Jailed Hill goes on hunger strike

February 28, 2020 at 11:35 am

A Shetland man, jailed last week for illegally recording court proceedings at Kirkwall Sheriff Court, has gone on hunger strike, claiming he is “effectively a political prisoner.”

Hill was sentenced to two months imprisonment for contempt of court, after refusing to delete the recordings.

In a letter to The Shetland Times earlier this week, Hill said he has taken no food or liquid since being jailed on Thursday, February 20, in protest over his treatment.

Hill said: “All the sheriff had to do was to show proof that Orkney and Shetland are part of Scotland. However, not being able to do so, he put me in prison. I am now effectively a political prisoner. He has the guns; I have the law.”

The 77-year-old, who stood as a candidate for Orkney and Shetland in the 2017 general election, has been a tenacious political campaigner since arriving in Shetland in 2001.

He has campaigned for years that Shetland does not rightfully belong to the UK.

The crime for which he is now imprisoned was discovered last week by Sheriff Richard McFarlane, during the latest calling of an on-going trial at Kirkwall Sheriff Court, in which Hill is accused of failing to declare his expenses following the election three years ago.

Hill was offered a deal by the sheriff whereby if he deleted the recordings on his Blackberry phone, he would not be charged — a deal rebuffed by the maverick campaigner, on the grounds that he failed to recognise the authority of the court.

He was subsequently found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to two months in prison, and the forfeit of his recording device.

Hill’s trial, relating to his election expenses, is set to continue on Wednesday, March 4.

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