The leader of the banned neo-Nazi fascist group National Action (NA) in the UK has been sentenced to prison for over eight years for being a member of the organization.
National Action's leader
27-year-old Alex Davies had set up a group called NS131 that he attempted to argue was separate from NA as a loophole to work around the ban.
NA openly supported a violent white supremacist ideology, with Davies saying in 2013 that he was not willing to admit to what he would do to Jewish people because even he said it was "so extreme."
NA members have oftentimes been photographed giving the Nazi salute.
Court decision
"I’m satisfied the defendant played an active and prominent role in concert with his trusted associates in trying to disguise the continued existence of the organization in defiance of the ban," said Judge Mark Dennis QC, according to English media.
Davies, to counter this claim, said that the NS131 group was not a continuation of NA, but rather had a separate set of goals. In fact, he claimed it was his democratic right to continue engaging with the group.
"This was a well-orchestrated and determined effort to flout the ban on the activities of National Action and continue to promote and strive to achieve the long-held objectives of the organization."
Judge Mark Dennis QC