Tommy Robinson, the anti-Islam campaigner and one of the UK’s most prominent far-right activists who has been accused of inciting riots in Britain, was spotted in Greece and Cyprus this week.
A video posted by Robinson on X Wednesday seems to have been recorded in Greece. Filmed against the backdrop of an Athens neighborhood, the 41-year-old Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) speaks to his followers in the video.
Previously, Robinson had mentioned staying at a hotel in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, but left after his location was made public. He has posted a constant stream of inflammatory social media posts from Cyprus while on holiday with family and friends.
Robinson who had a UK arrest warrant issued against him last Monday after he skipped a court appearance had tried to keep his holiday location a secret.
While his supporters have rioted in recent days across the UK, he failed to mention his location in a series of video rants posted to his 800,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter.
Police in Greece aware of Robinson’s presence
Greek officials, speaking anonymously to Kathimerini, said they believe Robinson did not travel directly from Cyprus and noted that he is not facing any charges that would justify a ban on entering the country.
The Hellenic Police is also aware of his potential presence in Greece.
Robinson has been active in far-right politics for many years. He was a member of the British National Party (BNP), a British fascist political party, from 2004 to 2005. For a short time in 2012, he was joint vice-chairman of the British Freedom Party (BFP).
He co-founded the English Defence League (EDL) in 2009 and led it until October 2013. In 2015, he became involved with the development of Pegida UK, a now-defunct British chapter of the German Pegida.
Robinson served four prison terms between 2005 and 2019. In 2013, he illegally entered the United States using a friend’s passport. In 2018, he violated a court order by publishing a Facebook Live video of defendants entering court. Prior to sentencing, he appeared on the American far-right website InfoWars to appeal for political asylum in the US.
In 2021, he was found to have libeled a 15-year-old refugee at a school in Huddersfield and was ordered to pay £100,000 plus legal costs. In 2021, he was subjected to a five-year stalking prevention order for harassing a journalist and her partner.
In July 2024 Robinson was accused of spreading misinformation about the perpetrator of the mass stabbing of children in Southport. False claims that the perpetrator was a Muslim asylum seeker let to violent far-right riots across the UK.
