The first race libel trial in English history will open next Monday when Arnold S. Leese, publisher, and Walter Whitehead, printer of the newspaper, The Fascist, face charges of seditious libel against the Jews in Old Bailey Court.
Attorney-General Sir Donald Somervell will personally conduct the prosecution, it was announced today. The defendants are out on bail, having pleaded not guilty. The Fascist is the organ of the Imperial Fascist League, which is not connected with Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists.
The defendants are charged with seditious libel and creating a public mischief on the basis of an article in the periodical accusing the Jews of murdering Christians for ritual purposes.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.