Charity boss cancelled for ‘Islamophobia’ wins legal battle in victory for free speech

[Pelican Press 0]

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Charity boss cancelled for ‘Islamophobia’ wins legal battle in victory for free speech

A charity boss

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for “Islamophobic” social media posts has won a landmark court case in a victory for free speech.

The Charity Commission made a disqualification order against

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in 2023, after a handful of historical “anti-*******” posts on social media were brought to light.

The commission’s decision has now been quashed on appeal.

It is the first time the commission has had a disqualification order overturned.

Mr Mond, who is Jewish, was a trustee of the

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, which describes itself as “Britain’s oldest Israel charity”, for 12 years before the commission said it was investigating his posts.

The commission disqualified Mr Mond from acting as a charity trustee or senior manager for two and a half years because it said his online activity could have brought the charities he worked with into disrepute.

It is the shortest disqualification order that the commission has issued to date but the tribunal nonetheless ruled on Thursday that it was not proportionate or necessary and should be reversed.

‘Perceived as anti-Islam’

While the tribunal said some of Mr Mond’s social media activity could be “perceived as anti-Islam”, it agreed that “Mr Mond has the right to freedom of expression”.

It also agreed that the online posts in question, dating from 2014 to 2021, did not constitute “the conduct of someone who is unfit” to be a trustee.

In one such post, Mr Mond said that if a significant number of Muslims were elected as Labour MPs “the Britain that we knew will have gone forever”.

In another he said that “civilisation” was “at war with Islam”. He has since clarified that he meant to refer to “Islamic fundamentalism” rather than the religion of Islam.

The Commission also focused on posts made by others on

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which Mr Mond had “liked”.

His social media activity came to the Commission’s attention after news outlets reported them.

Mr Mond, who spent over £60,000 on his appeal, has consistently rejected any suggestion that

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.

The tribunal found the Commission’s order to disqualify Mr Mond to be undesirable “in order to protect public trust and confidence in charities generally”.

Mr Mond told The Telegraph: “The outcome of this case, which was an appalling waste of both taxpayers’ money and my own, says infinitely more about the Charity Commission than it does about me.

“As a trustee I worked hard and behaved entirely properly. I did not steal money, nor did I mismanage any charity. It should not be any business of the Charity Commission what I choose to write on social media on matters totally unconnected to charities.

“I hope that the powers that be will investigate the Charity Commission’s actions. It is not for me to call for resignations, but I think that the commission’s reputation has been severely damaged and steps to prevent this type of behaviour from a government institution ever happening again need to be taken.”

A Charity Commission spokesman said: “The outcome of this case brings more clarity to trustees’ appropriate use of social media, underlining the need for all trustees to act in the best interests of their charity including while posting in a personal capacity.”

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