Update: Charges Against Three Street Preachers Who Preached Against Homosexuality
The three street preachers who were arrested on September 21st, due to their comments about homosexuality, faced their first court hearing on the 13 of October. Despite the reason for their arrest, no charges regarding hate speech were brought against them; instead, they were charged with public order offences. The incident is still being investigated and the case was adjourned until June 2022.
After the sentence, Mr. Williamson said: “I am still confident that God will use this situation. I still think the bigger issue was that it was perceived as hate speech (…) But overall, I think the bigger issue is freedom of speech and preaching from the bible. On the day in question, I had been preaching for an hour and only mentioned homosexuality in 2-5% of my message. It is exactly the same thing that has been happening when we have been preaching in Banbridge, Larne, Enniskillen. Complaints have been lodged with the PSNI and they feel that they have to act.”
Their case has been adjourned for six months which has caused some surprise for their legal team. Mr. Willeamson said: "They just couldn’t understand why it would be adjourned for six months ... It just seems like such a long time. I was actually ready to ask to have it dealt with on the day but my legal team advised against it."
“The other unusual thing is that the Garda have yet to produce any evidence against us, despite repeated requests, and yet the case is still proceeding against us.”
Previous case: Street Preachers Arrested after Preaching the Gospel and on Homosexuality
Source: newsletter.co.uk, newsletter.co.uk
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