reedom isn’t free… it’s $1117.

Thirty year old Scotsman, Markus Meechan, has been found guilty of a hate crime. He posted a video on his YouTube channel, Count Dankula, showing his girlfriend’s dog performing Nazi salutes. 

The dog, Buddha, would perform the salute and react excitedly about verbal commands regarding murdering Jews.

Meechan wanted to annoy his girlfriend, so he “turned the dog into the least cute thing imaginable, which is, a Nazi.”

The video has since garnered 3 million views. YouTube responded by putting the video into restricted mode; demonetizing the video, removing the comments and ratings, and removing the video from search queries. The police then arrested Meechan under charges of a hate crime.

Meechan has since dealt with a grueling two year court process, putting his life on hold and making him effectively unhirable. 

This heinous move against the fundamental human right to free speech has not gone unnoticed. 

Many people have expressed their support for Count Dankula, and he has become a martyr figure for supporters of free speech. 

Walking out of the courthouse, he and his girlfriend Suzanne Kelly were greeted by a large crowd of supporters.

On the day of the sentencing, there was a protest in downtown London. Demonstrators marched under a banner that read, “You wouldn’t tell a joke,” in reference to the anti-piracy campaign. 

Rather than throwing him in the slammer, which everyone was fully expecting, the judge kept the fine of £800 ($1100).

Meechan is going to appeal the ruling, and he set up a GoFundMe to cover the legal fees. He raised £100,000 ($139,000) in less than 24 hours. 

He said that the ruling has set a standard that courts can “willfully ignore the context and intent of a person’s words and actions in order to punish them and brand them as criminals,” he stated on his GoFundMe.

This blatant disregard of human rights is something that should be a household topic. 

To support this man and his quest to defend human rights, you can donate to his GoFundMe or his Patreon. 

Remember, freedom isn’t free.