In the midst of an historic freedom of speech story

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND -- I have been a journalist for more than 12 years now, but have never covered such a historic story, that has created such media interest and sent shockwaves across the world, as the case of Christian hoteliers Ben and Sharon Vogelenzang.

This Wednesday I found myself outside Liverpool Magistrates’ Court, in the middle of an intense media scrum, vying to get footage of the couple, as they emerged from their two day trial, having been cleared of charges of committing a hate crime against a Muslim guest at their hotel in Liverpool, England.

According to the Christian Institute, as far as they are aware, this was the first ever case of Christians being prosecuted in the UK for comments about Islam.

The couple run the Bounty House Hotel in the Liverpool. When they entered into a debate about Islam with 60-year-old Ericka Tazi, little did they realize they would be prosecuted for a crime. According to newspaper reports, the debate at the hotel involved discussion of whether Jesus was the Son of God or just a minor prophet of Islam. Newspapers also report that the debate included comments that Mohammed was a warlord and Muslim dress for women was a form of bondage.

I was first approached by CBN News to report on this story before it went to trial. Because the case was still pending I was unable to interview Ben and Sharon, but was able to film them at their hotel, where they had lost 80% of their business as a result of the legal proceedings. But they remained philosophical about the experience and had been so encouraged by the amount of emails pouring in from Christians around the world offering their support and prayers. They were also extremely grateful for the tremendous support they were receiving through The Christian Institute’s legal defence fund.

A few weeks after my report on their story was broadcast on CBN’s Christian World News, I was informed that it had been the top story on their website for several days. I also discovered that websites around the world were running the report and one site in particular had received over 41,000 hits. It was then I realized the significance of this story from the response it provoked with hundreds of comments being posted on the websites running the story.

So when it came to running a follow-up story on the outcome of their case for CBN News I knew the media interest would be considerably high, but not to the extent as I saw this week during the trial, as it became one of the top news stories on the BBC. The night before the trial I went to film a prayer rally for Ben and Sharon, taking place at Bridge Chapel in Liverpool and was able to interview the couple’s pastor Steve Yates and Sharon’s brother Ben Hodge, who were both still in shock that their case was actually going to trial the next day.

The following morning, just before the first day of the trial began I arrived early at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court to film a peaceful protest taking place led by The Christian Institute, with around 70 local Christians wearing DayGlo green t-shirts and holding up Free Speech placards. As Ben and Sharon arrived it was quite a moving scene as their supporters cheered for them and they joined in with the protesters peacefully singing hymns like Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art.

The following day I arrived back at the magistrates’ court to see a number of BBC Cameramen waiting outside to film the outcome of the trial. It felt like a bit of a David and Goliath for myself with my one man film crew and my small video camera, next to the BBC who had these amazing larges cameras, one of which even had some kind of aerial attached to it for live broadcasting and round the corner the BBC had their mobile broadcast van. In front of these seasoned cameramen I was slightly embarrassed as I had to film my reports to camera without my own cameraman, while their smart-looking reporters would emerge every few hours to send back live reports to their studio.

Then after about 4 hours of hanging around on a cold December afternoon, what seemed like out of nowhere, appeared several more reporters and cameramen. So when Ben and Sharon finally came out to read their statement, to the applause again of their supporters, having been cleared of all charges, the media scrum surged forward to get the best shot. So I had to hold my camera up on its tripod to get a clear shot of them and after just 30 seconds they were rushing off to their car with a stream of reporters and cameraman chasing them up the street.

I was so relieved for Ben and Sharon and particularly thrilled for The Christian Institute who’d been campaigning for them and funding their legal defence for the past 9 months. So I was happy to join the line of other reporters to interview the Christian Institute’s head of communications Mike Judge who was clearly relieved to have been successful in helping clear Ben and Sharon of all charges against them.

As soon as finished interviewing Mike I rushed back to my home to edit all the footage for my CBN Report as well as for the Christian Institute’s website, so that this breaking story could be released as soon as possible.

The following morning I watched CBN’s live streaming of the 700 Club as Pat Robertson commented on this case and then ran my report. It was very humbling having filmed this with my little camera and then editing it in my study at home to see the impact of this story and realize what can be achieved with little resources but with God’s grace.

To see the full CBN News report go to: http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2009/December/Christian-Hoteliers-Acquitted-in-Muslim-Abuse-Case-----/.

To find out more about The Christian Institute go to: www.christian.org.uk.  

By Peter Wooding - ASSIST News Service