Remember the Christian street preacher who had his Bible
wrested from him as he was handcuffed and taken away by police a few weeks
back? (Read HERE). He has now been awarded £2,500 for wrongful arrest.
Oluwole Ilesanmi, 64, has welcomed the payout by the
Metropolitan Police as a victory for freedom of speech after he was wrongly
accused of Islamophobia.
The former dentist was preaching outside Southgate Tube
station in North London in February when he was approached by two officers. A
passer-by had earlier called police and accused Mr. Ilesanmi of hate
speech.
He admitted to having described Islam as an ‘aberration’ but
insists he was simply expressing his point of view as a Christian rather than
denigrating Muslims. One of the police officers claimed Mr. Ilesanmi was
disturbing the peace, saying: ‘No one wants to hear that. They want you to go
away.’
He was handcuffed before the officer gave a thumbs-up to the
camera. Mr. Ilesanmi was then bundled into a police car and driven several
miles away. There the grandfather was ‘de-arrested’ and let out of the
car.
Scotland Yard has now agreed to pay Mr. Ilesanmi £2,500 for
wrongful arrest and his humiliating and distressing treatment. Mr. Ilesanmi
told UK's The Mail on Sunday:
‘I believe God loves everyone, including Muslims, but I have
the right to say I that I don’t agree with Islam we are living in a Christian
country, after all. I was upset when they took away my Bible. They just threw
it in the police car. They would never have done that if it had been the Koran.
Whatever happened to freedom of speech?’
