Majid Freeman sentenced to 22 weeks in prison for instigating violence against Hindus

Freeman, who was one of the chief instigators of the 2022 Leicester attacks on Hindus was finally brought to justice for his extremist actions.

Extremist groups like CAGE, 5Pillars, and DOA Muslims, were the first to report, we can only assume this is due to their affiliation with Freeman, and messaging coming directly from him and his team.

Knowing he didn’t have any defence for his actions, he offered no plea.

The conviction is related to an incident of public disorder in Leicester on September 17, 2022, at the height of the attacks on Hindus. This was the same day that extremist Muslims from surrounding towns descended on Leicester to attack Hindus, after weeks of anti-Hindu hate and misinformation had been spread on social media, fuelled by the likes of Majid Freeman. Other prominent extremists like Dutch Raja had planned attacks on Hindus for weeks and prompted his 100,000 followers to descend on Leicester on this day. Freeman can be seen on video on the day encouraging more Muslims to come to Leicester to join in the affray.

After a one-day trial at Northampton Magistrates Court on June 19th, 2024, he was sentenced in the same court on September 9th, 2024. He was convicted of a Section 4 Public Order Offence, citing that Freeman intended “immediate unlawful violence” and used “abusive words with the intention that violence would be provoked.”

His conviction comes as no surprise to the Hindu community, who have openly pointed out Freeman’s extremist key role in the violence in Leicester targeting Hindus. Freeman is well known for attending Hindu events and festivals uninvited to provoke the Hindu community, often taking videos without permission to share on social media, even where children are present. He regularly shares hate-filled posts and fake news on his social media targeting Hindus.

The 2022 attacks were a wake-up call for the Hindu community. After being attacked, they were also falsely accused of inciting this violence. A ‘Hindutva bogeyman’ was blamed by the likes of Majid Freeman and his cronies, although not one of them has ever pointed out who that is, or who it was in Leicester that was influenced by it. Many extremists continue to spread these lies. Whilst dozens of Muslims have been arrested and sentenced for their part in the violence, there has not been a single Hindu arrested or pointed out as instigating the violence. The ‘Hindutva bogeyman’ trope which the Hinduphobes continue to share, is nowhere to be seen.

In fact, there has never been a religiously motivated attack by Hindus in this country, ever. There are no Hindus or Hindu groups on the Mi5 watchlist, there is no risk of any crime from the Hindu community, and Hindus have the lowest crime rate of any group in this country (compare the 150 Hindus in British prison to the 19,000 Muslims).

There has never been any evidence of any extreme Hindu ideology at play. The actual facts of the Leicester unrest were:

• Social media misinformation about Hindus spread by Islamist extremists like Majid Freeman, with the aim to provoke Muslims, led to the attacks on Hindus.
• No Muslims were attacked.
• No Mosques were attacked.
• Nothing against Muslims or Islam was said.
• No Muslim properties were attacked.
• No one from outside Leicester came to attack Muslims.
• Attacks on Muslims were not promoted or planned on social media or anywhere for that matter.

Whereas;

• Hindus were attacked.
• Hindu places of worship were attacked.
• Vile vitriol against Hindus and Hinduism was said.
• Hindu properties and cars were attacked.
• Muslims from surrounding towns and cities came to Leicester to attack Hindus.
• Attacks on Hindus were promoted and planned visibly on social media.

There is video and photo evidence for all of this.

Meanwhile, though all the evidence is clear as to the causes of the attacks in Leicester, Muslim extremists continue to spread the Hinduphobic narrative, that Hindu youth on a peace march, flanked by the police, chanting Hindu religious slogans, are to blame. Forgetting that extremist Muslim mobs, fighting the police, chanting anti-Hindu slogans, marching for days beforehand, attacking and stabbing Hindus, attacking Hindu houses, businesses and cars, and chanting Islamic slogans, are somehow the victims! The blinkered anti-Hindu/Hinduphobic mindset of such people is mind-boggling.

Majid Freeman and more like him were key in the propaganda that was spread blaming Hindus, leading to the attacks on the community. Instead of accepting his culpability, the extremist doubled down on his Hinduphobia.

In a statement, Majid Freeman, 36, said: “I should have never stood trial for defending the Leicester community. Back in September 2022, Leicester witnessed a protracted period of religious tensions between Muslim and Hindu communities. The violent and hateful Hindutva ideology lay at the heart of the unrest.

Despite provocations from Hindu protestors, I consistently called for calm and was involved in talks with the police, local councillors and community leaders from across Leicester to de-escalate tensions. The evidence presented at my trial demonstrated this fact.

I stood on trial because Leicestershire Police failed in their duty to keep the peace. Instead of reflecting on their pitiful role during the unrest, Leicestershire Police have decided to pursue me, someone they would often turn to for support.

Thank you to all those who stood alongside me and supported me. Moving forward, I and my lawyers will be considering my grounds for an appeal.”

The only thing that can be said about his statement above is that Majid Freeman is delusional if even after his conviction he thinks he is in the right – a predictable clear attempt to play the victim. A propagandist, spreading false information knowing it is false, knowing it will cause alarm and knowing it will incite violence against Hindus is extremist behaviour at its finest. He should never have been approached by anyone for support, advice, or guidance. That was the real failing of the police, and the media such as the BBC, the Guardian, Sky News and other agencies.

Majid Freeman, as chief instigator, spread multiple lies on social media which led to the attacks on Hindus. The following are just some of them:

• The lie that an attempted abduction of a 15-year-old Muslim girl took place.
• The lie that 2 Hindu boys attacked a Muslim boy on Cottesmore Road.
• The lie that Hindus were chanting against Muslims.
• The lie that Hindus stabbed a lot of Muslims.
• The lie that this was linked to foreign interference from BJP and RSS.
• The lie that Hindus marched with weapons.
• Amplified other fake news to his tens of thousands of followers

See more on the fake news spread by Majid Freeman

• How fake news was used to incite hate and attack Hindus in Leicester
• Fake news spread by Majid Freeman

Inciting violence in Leicester is not the only area of criminality which Freeman is being held legally to account for. In July he was charged with the encouragement of terrorism and supporting a proscribed organisation (Hamas). Hamas has been prohibited as a terrorist organisation in the UK and is due to stand trial in November. Freeman has a history of showing support for proscribed groups. Incredibly, he even spread the conspiracy that described the 7/7 Islamist terrorist attacks in London as a government false flag operation.

It is very disappointing, but not surprising, that even after his conviction, extremist elements in the UK continue to support him. An outpouring of support on social media has been seen from extremist ideology groups and individuals such as 5 Pillars and CAGE International. He is lauded as having saved a Hindu youth from being killed during the Leicester attacks, forgetting to point out the fact that it was the baying Muslim mob that he needed saving from, and the mob had been incited by Freeman himself in the first place.

Freeman has also been known to be active on the political scene, being at the centre of the pro-Palestine MP Shockat Adam’s election campaign in Leicester South, where he defeated former Labour minister Jonathan Ashworth in the general election. Freeman was filmed harassing Ashworth during his campaign.

The Hindu community expects apologies from all those in power and the media who platformed Majid Freeman. Instead of looking at what was right in front of them, they listened to him and blamed a Hindu bogeyman, something there was no evidence of. This included many in the media (Aina J. Khan of the Guardian, the BBC, Sky News), the Mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby, politicians, community leaders, academics, activists, and many others. All of these agencies still have a long way to go before they can have the confidence and trust of the Hindu community again.

What is clear now for all, Majid Freeman is not an activist. He is an Islamist. He is a Hinduphobe. He is a liar. And for all this, he is a convicted criminal.