Geert Wilders trial halted as lawyer accuses judge of bias

Dutch far-right leader's advocate challenges presiding judge's comment on opening day of Wilders ' trial for inciting racial hatred.

Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Freedom party and one of Europe's leading Islam-baiters, went on trial  today charged with hate speech and inciting racism, but the case was swiftly engulfed by uncertainty after a challenge over alleged judges' bias.

The opening of the trial, expected to last a month in Amsterdam, followed a successful weekend for the maverick Dutch politician, with his influence over a new rightwing government confirmed and a campaign speech in Germany aimed at establishing a trans-national European movement against Muslim immigration.
Wilders entered the dock amid heavy security and promptly affirmed his commitment to free speech, dismissing the charges against him while not entering a plea.

He faces a hefty fine or a year in jail if found guilty on five charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims and insulting their religion for likening, as he routinely does, the Qur'an to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and describing Islam as fascist.

"I am on trial, but on trial with me is the freedom of expression of many Dutch citizens," he told the Amsterdam district court. "I can assure you, I will continue proclaiming it."

Wilders then asserted his right to remain silent for the rest of the trial, prompting a comment from the presiding judge, Jan Moors, which was challenged by Wilders's lawyer.

Moors said Wilders was known for making bold statements but avoiding discussions, adding: "It appears you're doing so again."

Bram Moszkowicz, representing Wilders, said the comment gave the appearance that Moors was biased and moved to have him substituted.

The hearing was suspended while other judges consider the complaint. They are to rule tomorrow on Wilders's challenge, meaning that a new panel of three judges could be appointed, delaying the trial by several months.

"I thought I had a right to a fair trial, including the right to remain silent," said Wilders. "It is scandalous that the judge passes comment on that. A fair trial is not possible with judges like that."

At the weekend, rather than comparing Islam to fascism, Wilders argued that Islam was the new communism, paraphrasing Karl Marx to declare that Islam is now the spectre haunting Europe.

Relishing a role as a martyr for liberty and free speech, he stated: "I am standing trial … because of my opinions on Islam … and because the Dutch establishment – most of them non-Muslims – wants to silence me. I have been dragged to court because in my country freedom can no longer be fully enjoyed.
"In Europe the national state, and increasingly the EU, prescribes how citizens – including democratically elected politicians such as myself – should think and what we are allowed to say."

The attempt to bring Wilders to trial was initially dismissed, but an appeals court ruled he should face charges after he wrote an opinion piece in a Dutch newspaper stating: "I've had enough of Islam in the Netherlands; let not one more Muslim immigrate … I've had enough of the Qur'an in the Netherlands. Forbid that fascist book."

He makes such statements on a weekly basis and was banned from entering Britain for reasons of hate speech under the Brown government. The ban was later lifted.

Two years ago, in an interview with the Guardian, he said: "Islam is something we can't afford any more in the Netherlands. I want the fascist Qur'an banned. We need to stop the Islamisation of the Netherlands. That means no more mosques, no more Islamic schools, no more imams." He added that Islam was "the ideology of a retarded culture".

"Not all Muslims are terrorists, but almost all terrorists are Muslims," said Wilders.

In Berlin at the weekend he argued that Islam was bent on dominating the west, deliberately flooding Europe with migrants.

"We must realise that Islam expands in two ways. Historically, Islam expanded either by military conquest or by using the weapon of hijra, immigration. Muhammad conquered Medina through immigration. Hijra is also what we are experiencing today. The Islamisation of Europe continues all the time. But the west has no strategy for dealing with the Islamic ideology, because our elites say that we must adapt to them rather than the other way round."

While Wilders was delivering his call in Berlin for a new "international freedom alliance" targeting Muslim immigration in Europe, Dutch Christian Democrats held their noses and committed to a new minority government with the rightwing liberal VVD party, which will depend on the backing of Wilders's 24 seats in the Dutch parliament.

In return for his support, Wilders has gained a binding agreement to ban the burqa, crack down on immigration, and pursue more Eurosceptic policies.

"This is an historic event for the Netherlands," he said. "We will be able to rebuild our country, preserve our national identity and offer our children a better future."

The new government is expected to be sworn in next month, led by Mark Rutte, the VVD leader, as prime minister.

The Guardian

Elections Committee says public radio's modifying Jobbik ad unlawful (Hungary)

The National Elections Committee said on Sunday that Hungarian public radio MR acted unlawfully when it added comments to a political ad of radical nationalist party Jobbik. A complaint had been submitted on behalf of Jobbik stating that the radio violated the principle of equality of the political parties during an election and rules on elections procedures when it broadcasted an opinion and comment before airing a controversial Jobbik ad. MR and public television MTV had previously refused to air Jobbik ads which contained the expression "Gypsy crime" but Hungary's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the public media were obliged to broadcast the Jobbik party's ads. As a result, MR broadcast the ad but added its own comments to it. MR explained that they had previously refused to air the ad because "some of its statements violated constitutional principles," but since the National Elections Committee and the Supreme Court ruled that they were obliged to air the ad, MR had no other choice but to respect the court decision. According to the complaint, MR broadcast this comment before and after the Jobbik ad.

 Politics Hu

Dutch anti-Islamist MP Geert Wilders goes on trial

The Dutch anti-Islamist MP Geert Wilders has gone on trial in Amsterdam on charges of inciting hatred against Muslims. 

If found guilty, Mr Wilders could face up to a year in jail or a fine of up to 7,600 euros ($10,000).
The trial comes as Mr Wilders' political influence soars - he is set to be a shadow partner of the next coalition government.

He says the case against him a test of freedom of speech.

Mr Wilders will stand trial on five charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

His statements have included calling Islam fascist and likening the Koran to Hitler's Mein Kampf.

Prosecutors say Mr Wilders committed the offences in his 17-minute film Fitna, which has sparked protests across the Muslim world.

He campaigns for a stop to Muslim immigration to the Netherlands, a ban on the construction of new mosques, and a tax on headscarves.

Mr Wilders was refused entry to Britain last year, after being invited to show his film in the House of Lords.
Due to numerous death threats, he is always surrounded by bodyguards.

Mr Wilders says his mission to stop the Islamisation of the Netherlands.

The judgement is expected on 4 November.

BBC News

Park51 drawings prove how far 'Ground Zero mosque' claims are from truth (USA)

Plans for $120m project suggest building will be a multifaith community centre, including gym and playground.

Judging by the criticism thrown at the Muslim centre planned for downtown Manhattan, you would think developers intended to build an Islamic citadel right on top of Ground Zero with "sponsored by al-Qaida" written on its front.

In fact, the proposed scheme for the much-slated "Ground Zero mosque" is neither a mosque nor at Ground Zero – it is a multifaith community centre with an Islamic prayer area, two blocks north of the site where the twin towers once stood. Now, conceptual drawings of the building have been released, revealing a planned structure that is strikingly modern and in keeping with the spirit of New York's most cutting-edge design.
Park51, named after its location on the site of an old coat factory in Park Place, would be a sleek 15-storey tower sandwiched between older buildings.

The most vivid element of the renderings, drawn by a New York-based design studio, Soma Architects, is the building's white frontage, which is broken up into a lattice of interlocking geometric shapes. At night, it would be lit up like a glistening honeycomb.

The device is a clear allusion to the intricate arabesque motifs found in Islamic architecture, and is reminiscent of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, which shot the architect Jean Nouvel to fame in the 1980s. But it also pays homage to other religions, with the Jewish Star of David being clearly visible among its patterns.
Contrary to the mass of bad publicity that has been heaped on it in recent weeks, the building is designed to be multifaith and also secular.

Sharif el-Gamal, the developer of the $120m (£76m) project, told Associated Press that nearly a quarter of its space would be devoted to a sports and fitness centre, which, it is hoped, would attract New York residents of any faith and ethnicity for a fee of up to $2,700 a year per family. Another floor would be given over to a playground and childcare area.

In addition, there would be a restaurant and exhibition space, and on the 12th floor a memorial and sanctuary remembering the events of 11 September 2001 that would again be multidenominational.

"I don't think that once this thing gets built, anyone will be picketing," Gamal told AP.
The most controversial aspect of the scheme – its Muslim prayer space, which would occupy two floors in the basement – will not be a mosque at all as the construction of the building does not satisfy the stringent requirements for a sanctified mosque.

Seen from the inside, the renderings show the lattice work casting intricate shadows across the white floors, another allusion to arabesque design with its emphasis on naturally lit interiors.

The drawings are only a vision of how the building might go. An official architect for the project has yet to be appointed, and ground breaking on the construction will not begin for at least three years.

By then, the developer and the charity behind the project, the Cordoba Initiative, hope that the furore will have died down.
Gamal said that he regretted the way things had gone. "I would have done things a lot differently during this process if I understood what we were up against. People have been calling this the 'Ground Zero mosque'. It's not at Ground Zero and it's not a mosque. Our identity has been stolen from us. It has been stolen by extremists."

The attack has been led by Christian evangelical and rightwing political groups, who say Park51 is a "victory mosque", revelling in the glory of 9/11. In the most extreme case, this September, Pastor Terry Jones threatened to burn 200 Qur'ans in protest at the centre.

Could a building be less militantly Islamic? 
First illustrations of the 15-storey Park51 development planned to house the Islamic centre reveal a decidedly upbeat and glamorous building, more festive than threatening. These preliminary renderings by Soma, however, should be thought of as what might be rather than what definitely will. An architect has yet to be officially appointed.
Even so, the interiors – a honeycomb structure awash with daylight – look as if they could be uplifting and special. But then, you would expect something glamorous and fresh from Soma, a New York firm founded by the Lebanese-born Michel Abboud, who has recently completed the enjoyably hip Tartinery Nolita brasserie in SoHo.

Equally, at least four floors of Park51 are to be given over to a gym and spa, and only two basement floors to a Muslim prayer hall. With a restaurant, artists' studios and a childcare centre, this $140m building clad in an abstract play of Islamic patterns could hardly be less militantly hardcore. As one young man attending the nearby Sufi al-Farah mosque in lower Manhattan told the New York Times: "Because this is a new country, it revolutionises everything. Food, industry, philosophy and even religion." He might have added: "Islamic architecture, too."

The Guardian 

Family Claims Noose Found In Front Yard (USA)

A family is afraid to let its children play outside after finding what they believe to be a noose in the front yard of their home.

Jerry and Tawanna Youree said they discovered the rope hanging from a tree Thursday, 6News' Tanya Spencer reported. "Yesterday, when I came home, I noticed it hanging from the tree," Jerry Youree said. "That sounds like a racial hate crime, and if that's true, I've got little ones."

The Youree family moved into the home about three weeks ago and said Friday's discovery wasn't the first sign that they aren't welcomed by some. Tawanna Youree said people who are driving by the home have yelled racial slurs at her and her children and that the children were called names at a park nearby. "They yell, 'White power,' calling them (n-word) and monkeys and things like that, and it's scary. You know, it's real scary," she said. "My son, right now he's scared to go walk the dog, because he's getting racial slurs and people running up to him talking about white power, you need to move out of the neighborhood. It's really sad, grown men." Though new to the neighborhood, the Yourees have lived in Noblesville for four years. Their children are involved in sports, and they want to stay in the community. "They shouldn't be able to run me out of Noblesville. I love it here. We have rights," Tawanna Youree said. "This is a good place to raise kids, and this is where I want to stay." The Yourees said they called Noblesville police Friday, but that an officer didn't take a report, saying that it was clear to him that the rope was part of an old swing that may have recently blown down.

The Indy Channel

Document shows ex-French leader's anti-Semitism

A famed Holocaust historian says a recently uncovered 1940 document provides written proof of the personal involvement by the wartime leader of Nazi-occupied France in persecuting Jews.

Serge Klarsfeld told The Associated Press on Sunday that the document was given a few days ago to France's Holocaust Memorial museum by a donor who wanted to remain anonymous.

Klarsfeld says the document includes personal notes by the leader of the collaborationist Vichy regime, Philippe Petain, describing how authorities should target Jews, notably by keeping them out of public office and bar them from working in schools.

Klarsfeld says the document is "important" because it confirms Petain's personal role in determining the status of Jews at the time.

Associated press

Swiss far-right behind anti-Roma poster

The far-right Swiss People’s Party has admitted it is behind an advertising campaign that likens Roma migrants and Italians to rats.
Some sixty posters went up in the southern canton of Tessin, which borders Italy.

They show a Roma thief, an Italian worker and Italy’s Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti as rats nibbling at Swiss cheese.

The Swiss People’s Party or SVP is the largest single political party in parliament and part of Switzerland’s ruling coalition government.

Party official Pierre Rusconi said he had commissioned the campaign but said they reflected the real concerns of local people.

The adverts first appeared on Monday, but for days nobody claimed responsibility.

Italian MP Franco Narducci said he would be ask authorities to shut down all Internet sites and Facebook pages which published the poster.

The SVP has a reputation for provocative political campaigns.

It initiated a referendum on banning minarets last year, publishing pictures of burka-clad Muslim women with rockets strapped to their backs.
 
Euro-News

Police hunting racist thug who abused and threatened 62-year-old Chilean man changing tyre (UK)

Police are hunting a racist thug who verbally abused and threatened a 62-year-old Chilean man while the victim was changing his car's flat tyre.

The victim was on the city-bound lane of Exeter Street, in a safe parking spot near HSS Tool Hire at around 11am on September 25.

Police say that without any provocation he was approached by a man who became extremely racially abusive towards him, first telling the victim he could not park there before repeatedly hurling obscenities and racially abusing him.

The tirade continued for some time, with the suspect shouting obscenities at the top of his voice.

When the terrified victim pulled out his mobile phone to contact police the thug ran forward and kicked the phone out of the victim's hand.

It was only when a female member of the public stepped in between the victim and the attacker that he finally broke off his tirade, but not before threatening the woman.

Investigators say there were several people in the area at the time of the offence who undoubtedly heard the loud shouts and saw the attacker.

The suspect finally walked off in the direction of Cattedown.

Anyone with information about the incident is being asked to call police on 08452 777444 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 quoting crime reference number EC/10/9966.

This is Plymouth