COMEDIAN Ricky Gervais has come under fire after he divided opinion in the wake of the “Nazi pug salute” video verdict.

The Office star was accused of “defending” Coatbridge man Mark Meehan after he was found guilty on Tuesday of posting an offensive message online.

The 30-year-old had been accused of teaching his girlfriend’s pet pug to give Nazi salutes and then posting the footage on Youtube.

The footage showed the dog salute whenever it heard words “Sieg Heil” or “gas the Jews.”

Sheriff Derek O’Carroll at Airdrie Sheriff Court found Meechan guilty of communicating a video which was “grossly offensive.”

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However, after the conviction, Gervais tweeted: “A man has been convicted in a UK court of making a joke that was deemed ‘grossly offensive’. If you don’t believe in a person’s right to say things that you might find ‘grossly offensive’, then you don’t believe in Freedom of Speech.

“I f****** hate religion. I’ve criticised and ridiculed it for 40 years. Yet if my government tried to ban it or criminalise it, I would march alongside those poor fools and fight hard for their right to believe any fucking stupid nonsense they chose.”

Glasgow Times:

Glasgow Times:

Many users of the site were quick to hit back at the the 56-year-old for defending Meechan.

User @Darkerthaurmuta said: “If a Nazi needs defending, or you want to take easy pot shots at trans or disabled people, Ricky Gervais is your man.”

@DanBeaumarchais hit back: “Wow...Good cause you picked, @rickygervais. Really helpful!”

“Nice to see @rickygervais standing up and defending those poor, helpless Nazis,” wrote @CaptBenzie.

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After much back-and-forth with his followers, Gervais said: “I mean it doesn’t matter whether some people find the joke ‘grossly offensive’ or not. I find many things people say offensive but I don’t believe they should go to jail for it. Sorry for the confusion.”

Other famous faces also jumped in to side with Meechan.

Sci-fi writer Brittany Pettibone said: “Apparently, [Mark Meechan] has been convicted and found guilty under the communications act of being ‘grossly offensive’. A man is actually facing prison for making a joke.”

Meechan’s stunt provoked outrage after being posted on YouTube where it has more than three million views.

He was arrested by police for committing a hate crime by sharing the footage in April 2016.

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Meechan claimed the video was made to annoy girlfriend, Suzanne Kelly, 29, and denied any wrongdoing.

Outside of court, Meechan said: “There has been a huge miscarriage of justice.

“I think it’s a very, very dark day in regards to freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

“For any comedians in Britain, I would be very worried about making jokes in future because your context and intent behind them apparently don’t matter anymore

“If they don’t wish to see it then there isn’t really much I can do about that. That literally is fact, and if they don’t want to consider that fact then it’s not up to me.

“It was a joke made to annoy my girlfriend and I stand by that.”

Meechan’s sentencing has been deferred until April 23 for background reports and a restriction of liberty assessment.