to Downing Street."
Among those who spoke at the march were Australian author Helen Dale who became the youngest winner of the Miles Franklin Award for her first novel, The Hand that Signed the Paper, a novel about a Ukrainian family who collaborated with the Nazis in the Holocaust.
They won't silence us! #FreeDankula! https://t.co/w5p8CpLpTI
— Opinionated European 🇬🇧🇵🇱 (@OpinionatedEuro) April 23, 2018
Ben Brown of Liberalists UK told the crowd: "I am here because I believe what has happened to Dankula is merely a symptom. A symptom of a sick society."
Meechan, from Coatbridge insists his two-year-old M8 Yer Dugs A Nazi video featuring his pug Buddha, which has been viewed more than three million times, was merely meant as a joke to wind up his girlfriend.
#grosslyoffensive pic.twitter.com/xe9FZthVUz
— McToasty (@unmicca) April 23, 2018
Free speech march today on Downing Street @jordanbpeterson @billmaher @RubinReport @JohnCleese @rickygervais @JonathanPieNews @GodsVessel__ @PrisonPlanet @spikedonline @MaajidNawaz #freeourspeech #FreeDankula pic.twitter.com/F2tqMOi1LE
— Cameron White (@ClassicLibUK) April 23, 2018
The #FreeDankula march. pic.twitter.com/LQ35VmxCVr
— Barley Hops (@Applefolf) April 23, 2018
At the London #FreeDankula #FreeSpeech march. Maybe it should be renamed #RefundDankula (inc for the two years of stress). pic.twitter.com/6PNcZF2oy9
— Mike Baliman (@MikeBaliman) April 23, 2018
Today is the day we march on Downing Street to defend Freedom of Speech - this nation's prime and most sacred human right. Anyone that believes in the right to speak your mind please join! Leicester Square, 12:00. #FreeDankula #FreeSpeech #TheLiberalists
— Josh Emm 🇬🇧 (@JJEMM2610) April 23, 2018
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel