Solidarity with Chris Packham

Chris Packham and his partner Charlotte, his step-daughter Megan and his Wild Justice colleagues have faced years of personal abuse, character assassination, harassment, threats and much more simply for campaigning on wildlife and environmental issues of legitimate concern.

He finally had enough and took a libel action in the High Court (supported by a crowdfunder for legal costs which I contributed to) and successfully won his case.

The Guardian - Chris Packham tells court he frequently fears ‘a psychopath’ could kill him

The Guardian - Chris Packham awarded £90,000 damages in libel case

Online hate and abuse ruins lives . . . we need better laws to protect us . A statement following my court case this week . . . and enormous thanks for all your support - it means a lot to myself , Charlotte and Megan . Thank you . Please RT pic.twitter.com/x9kkvzZzsh

— Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) May 27, 2023

Chris has said ....

“Every day many thousands of innocent people are victims of online abuse and hate crimes. This can be racially, religiously or politically motivated. It can be generated in regard to gender politics, environmental beliefs, body shaming. This vile part of modern life ruins lives, livelihoods, reputations, it disrupts young peoples’ educations, causes incalculable mental health problems and tragically causes people to take their own lives.

“As it stands the criminal law is simply not there to protect us from such hate – something that must change. The current governments ‘Online Safety Bill’ is plodding along. In the meantime a tiny minority of victims are able to take civil action.

“In the offending articles and tweets Mr Wightman and Mr Bean accused me of defrauding the public to raise money to rescue tigers from circuses, defrauding the public by promoting a crowd-funder during the COVID epidemic, lying about the burning of peat during COP26, writing a death threat letter to myself, and elsewhere of bullying, sexual misconduct and rape. They also accused me of faking an arson attack at my home and repeatedly called upon the BBC to sack me.

“In a full and frank vindication of my innocence the court has found that “Mr Packham did not lie and each of his own statements was made with a genuine belief in its truth”. 

“Most egregiously all three defendants had advanced an allegation that I had forged a death threat letter to myself, an allegation that they managed to disseminate to the mainstream media. 

“The Court has held that I did not write the death threat letter, concluding that “even a cursory examination of the handwriting in the death threat and comparison with a true sample of Mr Packham’s handwriting demonstrates obvious differences between the two”.

“Thank you to my followers for your unswerving support and belief in my honest crusade to make the world a better place for wildlife, people and the environment.”

Well done Chris!

You have huge support and solidarity from so many people for what you do. 

#DefendNature .... Please help save and enhance our laws that protect our environment and wildlife 

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