BNP "slams" Royal Mail after leaflets row

Parcel delivery staff in London have come under scrutiny from the British National Party (BNP) after about 3,000 leaflets went missing.

Those representing the BNP in South-West Hertfordshire have demanded an investigation into the matter and the local police have been informed, according to the Watford Observer.

Simon Deacon from the party said: "We don't know what difference these leaflets could have made ... we will never know because somebody at the Post Office decided that some people should not see these leaflets."
He added that residents of the constituency should be able to choose what election material they read and suggested the party's performance on May 6th could have been better if the flyers had been distributed.

The newspaper reports employees at the parcel delivery company have been accused of deliberately misplacing the items and that Hertfordshire Constabulary and Royal Mail are looking into the allegations.

The BNP received 1,302 votes in the recent ballot and Conservatives took the seat with 30,773 nods. Liberal Democrats were in second place with 15,853 compared to Labour's 6,526.

My Hermes

TRIAL OF EXTREMISTS OVER ARSON ATTACK ON ROMA STARTS (Czech Rep)

The trial of four right-wing extremists suspected of the April 2009 arson attack on a Romany family house in Vitkov, north Moravia, started under tough security measures at the Regional Court in Ostrava yesterday. The four, David Vaculik, Jaromir Lukes, Ivo Mueller and Vaclav Cojocaru, face exceptional sentences, up to life imprisonment, if convicted of racially motivated attempted murder. They have been escorted to the courtroom by a strong unit of Prison Service officers. The state attorney says the crime, committed in the night to April 19, 2009, was planned by Lukes. This is also what Cojocaru and Mueller told the court. They said Lukes told them about the plan that was to frighten local Romanies in a pub in Opava, a town near Ostrava, on April 18. Lukes and Vaculik refused to give testimony. Lukes stayed in the car and each of the three young men threw a Molotov cocktail in the windows of a Romany family house in Vitkov. Then they drove away. Three of the house inhabitants suffered injuries in the subsequent fire. The worst afflicted was a 1.5-year-old girl, Natalka, who suffered severe burns on 80 percent of her body. Natalka stayed many months in hospital, undergoing a series of surgeries. Doctors call her survival a miracle. She will bear lifelong consequences of her injuries, however. Cojocaru and Mueller claim they did not know that the house they attacked was inhabited. Muller said Lukes told them it was a place where stolen goods were stored.

Both Cojocaru and Mueller said they heard the news about the burnt girl only in the morning after their attack. They read it on the Internet, they said. "We really felt sorry for the little girl... We didn't realise that something like this might happen," Mueller told the judges. The four wanted to draw attention within local extremist groups. They also wanted to take a "bigger action" on the eve of Adolf Hitler's 120th birth anniversary, the attorney said. Cojocaru and Mueller rejected this. "I was spontaneous. I don't believe that anybody prepared it. At least not with me," Cojocaru said. Lukes's lawyer Pavel Penkava said he disagreed with the statements that Lukes masterminded the attack. "We will try to refute this claim during the trial," he said. Pavel Uhl, the representative of the children who were in the house when the attack occurred, told CTK yesterday that he would demand financial compensation worth some nine millions of crowns. Markus Pape and Ladislav Balaz demand compensation of 900,000 crowns on behalf of Natalka's family. The VZP health insurance company demands the payment of 7.5 million crowns for the treatment of Natalka and her parents. The trial is to continue on Wednesday at 9:00.

Prague Monitor

EXPERTS SLAM “BIASED” INTEGRATION DEBATE (Switzerland)

A government advisory committee has warned against focusing the integration debate exclusively on specific demands and duties of foreigners. The Federal Commission on Migration Issues said society has also a responsibility, particularly to prevent discrimination and to bring in official intercultural translators and interpreters. “Integration is often used as the ultimate benchmark to threaten sanctions. Too much importance is given to immigrants speaking an official Swiss language,” said Francis Matthey, president of the commission, on Tuesday. The panel pointed out that it was equally important to seek to “remove hurdles to integration” to allow foreigners equality with Swiss citizens on the labour market, in society and in everyday life. The commission reiterated its rejection of a rightwing initiative to expel any convicted criminal foreigner. “Existing laws are sufficient and the measure cannot be implemented because it goes against international law,” Matthey said. Parliament will resume discussions on the issue during its regular summer session in June.


Swiss Info

BNP London organiser Bob Bailey arrested over assault

The British National Party's London organiser has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting two men.

Bob Bailey was allegedly involved in a clash with some men in Harrow Road in Barking on 5 May - the day before the general election.

Mr Bailey attended a police station on 11 May and was arrested and subsequently bailed until July.

An 18-year-old man and 19-year-old man have also been arrested on suspicion of assault and affray and been bailed

BBC News

Jobbik leader to wear banned Gárda outfit in parliment (Hungary)

Jobbik leader Gábor Vona will wear the black vest and white shirt of the banned Magyar Gárda paramilitary organisation at the inaugural session of Parliament, he told Socialist chairwoman Ildikó Lendvai at a meeting of the parliamentary parties on Tuesday.

Vona said he will wear the black vest in solidarity with those" who were impeded undemocratically" by the previous government. Vona said he will be the only Jobbik MP to wear the black vest.

Deputy chairman Zoltán Balczó said Jobbik MPs will take the oath of office at the royal crown in the Parliament building on Friday.
Socialist caucus leader Attila Mesterházy said "Hungary is not a monarchy but a republic, for the time being" and oaths should be taken where determined by regulations.

politics.hu

Former German soldier sentenced for anti-Semitic graffiti

An 83-year-old native of Germany has been sentenced to six months in jail for scrawling anti-Semitic graffiti in a Canadian city in Ontario.


"This may be the last opportunity for a Canadian court to look into the eyes of a German military (subject) and state clearly to him what all Canadians think of this type of act that led to the death of six million Jews," Judge Norman Douglas said Monday before sentencing Max Mahr on charges of willful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group.
Mahr was arrested and charged last September in connection with hateful remarks against Jews found in various locations in the city of Guelph, located an hour southwest of Toronto. He pleaded guilty in March.

The court was told about 19 instances of graffiti that urged the killing of Jews.

Mahr also was sentenced to two years probation and 40 hours of community service. He served as a German soldier during World War II.
"As I see the case, the crime wasn't committed 65 years ago," Douglas said. "Mr. Mahr has brought this poisonous hatred into the 21st century."
The Canadian Jewish Congress issued a statement in support of the sentence, whose "unequivocal message speaks volumes about the importance of protecting minority communities in this country."

JTA News

France moves closer to a ban on full-face veils

The French parliament unanimously passed a resolution which condemns the full-face veil known as a burqa on Tuesday. The measure could set the stage for a total ban.

The French parliament unanimously approved a resolution that would declare the full facial veil known as a burqa as an affront to French values, paving the way for a full-fledged ban on the garment worn by a small minority of French Muslim women.

The proposals also condemn the wearing of the niqab, a veil that covers the face but allows a slit for the eyes, in contrast to the burqa, in which the eyes are covered by a layer of netting or lace.
The resolution had the backing of both French President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party and the opposition Socialists. It passed with a vote of 434 to 0 in the 577-seat National Assembly. About 30 members of the Communist Party walked out before the vote in protest.
The non-binding resolution passed on Tuesday declares that "radical practices which violate the dignity and equality between men and women, such as the wearing of the full veil, are contrary to the values of the republic."
The parliament is to discuss draft legislation that would actually ban the attire next week. It is expected to be put to a vote in July.
The draft legislation would criminalize the wearing of the veil in public, including at institutions like schools or government offices, as well as on the streets. It would also apply to tourists from outside of France.

Under the draft law, women who wear veils covering the face could face fines. Men found guilty of forcing their wives or daughters to wear it could face prison sentences. But the bill has less support from French lawmakers, including Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry, than the resolution.
Aubry said a complete ban would not be feasible, and "risks being a source of stigmatization and mostly [being] inefficient because it cannot be implemented."

Criticism for proposals

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The niqab, which allows the eyes to be seen, is also covered under the proposals
The movement to ban the wearing of face-covering veils in public has drawn criticism from both a French government body which promotes interreligious dialogue and the Council of Europe.

"We do not want Islam to be stigmatized as a result of this law banning the full veil," Mohamed Moussaoui, who heads the Council of the Muslim Faith, told news agency AFP on Tuesday. "Rather than enacting a law barring women from expressing their malaise, we should think about what prompted them to want to cover themselves."
The Council of Europe, a 47-nation body which oversees and promotes human rights in Europe, is to discuss burqas and similar coverings at its plenary meeting in June.

A statement isssued by the council on Tuesday acknowledged that the veil is often seen as "a symbol of the subjugation of women to men," but that a blanket ban would deny the right to religious freedom for women "who genuinely and freely desire" to wear it.
If the bill becomes law, France would be the second country in Europe after Belgium to prohibit the wearing of the full veil in public.
According to the French Interior Ministry's estimates, fewer than 2,000 women in France wear the burqa.
DW World

Permit likely for neo-Nazis Gettysburg Rally (USA)

Aryan Nations plans to hold June rally at Gettysburg battlefield

A permit will likely be granted for the neo-Nazi group Aryan Nations to hold a rally at the Gettysburg National Military Park, according to park spokeswoman Katie Lawhon.

Aryan Nations - which identifies itself as a white-supremacist organization - applied for the permit last week and park officials are expected to approve the request, Lawhon said. The rally would take place on the park's lawn west of the Cyclorama Center, she added.

"Because the land is publicly owned, we're obligated to make it publicly available for exercising First Amendment rights," she said.

Although the approval is likely, Lawhon says the park doesn't support the views of Aryan Nations, which has been called a "continuing terrorist threat" by the FBI.
According to a statement from Lawhon, "The Park Service's mission in preserving and protecting the historic resources at Gettysburg includes making them available to all Americans, even those whose views are contrary to the majority of the public."

In response, the YWCA plans to hold a "celebration of diversity" on June 19, the expected date of the Aryan Nations rally, said YWCA Missions Director Ashley Andyshak Hayes.

"There are some people who feel it's better to ignore (Aryan Nations), but people around here aren't going to tolerate this and it's important for us to speak out and send a positive, proactive message," Hayes said.

A meeting will be held May 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the YWCA to discuss exactly what will take place at the "celebration of diversity."

In 2006, the YWCA held a similar event called "Community Unity Day," which was organized to counter a battlefield rally held by the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

Michael McQueeney, who leads the Wisconsin chapter of Aryan Nations, said Gettysburg is a popular location for white-supremacy groups because of the prevalence of sympathizers in the region.

"We're going to all the old Civil War battlefields to bring in recruits because there are a lot of white patriots in this area," he added.
But McQueeney attended the 2006 Ku Klux Klan rally and was a bit disappointed with the turnout, he said. The 2 1/2 hour rally was attended by about 30 Klan members, seven re-enactor counter-protesters and more than 100 spectators.

For Hayes and the YWCA, low turnout means mission accomplished.

"That's good to hear," she said, "because I know a lot of people came to (Community Unity Day) so it's definitely encouraging that more people came to our event."
If approved, the Aryan Nations rally will last two to three hours and will include speeches and discussions on current events, according to McQueeney.

"You're going to see 50 to 100 of us show up and there will be speakers talking about how our children and children's children should grow up white and not mixed race," he said. "We're protesting illegal immigration and President Barack Obama's birth certificate and the Jews who are running the banks and making all the white man's money.

"I have my speech all ready," he said, adding, "There will be no skinheads coming because they're the ones that cause the problems."
Following the rally, there will be either a burning of "Jewish" books, a cross lighting or bonfire, according to McQueeney.
"Afterward, everybody gets together and we have a barbecue and it's just a fun meet-and-greet type thing," he added.
But any events taking place after the rally will be held at a private site just outside of Gettysburg, according to McQueeney.

The Evening Sun

3 German rightists convicted in neo-Nazi camp case (Germany)

Three members of a far-right group were convicted Tuesday of organizing events to indoctrinate youth with neo-Nazi ideals, including a camping trip that had children painting masks with swastikas.

All three were members of the Homeland-Faithful German Youth, or HDJ, which was banned by Germany's Interior Ministry last year for promoting racist and Nazi ideology among children and youth.

The Berlin state court convicted Ragnar R. for his role in organizing a 2006 trip during which children decorated masks with swastikas and all participants wore black uniforms, court spokesman Robert Baeuml said in a statement.

He was also convicted of involvement in a 2007 event where youngsters were taught far-right racial theories and shown the Nazi propaganda film "The Eternal Jew," Baeuml said.

Co-defendants Christian F. and Daniela K. were also convicted of participating in the second event.

The court did not release the last names of the defendants in accordance with German privacy laws. It also did not give their ages and Baeuml could not be reached by telephone, but Germany's NDR news reported that Ragnar R. was 26, Christian F. 27, and Daniela K. 24.

Ragnar R. was given a 17-month suspended sentence, Christian F. a 12-month suspended sentence, while Daniela K. was fined €1,800 ($2,285).

The HDJ — whose initials evoke the German abbreviation for the Hitler Youth, the HJ — was founded in 1990 in Ploen, near Kiel, but is now based in Berlin and had several hundred members around the time it was banned, the Interior Ministry has said.

guardian

BULGARIAN NATIONALIST EXTREMIST FACES RACISM SUIT

Bulgaria’s Commission for Protection from Discrimination has raised racism charges against vocal far-right leader Boyan Rasate. The first sitting of the trial will take place on Monday, May 10, 2010, the Commission has announced. Rasate is sued for his statements made in a Nova TV and Darik Radio talk show in which he declared himself against the acceptance of “Third World refugees” by Bulgaria. “Rasate’s statements are xenophobic, racist, and stir prejudice and discrimination against people of a different race, nationality, ethnic group, human genome, citizenship or origin,” says the Commission statement. He is accused of using manipulative and discriminatory rhetoric by likening dark-skinned people to monkeys, defining refugees as “exotic representatives of unknown peoples”, and presenting them as a crime risk factor. He is also said to have presented the refugees coming from non-European countries as unable to integrate into European societies “because of their genetic structure.” Two years ago, Bulgaria’s anti-discrimination commission raised homophobia charges against Boyan Rasate but they could not be proven subsequently. In 2009, Rasate was charged again because of comments that he made in his former talk show “National Guard” where he described people of the Roma ethnicity as “gypsy parasites”, “persons dealing with robbery and prostitution”, “murderers slaughtering dozens of Bulgarians”.


The charge was raised by Roma leader Toma Nikolaev, the founder of the Roma information agency De Facto (currently inactive). Nikolaev is known to be close to Volen Siderov, the leader of the major Bulgarian right-wing nationalist party “Ataka”; Siderov and Rasate has been tangled in a personal conflict and legal battles for a couple of years. The Roma discrimination case against Boyan Rasate was thrown into the hands of the Supreme Administrative Court where the nationalist was acquitted and won the case because according to the ruling his words were true and reflected the actual situation in Bulgaria. Rasate is known as the leader of the minor but vocal far-right party Bulgarian National Union GUARD. In 2007, his movement announced the setting up of a "National Guard" aimed at protecting Bulgarians against "Roma terror" but the paramilitary formation was outlawed. He is also known for being arrested as one of the instigators of the Molotov cocktail attacks against Bulgaria’s first ever gay pride parade, which took place in Sofia in June 2008. In April 2010, Rasate got in a car accident with the owner of the Balkanski Circus in Sofia, which led to a fight and exchange of insults, with the nationalist allegedly offending the non-Bulgarian staff of the circus because of their ethnic origin.

Novinite

COURT DELAYS, IGNORANCE RENDER VICTIMS OF VIOLENT NEO-NAZISM POWERLESS (Czech Rep.)

At the end of last month, the court in Benešov heard testimony in the October 2008 case of neo-Nazis rampaging against random targets in the town. The main witnesses and court experts gave their testimony in closed session; the trial was then adjourned until the start of June. The media are not reporting on it. The hearing was closed because one of the defendants was a minor at the time the crime was committed. This is why the media are not even attempting to follow the trial - not one journalist was present at the courthouse last month. The public, therefore, is learning nothing about it. The Romea news server was the only media outlet to publish a brief announcement that the trial was taking place. To an outside observer, it seems that the law in this case is primarily defending the rights of the defendants. In June the victims will have to testify without supporters present before a large number of defendants and their attorneys. During the first hearing, some of the defendants ended up sitting in the benches normally reserved for the public for lack of seating. It is as if the victims had no right to legal counsel, or as if it were better to make sure the current degree of danger posed by neo-Nazis in the Czech Republic is neither known nor spoken of. There are 12 defendants on trial at the district court in Benešov. At the time of the crime they ranged in age from 16 to 22. They include several people who, according to other reporting by the daily MF Dnes, have previously participated in training camps for hand-to-hand combat held for those interested in Nazism. Filip Stránský (24) of Tábor, for example, is the alleged founder of the neo-Nazi group White Justice in the Czech Republic. In 2007 he was sentenced by the district court in Tábor for committing ideologically motivated battery and for supporting and promoting a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms. He is currently being prosecuted for other crimes, information the courts are not releasing because of personal data protections.

What happened at the start of October 2008 in Benešov? A 15 to 20-member group of neo-Nazis attacked an 18-year-old youth who believes he was randomly selected for assault. The brutal attack caused him serious injuries with permanent consequences. After finishing with this first victim, the mob continued to frantically chase other people throughout the town. They attacked another youth and shouted racist slogans at him; he also was hospitalized as a result, although his injuries were fortunately light. He met the first victim at the hospital, who had ended up much worse off. Seriously injured victim effectively lacks information about his rights “The physical attack on the man occurred on Friday 10 October at 20:30 when a group of men aged about 20 and dressed in black-and-white camouflage, black or blue pants, and bomber jackets attacked by kicking him and striking him with collapsible nightsticks and brass knuckles. Their faces were masked with bandanas. The victim has been hospitalized with serious injuries,” police spokesperson Zuzana Stránská announced shortly after the crime occurred. The life of the primary victim of this attack was acutely endangered. In addition to bruising all over his body, he suffered serious injury to his spleen, which he eventually lost, and to his kidneys. He was hospitalized for almost three weeks and then continued to be treated as an outpatient. He had to abandon his studies and his employability has been compromised as a result of the permanent injury he has sustained. This victim was not instructed by police on how to demand compensation from the state as the victim of a violent crime – or at least, he was not instructed in such a way as to make him aware of his rights. Since the law establishes the deadline for filing such a request as one year from the date of the crime, this victim has lost the opportunity to access a minimum of CZK 100 000 (EUR 4 000) in compensation. Shortly before the second hearing, the family of the Benešov victim requested assistance from the attorney-in-fact for the victims of the arson attack in Vítkov. Unfortunately, motions for compensation should have been filed prior to the start of the trial.

The victim described the events to the local paper as follows: “I was going to visit a friend at Spoøilov at 8:30 in the evening and I walked by the cultural center near the Jewish cemetery. Near the garage below Klášterská street I noticed a band of about 20 masked people. Two girls were walking in front of me, and the group let them pass without any problem. Suddenly I had a strange feeling - I was listening to music on my MP3 player and I thought they would leave me alone as well, but I was no match for them. One of them pushed me down on the ground and the others mercilessly kicked me. They didn’t swear at me, but one of them ridiculed me when they were leaving – ‘That hurts, right?’ They just kicked me like a dog and left.” The girls mentioned in the victim’s account followed the attack from afar but did not attempt to defend the victim out of fear that the mob might attack them as well. Once the assailants had left the scene, the girls helped the victim walk to a nearby shop. Salespeople there called the ambulance that took him to the hospital. The suspects have been charged with the crimes of grievous bodily harm (five of them), attempted racially motivated grievous bodily harm (six of them), rioting (all of them), and racist violence against a group (all of them). According to the criminal code in effect at the time, they face prison sentences of between two and eight years. Those suspects for whom racist motivation cannot be proven face a maximum of three years in prison. The state prosecutor has issued the following statement: “All of the defendants met together in Benešov and subsequently decided to proceed through the town and to physically attack anyone of a different appearance, or mindset, or ethnicity, or race. They paraded through the town in two groups which closely followed one another….” The groups committed their attacks in various places.

Delays jeopardize prosecution
How is it possible that the prosecution of such a serious crime has undergone such delays? Police wanted to find the greatest possible number of suspects involved and collect sufficient evidence to charge them. This was not an easy task given that the assailants attacked under cover of darkness and were masked. In the end, some of the suspects confessed to their participation in the crime and revealed the names of the others. Last May, more than six months after the crime took place, the 12 defendants were charged. Benešov state prosecutor Stanislav Novák then requested political scientist Zdeòek Zboøil to analyze the propaganda material police found during searches of the suspects’ homes. The amount of material discovered was so enormous the expert had to travel several times from Prague to Benešov to review it all; he did not receive the information in digital form from the state prosecutor until several months later. His analysis is meant to demonstrate the defendants’ ideological motivation. Zboøil said some of the defendants were in possession of some of the most hardcore examples of Nazi propaganda, such as recordings of the neo-Nazi band Judenmord. A member of the Anti-fascist Action organization claims that in Filip Stránský’s case, police only searched his mother’s apartment even though he was not living there at the time. Police have found almost no evidence of his motivation.

Another attack, directly at the courthouse
During 2007 and 2008, the White Justice group organized military trainings to take place in outdoor settings. Police say professional soldier Lukáš Sedláèek of the unit based in Tábor taught the neo-Nazis how to properly attack “living targets”. He was recently discharged from the Czech Army as a result. Czech Defense Minister Martin Barták commented on the news last November, saying: “I personally ordered the instigation of the appropriate steps to immediately discharge him from service.” “I am one of the founders of this organization. It was founded by me, Filip Stránský and a person named Jana," the daily MF Dnes reported Sedláèek as saying during police interrogation. At the time the professional solider confessed to training about 30 people at the camps. He taught them hand-to-hand combat, with and without weapons, and how to attack both living and inanimate targets. He also trained them in techniques for setting cars on fire and destroying other kinds of property. However, Sedláèek now denies participating in the group’s activities and claims to have stopped having anything to do with neo-Nazism long ago. Police have not succeeded in demonstrating a connection between the training and the Benešov attack, even though it is more than likely the attack was actually part of the training.

This year the Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zloèinu - ÚOOZ) has tried to charge several neo-Nazis with the crime of terrorism over an alleged plot to kidnap police officers and politicians. The state prosecutor refused to take the case forward, allegedly for insufficient evidence. Why did the Benešov court not announce this trial to the media? Evidently out of concern for the fact that the witnesses might have begun to fear the possible results of testifying. Most of the witnesses did show up to testify without concern at the end of April. However, as a result of failing to inform the public of the degree of danger involved, another attack occurred at the courthouse. An unidentified perpetrator, evidently a supporter of neo-Nazism, was watching the courthouse during the trial. While one of the main witnesses and his attorney were inside, the perpetrator slashed their tires. It will be difficult to prove who committed the crime as police did not patrol the area in front of the courthouse. After learning of the attack, Jakub Polák, the victims’ attorney-in-fact, said: “They think they can just bully someone like that and get away with it. It makes me want to see this through even more.” In the past, Polák represented a Romani youth who died after a neo-Nazi attack in broad daylight in the center of the South Bohemian town of Písek. The youth drowned in the river after his assailants prevented him from getting out of the water. Over the course of many years of painstaking work, Polák managed to convince the state prosecutor to classify the crime not as rioting, but as racially motivated murder. Three young neo-Nazis were eventually sentenced to long prison sentences five years after the crime was committed.

Romea

ETHNIC ALBANIANS PROTEST IN CAPITAL (Macedonia)

Some 2,000 people participated in a protest march dubbed "For Justice", organised by several Albanian civil society groups, in downtown Skopje on Monday. The protest passed off peacefully, with obvious heavy police presence visible in the downtown area. Protestors demanded the immediate release of those convicted in the so-called Brodec and Sopot cases, in which ethnic Albanians were found guilty for staging or helping terrorist activities. The protestors also demanded that all cases against ethnic Albanians involved in the 2001 armed conflict in Macedonia be scrapped and that all state funded project which promote ethnic and religious discrimination be stopped. The crowd shouted "liberate the political prisoners" as they marched in front of the Skopje court building. Later the protesters moved in front of the parliament and government buildings, causing traffic jams in the downtown area. In 2001 Macedonia suffered a short lived armed conflict between ethnic Albanian insurgents and the state security forces. Although the clashes ended the same year with the signing of the Ohrid Peace Accord and the pronouncement of amnesty for all insurgents, the situation in some areas remained problematic for some time following the signing of the accord.


Two years after the conflict, a mine killed two international KFOR soldiers near the wetern village of Sopot. 11 residents from Sopot were later convicted and given a joint prison sentence of 156 years for their participation in the incident. In the Sopot case the ombudsman’s office and former Macedonia prime minister Vlado Buckovski asked for the case to be reviewed, expressing their concern that the convicted might not be guilty. In a separate case in November 2007 Macedonian police raided the village of Brodec on the Sara Mountain in northwestern Macedonia, killing several armed men and apprehending several others. The court later found the men guilty for planning terrorist activities and sent them to prison. The protestors, marching under the umbrella of the so-called Council of Albanian Organisations, demanded that the government put a halt to the state funded revamp project for the capital, dubbed “Skopje 2014”, claiming that it stirred ethnic division by promoting values that are close only to the Macedonian majority. The ongoing project envisages the construction of at least 10 new buildings and at least 17 vast monuments depicting heroes and historical moments from Macedonian history. The organisers of the protest insisted that they had no political support for their activities. However, the opposition ethnic Albanian party New Democracy previously supported the march, while the ruling Democratic Union for Integration, DUI said it would not support it. The opposition Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA did not comment on the event.

Balkan Insight

Neo-Nazi Charged With Incitement (Russia)

A former member of Russian National Unity faces "incitement to hooliganism" charges in St.
Petersburg, according to a May 4, 2010 report by the local news agency Rosbalt. The 36 year old man allegedly urged his younger followers to set explosive devices around the city in an effort to terrorize non-Russians. The bombs went off in 2008 and 2009, but did not injure anybody. Police reportedly confiscated extremist literature and video material from the suspect's home.

ucsj

YESHIVA STUDENT MURDERED IN UKRAINE

A Chabad student was murdered two weeks ago in the Ukraine, and his body was cut into ten pieces, according to reports released to the media on Saturday night. Police were reportedly investigating whether the murder was an act of anti-Semitism. Haredi news sources reported that the victim, Aryeh Leib Misinzov, was a 25-year-old student at the Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Kiev. Police found pieces of the Misinzov's body in a suburb of Kiev, sources said, adding that he was kidnapped and murdered by a gang member on Hitler's birthday. The gang leader was reportedly undergoing questioning by Kiev police. On Sunday, haredi news sources reported that Misinzov himself was involved in organized crime. According to Chabad sources, the Ukrainian chief rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Reuvein Asman, was in Israel at the time of the murder, and cut his trip short in order to arrange the release and burial of the body.


jpost

BNP faces legal threat amid new racism claims over redrafted constitution

Nick Griffin could be in in contempt of court for allegedly breaching court order to amend party rules

The British National party faces the prospect of renewed legal action from the government's equalities watchdog over allegations that it has failed to remove potentially racist clauses from its constitution. The court case could potentially see the BNP's leader, Nick Griffin, jailed or fined for contempt of court, or see party assets seized, lawyers believe.
It caps a miserable couple of weeks for the BNP. Griffin came third in the parliamentary vote for Barking, a constituency the BNP had targeted heavily, while his party lost all 12 of its seats on Barking and Dagenham council. That followed a disastrous election campaign in which the BNP website was taken down by its designer, the party's publicity director was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill Griffin and a London candidate was caught on camera fighting in the street with a group of Asian teenagers.

The BNP constitution was challenged in court last year by the government's Equalities and Human Rights Commission. In March, Judge Paul Collins ruled that even after the BNP lifted a direct ban on non-white members, the revised document was indirectly discriminatory because it required applicants to oppose "any form of integration or assimilation of ... the indigenous British", something the EHRC argued could not be endorsed by those in mixed-race relationships.

The constitution additionally required new members to submit to a two-hour vetting visit at their home by a pair of BNP officials, a clause Collins ruled could be seen as intimidating for non-white applicants. He ordered both offending sections be removed.

Following the ruling, Griffin redrafted the BNP constitution, something the party's rules allow him to do without consulting members. However, copies of the new version – officially known as draft 12.2 – show that both clauses have not been removed but moved and slightly amended. The home interview clause returns in near-identical wording as the "annual visit criteria", without which new members cannot attend meetings or vote on party matters.

"This seems like a slightly hapless attempt to get round the injunction by moving the offending section to a different part of the constitution," said Paul Epstein QC from Cloisters Chambers in London, a specialist in discrimination law. "There seems to be no doubt that what they have done goes against the spirit of Judge Collins's ruling at the very least. They're taking a real risk of being found in contempt of court. This is particularly the case for Griffin, given this role he has in changing the constitution."

The section relating to the "indigenous British" remains in the new constitution, under the heading "Temporary amendment". Gavin Millar QC, a specialist in election and discrimination law from Doughty Street chambers, said this appeared to breach the court decision. "The ruling made it quite clear that the reference to 'indigenous British' was discriminatory and had to be removed but the BNP has included it, saying it is only being temporarily removed pending a successful appeal, at which point it will be reinstated. This is a clear breach," he said.

The home visit clause had been slightly reworded but "it is in substance the same", he said, adding: "The approach they have taken is both a civil and criminal breach of the order and I think in the end, unless the courts or the commission give up, which I don't think they will, the BNP and Griffin will in the end face contempt proceedings and possible imprisonment."

Any EHRC action will have to wait until a government is formed, as until then its activities remain constrained by Cabinet Office guidelines on the behaviour of public bodies during election campaigns. An EHRC spokesman said: "At the time of the court ruling, we said that the commission would monitor the BNP's compliance with the ruling. We are currently looking into this matter."

The EHRC is understood to have written to the BNP outlining its concerns about the new constitution and is awaiting a reply. The BNP did not respond to a request for comment.

The Guardian

Far-right party seeks ACT toehold (Australia)

An extreme right-wing nationalist party is seeking to boost its presence in Canberra as it makes a bid to be registered in time for the federal election.

The party, founded by renegade Labor MP Graeme Campbell and spearheaded by contentious nationalist Jim Saleam, is holding a private meeting in Queanbeyan today.

The party supports restricting foreign ownership, reducing and limiting immigration, strengthening the traditional family and ''abolishing multiculturalism'', according to its website.

Dr Saleam, the party's nominal national spokesman, said public notice of its intent to register with the Australian Electoral Commission was imminent barring an ''absolutely marvellous objection'', and the territory had been identified as another possible foothold.

But he acknowledged the history of nationalist organisations in the territory was ''not a happy one''.

''There's a bit of a sub-culture of nationalistic groups that have operated in the ACT over time, and as a general rule they've never had any particular profile,'' he said.

But he argued there were still Canberrans who would identify with the party's far-right doctrine.

''If Australia First got established in the ACT it would have a definable base, a different social base to other groups in the ACT,'' he said.

''And that would be rather inevitable I suspect.''

ACT Greens Senate candidate Lin Hatfield Dodds said while the party recognised Australia First's right to a political voice, their platform resembled ''the politics of fear''.

''We would fight for the right for those voices to be heard, and then we would have a conversation about the value of some of those voices,'' she said. ''It all sounds to me like the politics of fear. The Greens are actually interested in the politics of hope. Do we want to be a country that is guided by justice and compassion, or ... a country driven by fear?''

The Australia First Party's capital push follows moves to have the party registered for this year's federal election, and similar efforts by the Australian Protectionist Party.
Canberra Times

Philippine gay party on ballot for the first time

A gay political party will be on the ballot Monday for the first time in the Philippines, where eight out of 10 households are Roman Catholics.

The elections will determine whether Ang Ladlad ("Out of the Closet") -- which represents lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender Filipinos (LGBT) -- will get the maximum three seats allowable for a marginalized or underrepresented party in Congress.

"We consider it a milestone in Philippine human rights," said Leila De Lima, head of the Commission on Human Rights in the Philippines. "They are really always victims of discrimination, exclusion and even violence."
The Commission sided with Ang Ladlad when its legal fight to stand for elections reached the Supreme Court.
Leading the five nominees under Ang Ladlad's banner is its national secretary of seven years, Bemz Benedito, who is transgender and also works for Senator Loren Legarda, herself a vice presidential candidate and Ang Ladlad supporter.

"We are running a common platform of equal rights, not special rights," said Benedito.
Topping Ang Ladlad's five-plank agenda is support for the Anti-Discrimination Bill that would criminalize discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill has been filed multiple times in the Philippines Congress to no success.

The four other items on Ang Ladlad's platform are:

• Support for LGBT-related and LGBT-friendly businesses

• Setting up of microfinance projects for poor and disabled LGBT Filipinos

• Setting up centers that could provide legal aid and counseling services for poor and aging LGBT Filipinos

• Support for the repeal of the Anti-Vagrancy law, a tool that Ang Ladlad says has been exploited to extort members of the LGBT community.

Absent is same-sex marriage, which has slowly become legalized in other parts of the world. "We've done surveys -- we're going to lose on this one," said Ang Ladlad founder Danton Remoto, pointing to the predominance of Catholicism. "We're not going to push this. We focus on human rights first."
Also absent from the platform is a gender recognition bill, which would recognize transgender people and allow them to legalize the names they identify with.

On the Commission on Elections' (COMELEC) Web site, Benedito and another Ang Ladlad candidate, Naomi Fontanos, are listed under their male birth names. But Benedito prefers the female "Bemz," as opposed to her birth name, "Bembol Aleeh," and Fontanos -- chair of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) -- is listed as "Tito Paulo."
"That's our struggle," said Benedito. "Even if our members have gone through gender reassignment surgery, they are not allowed to change their names to male or female, [unless] there is a typographical error."

One of the biggest challenges Ang Ladlad faces are the "immoral" and "abnormal" labels that the Commission on Elections and an official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) have used against them.
"My faith is always direct to God, and I believe he's also created us," said Benedito, a Roman Catholic who once studied at an all-boys Catholic school. "It's not up to these priests [to say] what is moral and what is not."
Speaking with CNN by phone on Tuesday, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, Jr. stood by his earlier well-publicized comments against Ang Ladlad's inclusion on the ballot.

"Personally, I'm not in favor of the party, because it's a group that's of abnormal human persons, according to what we accept as the order that the Creator has made for human persons," said Deogracias, who chairs the CBCP's public affairs permanent committee. "Human society -- we have male and female, so whatever is outside is abnormal. As with any other people, they are members of society. We respect them, we can tolerate them, we are compassionate, but we cannot sanction what they are doing."

In a separate phone conversation earlier, CBCP's media office director Pedro Quitorio said the body has not yet issued a formal statement on Ang Ladlad.

As recently as a month ago, the Commission on Elections had denied Ang Ladlad's registration twice in four years -- first for a lack of members and then on moral grounds. In its latter dismissal, the commission cited Ang Ladlad's tolerance for "immorality which offends religious beliefs" and then quoted the Bible, the Koran and then the Law Department's definition of the civil code.

Is Ang Ladlad the world's only gay political party?

In 2007, an Israeli, Hagai Eyad, announced the formation of the Magi, or "Gay Party in Israel," to run for the Knesset after plans for a Jerusalem gay pride party were quashed. The effort did not materialize, and no party ran.

Between 1999 and 2005 the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, founded by Juan Elys [elsewhere spelled "Uys"], existed as a political party in South Africa, according to EISA, a South African-based nonprofit organization which promotes credible elections, human rights and democracy in Africa.

"The denial of Ang Ladlad's registration on purely moral grounds amounts more to a statement of dislike and disapproval of homosexuals, rather than a tool to further any substantial public interest," the court said in its ruling.

The party has had barely a month to campaign. "So, wherever we go, we say, 'Number 89,'" Remoto said, referring to its placement on the long ballot with 186 other "party-list" groups, which together would comprise one-fifth of the House of Representatives.

Ang Ladlad, which estimates 25,000 members, has received an "outpouring of support" from politicians, as well as from nuns and priests who cannot outwardly express it, Remoto said.
"Whether they win or lose, what's important is, they're on the ballot, and people are given the chance to vote for them and other parties," Senator Chiz Escudero said by phone of Ang Ladlad.

Escudero, an independent, rallied the party to endorse presidential candidate Senator Benigno Aquino and vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay. Such a combination is a mixed-ticket, considering Aquino belongs to the Liberal Party, and Binay is on the PDP-Laban ticket as Aquino rival and former President Joseph Estrada's running mate.
Remoto pointed to corruption as the Philippines' main problem and referred to Aquino as the "Mr. Clean of Philippine politics." Binay, the mayor of Makati, has a track record as a human rights lawyer and a gender rights agenda in his platform, Remoto added.

That Ang Ladlad may be the only gay political party in the world hasn't been disputed so far.

Sam Cook, communications and research director, of the New York-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, said he was not aware of any other.

The Washington-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, which supports LGBT candidates to all levels of office, said there has not been an equivalent in the United States, where same-sex marriage and military policy toward gays have generated significant debate.

"Well-known openly gay candidates and elected officials in the U.S. have almost always been affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties, with the Democrats fielding far more out candidates than Republicans," Denis Dison, vice president of external affairs, wrote via e-mail.
Public perception of gays in the Philippines has changed in the past 20 years, said Remoto, who teaches at Ateneo de Manila University.

"We made homosexuality a topic everyone can discuss openly," he said.

CNN

Australia burka armed robbery sparks ban debate

An armed robbery allegedly carried out by a man wearing a burka has sparked a row in Australia on whether the full-face Islamic veil should be banned.

Opposition Liberal Sen Cory Bernardi said the robbery showed the burka was "emerging as the preferred disguise of bandits and ne'er-do-wells".
Both PM Kevin Rudd and Liberal leader Tony Abbott dismissed the comments and said they would not support a ban.

The row follows similar debates on the burka in European countries.
Last week, Belgian politicians voted for a ban which would outlaw the full-face veil in public.

Mr Bernardi, senator for South Australia, made his comments after a man was held up at gunpoint in a car park in Sydney on Wednesday and robbed of a bag of cash.
The victim said his attacker had been a man wearing sunglasses and a burka, meaning he could not be identified.
Writing in his blog, Mr Bernardi said the burka was "un-Australian" and should be banned on safety grounds and for the good of society.

"To me, the burka represents the repressive domination of men over women which has no place in our society and compromises some of the most important aspects of human communication," he said.

"It also establishes a different set of rules and societal expectations in our hitherto homogenous society."

'Confronting'
Mr Abbott said party member Mr Bernardi was "entitled to a personal view" but that he did not personally support the idea of a ban.
"I think a lot of Australians find the wearing of the burka quite confronting and I wish it was not widely worn," he told ABC News.
"But the point is we don't have a policy to ban it and we have always respected people's rights in this area."

Mr Rudd has accused the opposition of expressing contradictory views on the issue.
"He [Bernardi] goes out there and says that's what he wants to do. Mr Abbott then says it's not their policy," he told the Seven network.

"They are walking both sides of the street.''
Belgium's lower house of parliament voted unanimously last week for a law banning the public wearing of any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer.

If passed by the country's senate, the ban would be the first move of its kind in Europe. France is close to introducing a similar ban.

BBC News

Body of Ukrainian Jew missing since Hitler's birthday found in Kiev

Ukrainian authorities over the weekend found the body of a 25-year-old Jewish man was reported missing more than three weeks ago. It is not yet clear whether local authorities are treating the murder as an anti-Semitic incident.
Aryeh-Leib Misenzon's body was found mutilated and dumped in a Kiev neighborhood late Friday night. Chabad officials identified him as the young man who has been missing since April 20, the anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birthday.

Kiev Police believe Mizenson was kidnapped and murdered, and that his assailants mutilated his body soon after.
Local authorities have asked to delay his funeral pending further investigation, but Chabad has demanded that his body be turned over to his family for a proper Jewish burial.

Haaretz

POLICE, PROTESTERS CLASH AT FIRST-EVER LITHUANIAN GAY MARCH

Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in Lithuania's capital Vilnius on Saturday, as homosexual rights campaigners held their first-ever rally in the Baltic state. Officers moved in to disperse around 2,000 counter demonstrators at the end of the Baltic Pride 2010 march, as they hurled stones, bottles and fire-crackers from behind security barriers and shouted "Down with Homonazis". Nineteen protesters were arrested, police said. Gay rights campaigners had Friday won an appeal against a court decision to ban their parade in this overwhelming Catholic and former communist EU nation of 3.3 million people, where homosexuality is largely taboo. "We've made a decisive step towards greater tolerance," Vytautas Valentinavicius, one of the organisers, told AFP. Around 300 people took part in the march, with a heavy police presence protecting them from the protesters. "I feel like I've taken part in an historic event," said Ieva, a medical student, marching with her partner Monika. "My friends know I'm a lesbian, but not my parents. The pressure of the traditional model is really strong. But they'll see the photos and that we're just ordinary people. I hope that it'll be easier to tell them," she said. Participants marched under a huge rainbow banner -- a global symbol of gay rights -- and carried placards reading "Human Rights Are My Pride" and "Different Families, Same Love". Same-sex relations were decriminalised in Lithuania in 1993 -- two years after the country won independence from the crumbling Soviet Union, which had banned homosexuality. But opposition remains entrenched.


"Homosexuality is not part of our traditional values. It's something imported into our country. They should keep it to themselves and not flaunt it," said mother of three Lina Saluckiene, as protesters prayed earlier outside Vilnius' cathedral. Opinion polls indicate that most Lithuanians consider homosexuality a perversion, and many gays in the Baltic state live a double life. "I have several gay friends who hold senior posts," said Ramune Zvirblyte, an administrator at Vilnius University. "I'm here for them. They didn't dare come here because they were afraid of being recognised. They were scared they'd face prejudice in their professional life," she said. Besides representatives of Lithuania's gay community and local supporters, the rally drew foreign participants including members of the European Parliament and Birgitta Ohlsson, Sweden's European affairs minister. "I'm glad to be here. It's important to support others," said Stiofan McFadden, a campaigner from Scotland. After the hour-and-a-half march near Vilnius city centre, participants were escorted to waiting buses to avoid running into their opponents. Lithuania's gay rights record has regularly been faulted by local and international campaigners, the European Union and global watchdogs such as Amnesty International. In 2007 and 2008, local authorities banned EU-sponsored anti-discrimination events -- Lithuania joined the bloc in 2004 -- and have also repeatedly barred local campaigners from holding public gatherings. The story was nearly similar this year.
On Wednesday, a court suspended Vilnius city hall's approval of the march, after Lithuania's chief prosecutor said he had evidence that hardline anti-gay groups were planning potentially violent protests. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite slammed the ban, saying there was a constitutional right to peaceful assembly and it was up to the authorities to ensure public order. The ban also sparked international criticism. On Friday, Lithuania's top appeals court overturned the ruling, citing the country's obligations under European human rights law.

AFP