British Blogger Lionheart seeks asylum in the US
Posted by acorcoran on February 19, 2008
Last month we told you about Lionheart, the blogger from the UK, who was in the United States and feared returning to his homeland because the authorities there threatened to arrest him over words he used on his blog. See our earlier post here in which we made the important point that we all must stick together if we are to preserve perhaps the strongest pillar of western society—free speech.
We learned from the Center for Vigilant Freedom that Lionheart has decided to seek asylum in the United States. Imagine that, an Englishman seeking political asylum in America! What is the world coming to!
“I am applying for political asylum on the grounds of political persecution and human rights issues.
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“All I’ve done is written words on a blog. That doesn’t befit a prison sentence.”
Infinicat said
It will be interesting to see if Lionheart is granted asylum.
While by US standards what he did does NOT constitute a crime (yet), in England, it does. The law may be unfair, but it is the law nevertheless. Basically, he is a wanted man, and I believe we have an extradition deal with the UK. I hope it all works out for him, though reality tells me it probably will not.
This is the landmark case they will use to intimidate all UK bloggers.
I expect the US to be where England is now in five years, perhaps much sooner.
We are seeing everyone from Bill O’Reilly to the Pentagon calling bloggers “irresponsible”, “a breeding ground for terror”, “an obstacle to mainstream media”, “the enemy”, and the web a “battlefield”.
The handwriting is on the wall.
Speak up, stand up in solidarity with Lionheart and for our freedoms and fight those who have been dismantling the Constitution — while we can.
— Infinicat