In this latest Round Table interview, freedom fighter and formerly jailed UK publican Nick Hogan takes a time-out from running his Chorley, UK pub to sit down for a brief conversation with FORCES.
Regular followers of FORCES are familiar with the saga of UK publican Nick Hogan. For visitors who may be unfamiliar, Mr. Hogan heroically stood-up in defiance against the UK smoking ban and refused to accept the idea that being a private business owner somehow obligated him to become a law enforcement official for the state. Instead, Mr. Hogan informed his patrons that it was illegal to smoke in his pub, but otherwise refused to enforce the UK’s smoking ban.
The end result was that the UK government deemed Mr. Hogan to be a criminal, and he was subsequently fined, and ultimately imprisoned.
Due to the fact that Mr. Hogan’s livelihood as a publican was decimated by the UK’s smoking ban, he found himself unable to pay the £11,500 (the equivalent of about $23,000) in fines and penalties related to the charges the UK government imposed upon him. For this, he was sentenced to six months in one of Britain’s most dangerous prisons. Meanwhile, others charged with far greater crimes have been given far more lenient sentences.
Further background on Mr. Hogan’s travails can be found here and here and here.
In this brief FORCES Roundtable interview, Mr. Hogan talks with FORCES’ Robert Prasker about what has happened to him over the past three years, some of the ironies surrounding the date of his release (March 10, 2010), as well as some rather ironic events that have occurred since.
Of course, Mr. Hogan also expresses his deep gratitude to the efforts of Old Holborn, Anna Raccoon, Freedom2Choose, and the many other bloggers and supporters around the world who worked and donated to set him free from his unjust incarceration.
App. 16 minutes.
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