BNP leaders charged
The leader of the British National Party Nick Griffin and founding chairman John Tyndall have today been charged with race hate offences.
Mr Griffin, 45, of Welshpool, was charged by West Yorkshire police with four offences of using words or behaviour intended or likely to stir up racial hatred and will appear in front of magistrates tomorrow.
He answered bail at Halifax police station today after originally being arrested in December.
Mr Tyndall, 70, of Brighton, was charged with two offences under Section 18 of the Public Order Act 1986 with regards to a speech he made in Burnley in March 2004.
Both men were arrested following an inquiry by West Yorkshire police into the BBC’s Secret Agent documentary that was aired in July 2004.
More than 100 BNP supporters gathered outside of the police station in support of Mr Griffin who they say is a victim “of a joint Labour/BBC attack on free speech”.
Both men will appear before Leeds magistrates’ court on Thursday.
A third man, BNP activist Mark Collett, 24, of Leeds, has also been charged with eight offences of inciting racial hatred.
