LEEDS, England, April 7 (UPI) -- Two leading figures in the extreme right-wing British National Party were free on bail on race hate charges.
BNP Leader Nick Griffin, 45, and John Tyndall, 70, the party's founding chairman, were given unconditional bail at Leeds Magistrates' Court Thursday.
Griffin entered no plea on four charges of using words or behavior intended or likely to stir up racial hatred. Tyndall faces two charges of the same offence.
The charges were brought Wednesday after an investigation into comments made by BNP activists in the BBC undercover documentary, "The Secret Agent."
If convicted, Griffin could face up to seven years in prison.
Griffin told The Independent Wednesday night the "half-arsed prosecution" was politically motivated, he was willing to be jailed and he would use the trial as a platform for his beliefs.
"This is primarily to do with the Labor Party's attempt to get back some of the Muslim vote. They also want to demonize us in Middle England."
Griffin is standing as a parliamentary candidate in Keighley, West Yorkshire, where racial tensions are running high between the town's white and Muslim populations.
