Swastika art triggers outcry in Poland

A huge poster of a Nazi swastika behind a 1940s-style naked pin-up model clad only in a Mickey Mouse-mask and stretched across a building has stirred controversy in Poznan, western Poland.

A new art gallery is using the work titled "NaziSexyMouse" by Italian artist Max Papeschi to advertise an exhibition, but a city councillor has tried to take legal action, saying it violates a law banning the display of Nazi symbols.

Vandals have also ripped a gaping hole in the two-storey high poster, forcing the gallery to put up a new one.

"For Poles, the swastika symbolises the suffering and death of more than six million Poles," said councillor Norbert Napieraj.

"Exhibiting this symbol in the city centre is a particularly disgraceful and disgusting act."

Six million Polish citizens, half of them Jewish, died under Nazi Germany's occupation of their country during World War II.
But the public prosecutor's spokeswoman Malgorzata Mikos-Fita told AFP on Friday that no legal action would be taken against the gallery for publicly displaying the poster as "it did not break the law."

Gallery curator Maria Czarnecka said that "we don't have to remove it as it's a work of art. If it were just a swastika, it would be propagating Nazi symbols. The law allows such symbols to be used in academic and artistic contexts."

The Local Germany

SERBIA’S LITTLE BIG ACTIVIST

Rastko Pocesta does not talk like a typical Serbian schoolboy. “The ideology of fascism has many forms,  and this is so in Serbia, where fascism is present at a worrying level. On the one hand we have the white nationalist Stormfront, and on the other there is the clerico-fascist militant sect Obraz. The majority in Serbia considers Ratko Mladic a national hero, instead of calling him a war criminal, and it is the majority that is to blame for the proliferation of fascist ideology in the country.” Views like these, aired in public, have earned Pocesta, who turned 12 this January, a degree of local and even international fame. But he has also been the target of online slurs and says there have even been physical threats. On his Facebook page, Pocesta describes himself as an independent human rights activist, a vocation he says came to him after watching other Serbian liberal activists on television. After his own TV appearance earlier this year where he talked of his book on U.S. presidents, and after participation in a public forum on the question of whether Serbia should join NATO, threats began to be posted on his Facebook page by sympathizers of Serbia’s numerous extreme right-wing groups, many of whom, like Pocesta, use the Internet as their prime vehicle of communication . He favors recognizing the independence of Kosovo and punishing the perpetrators of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia, and supports Serbia’s membership in the EU and NATO – all positions that are fiercely opposed by various nationalist parties and groups. He says he’s also been verbally attacked at his school and on the streets. Most of his fellow pupils steer clear of him, something that makes him feel even more isolated at times, even as he’s become a minor celebrity on the strength of mentions by Serbia’s B92, the BBC, the Financial Times, and Die Welt. Pocesta’s mother, Suzana, has repeatedly informed the police of the threats but says she can’t “put a lock” on her child’s brain to shield him from the dangers. Despite worries for his safety, Suzana says she fully supports her son’s activism, while stressing that he is capable of making his own judgments. Pocesta attends the St. Sava secondary school in Belgrade’s Vracar district. Even though many of his teachers do not share their excellent pupil’s convictions, some say they are concerned about the boy’s security. At home, he spends most of his time reading or working at his computer, says he doesn’t sleep a lot, and isn’t much interested in playing with other kids. What a person does is a matter of personal choice, Pocesta says, adding he doesn’t understand why everyone in his age group should behave the same.


Fascism and Ageism
“The easiest way to expose youth to fascist ideas is through the Internet, and that is how new promoters of ‘blood and soil’ ideology are actually recruited,” Pocesta said. “However, we should not underestimate the positive effects social networks could have, especially when it comes to young people, who are still in the process of shaping their views, and who use the Internet as a source of information.” He’s worried that the proliferation of violent propaganda via the Internet is seen as a marginal phenomenon in Serbia, because the threat of extremism is far from limited to an inner circle of believers, the boy believes. He accuses “self-styled democrats” of covertly, or perhaps unconsciously, promoting neo-fascist and extreme views, not through “classical forms of fascism” but what he calls “cultural fascism and its various forms, and maybe social Darwinism – which is close to racism – especially in liberal circles.” Pocesta says he was interested in politics from an early age, but his initial inspiration to become an activist came from one of Serbia’s most prominent human rights defenders and former critics of the Slobodan Milosevic regime, Biljana Kovacevic Vuco, who died in April. Her appearance on a TV show more than a year ago “gave me a glimpse into an ugly image of the place I lived in. It was then that I realized that, no matter how small my contribution to society, I wished to do my bit,” he said. That new-found sense of mission only became stronger when he began to follow the TV appearances of prominent activists such as Boris Milicevic (a gay activist), Svetozar Ciplic, and Marko Karadzic of the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights – as well as “those from the other side, like Mladen Obradovic from the Obraz movement. … After searching the Internet and reading a lot on the subject, I began to get more and more focused on human rights issues in my country. “I find it strange that the topic of human rights is pretty low on the scale of things that others my age talk about,” he said. What’s more, he claims that he and other youngsters are often the victims of discrimination themselves on grounds of age, citing the example of his appearance at the public discussion of Serbia’s NATO prospects. “After I finished my speech, in which I explained that Serbia and its political elites incline toward Russia and other totalitarian regimes, a gentleman, who was a respected citizen of Pancevo where the forum took place, said it was extremely inappropriate to bring ‘kids with no elementary school’ in for such a serious debate.” Pocesta says he reminded the man of the career of Hugo Grotius, a 17th-century Dutchman who became an expert in international law after entering university at age 11, and similar cases. Upon which, “the gentleman’s tone went from roughly provocative to quiet and gentle,” he said.

Is the Internet to Blame for Hate Speech?
Pocesta is not alone in being the target of abuses and threats, as the recent experiences of others – including gays and lesbians, talk-show hosts, and Karadzic of the Human Rights Ministry – show. Goran Miletic, a human rights lawyer for the Civil Rights Defenders organization, says the real boom in hard-line nationalist views and hate speech directed against national or other minorities coincided with the rapid growth in Internet use. “The Internet is a good place to find literally anything one could want and, what is even more important, meet like-minded people with whom one can easily exchange ideas, at the same time feeling secure and reaffirming that your attitude is the right one,” Miletic said. “It is there that one makes that unhappy step from reading literature to preparing for ‘action’ against those considered unacceptable for a so-called ‘healthy Serbian society.’ “ Like Pocesta, Miletic believes that declared democrats and liberals can also hold dangerous beliefs, although less openly than people given to extreme or even moderate nationalism. A good example, he said, is the notorious statement by Belgrade Mayor Dragan Djilas, a member of President Boris Tadic’s Democratic Party, against a planned gay-rights march in the city: “Why should the gays march downtown, when they can love each other between four walls?” “That symbolizes a complete negation of human rights for a part of the society,” Miletic said. “The same goes for the idea that the Roma population should be fenced off with wire, or statements that they should go back to where they came from, which irresistibly recall the events of World War II.” The first step in taking hate speech from words to deeds is usually a threat made on a social network or online forum, Miletic said. “Then, in the absence of an official reaction, and when they realize the judicial system is indifferent to punishing threats and hate speech, these people are emboldened to repeat their conduct, this time in real life. Unfortunately, due to poor work by prosecutors and police, we are unable to see how closely these ‘real life’ attacks against minority groups, journalists, and human rights defenders are related to such activities on the Internet. In my opinion, this connection is much bigger than is assumed.”

Serbian society may be unprepared for the unfettered competition of ideas the Internet offers, says Miljenko Dereta, executive director of Civic Initiatives, one of the biggest NGOs in Serbia. “Deciding which views you are going to represent is a matter of a personal choice, but what we have to worry about more is that today’s ‘ideology offer’ is poor, uninspiring, and politically ineffective, and that there is a huge, wide open space for ideas and ideologies rooted in fascism,” Dereta said. “The only reason such ideas thrive in the virtual world, if at all, is a belief that such a space provides anonymity,” Dereta said. Online anonymity offers “a tantalizing ease of showing yourself to be courageous in advocating ideas from the extreme right. On the other hand, I’ve never found myself on such a web page except when I searched for it, which again proves that it is a matter of one’s personal choice.” He too argues that covert support from political elites, lack of judicial action, as well as the attitude of the Serbian Orthodox Church help to prop up extreme groups. Yet, so far, he believes that their online presence is restricted to relatively small circles of like-minded people, significantly limiting such groups’ influence. Pocesta says he is unfazed by the threats against him and will continue his activism and the writing career he began at the age of 9. In addition to political commentary and miscellany such as a message of condolence to the U.S. Senate after the death of veteran Senator Robert Byrd last month, his blog contains several poems in English touching on subjects from the earthquake in Haiti to his sadness over Yulia Tymoshenko’s loss in Ukraine’s presidential election. Hall of Presidents, his book of biographical sketches of American presidents, appeared last winter with financial support from his family. He says he’s now planning a book about “all forms of fascism, chauvinism, and discrimination.” Asked for more details of his early career, Pocesta instead urges the interviewer to wait, saying, “My memoirs will be published this autumn. There you will see everything about how I began as an activist.”

Tol.org

TURKISH NGO CONDUCTS ALLEGEDLY ILLEGAL POLLS AMONG BULGARIAN MUSLIMS (Turkey)

The organization of Bulgarian immigrants in Turkey, “Bulturk” has been conducting allegedly unauthorized polls in a few Bulgarian towns, the leader of the Bulgarian nationalist party “Ataka” has announced. The poll were conducted among citizens of towns with predominantly Muslim population. One of the questions have been whether they would like the names of their towns to be changed with Turkish ones. On Thursday, the leader of “Ataka”, Volen Siderov, said that he has informed the National State Security Agency about the case and is planning to discuss it with the PM Boyko Borisov as well. “This is a provocation to the Bulgarian identity,” Siderov said and added that the goal of “Bulturk” is to declare that Bulgaria has been a part of the Ottoman Empire and that it will be again joint to Turkey, not through military methods, but through economics. Siderov also said that the Bulgarian Muslims have been asked whether there was a discrimination against people who declare themselves Turkish. He said it was not clear what the poll could be used for. The nationalist leader called upon the Bulgarian party “Movement for Rights and Freedoms” (DPS) to comment on the matter and say their opinion whether the Bulgarian towns of Krumovgrad, Ardino and Momchilgrad should be renamed with Turkish names instead. Siderov also expressed concern whether “Bulturk” has been invited to Bulgaria to make their polls. “Obviously this organizations is acting with Turkey's assistance,” he said. In his words, the goal of the organization is to show that Bulgarian Muslims want to live in towns that have Turkish names. “This is a manifestation of separatism,” Siderov said. According to him, the poll has been conducted in 8 Bulgarian towns with predominantly Turkish population. The questions included whether Bulgaria has given up its assimilation policies and whether Turkish should be an official language in Bulgaria. The “Ataka” leader said that according to information he has, the polls have been conducted for a few days and last night “Bulturk” representatives have come to Bulgaria. He added that his party is ready for civil protests against the organization.


Novinite

English Defence League's planned march on mosque is 'pointless'

Dudley council criticises far-right group for going ahead with protest at abandoned development.

The English Defence League's summer of protests to target Muslim communities is to continue with a demonstration against a "super mosque", even though the development is no longer going ahead.

The far-right group will return to Dudley next Saturday to demonstrate against the abandoned mosque and community centre project. The council has branded the protest "pointless" and a "waste of taxpayers' money" as police will be required to ensure safety.

A plea from the council for the organisation to cancel the demonstration came as an EDL protester appeared in court today for putting a pig's head on the wall of Dudley central mosque.

Anne Millward, leader of the council, said: "The EDL's unnecessary visits, which often result in major disruption, violence and public disorder, cost the taxpayer and local communities thousands of pounds.

"We are opposed to this proposed event and call on the organisers to cancel this pointless waste of taxpayers' money."

But a promotional video by the Bristol division of the EDL said: "The Dudley Muslim Association is determined to force this mosque on the people of Dudley … The EDL will keep coming back until it is scrapped."

The previous protest against the mosque cost the council over £150,000, damaged local business revenue and resulted in 12 people being arrested.

A council spokesman said: "Council bosses have made it clear that outside extremists can make no contribution to local decisions and reminded the EDL that the plans for a mosque on Hall Street are not currently being pursued.

"The EDL has opposed the former proposal for a mosque but the council has reiterated the fact that the authority and the Dudley Muslim Association have agreed to pursue an alternative site, making the EDL's visit pointless."
Margot James, the MP for Stourbridge, near Dudley, wrote to the Home Office asking that police powers be extended to enable them to ban all forms of protest on the grounds of public order when they have a case to do so. She says she is keen to maintain freedom of expression but "a loophole that allows the EDL to call their activity a rally not a march, so as to escape a potential ban, should be closed".

The league has demonstrated in Newcastle and Bradford but cancelled a planned protest in Tower Hamlets, London, after one of its leaders, Tommy Robinson, told the East London Advertiser it would be a "suicide mission".
An EDF protester, Kevin Smith, has been given a suspended eight-week prison sentence for putting a pig's head on the wall of Dudley central mosque in the Castle Hill area of the town on 29 May.

Police believe Smith, 52, of Brierley Hill, was on his way to the Newcastle demonstration when the act took place.He was arrested on 2 June and has been found guilty of religiously aggravated intentional harassment at Dudley magistrates court. Muslims regard pigs as unclean.

Smith was sentenced to eight weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and among the conditions imposed was an order that he stay out of the Castle Hill area.

Muslims account for about 2.5% of the population of Dudley. The council says it is exploring the possibility of developing the existing Dudley central mosque as an alternative to the scrappped Hall Street scheme.

Unite Against Fascism has pledged to hold a counter-demonstration next Saturday after protesting against the EDL in April by holding a multi-faith celebration.

The Guardian

EDL members in court over alleged disorder

Three English Defence League supporters appeared at Aylesbury Magistrates Court on Friday over alleged offences on the day the group protested in May.

Among them was Brian Price, 40, the EDL's West Midlands co-ordinator.

Mr Price, of Stonehouse Lane in Quinton, gave no indication to his plea on a charge of violent disorder.

Collum Keyes, 23, of Somerton Drive in Birmingham, pleaded not guilty to violent disorder.

Prosecutor Shahreena Coker said the pair were arrested after EDL members surged through police lines after their Market Square protest on May 1.

Also in court was Daryl Hobson, 43, of Newland Road in Worthing, West Sussex.

Wearing an EDL jersey, he pleaded not guilty to a charge of threatening and abusive behavior.

Mr Price and Mr Keyes were told that their case would be heard at Aylesbury Crown Court, and were released on conditional bail - which prevents them taking part in EDL rallies - for a commital hearing on August 20.

Mr Hobson was released on unconditional bail, with his trial at Aylesbury Magistrates Court set to start on November 8.
Bucks Herald

BNP staff not paid while ‘consultant’ pockets over £3,000 a week

Jim Dowson, the fundraising consultant brought in by Nick Griffin, the British National Party leader, is paid £162,000 a year for his services, according to a senior member of the party’s national advisory council.

Richard Edmonds, who helped found the BNP alongside John Tyndall long before Griffin joined the party, has come out in support of Eddy Butler, who is currently challenging Griffin for the leadership.

Writing on Butler’s blog on 8 July, Edmonds says a leadership challenge is a chance for members to raise matters of major importance for the party and the issue he wants to raise is the employment of “an outside businessman, Mr Jim Dowson, who acts as a ‘consultant’ to our Party at a salary of just under £2,000 per week”.
He goes on to explain that as well as receiving £7,500 a month as a “consultancy fee”, Dowson is also paid £72,000 a year for “managing a party of the internal administration” of the BNP. That comes to £162,000 a year, or £3,115 a week, an amount Edmonds describes as a “scandal”.

Edmonds, who is very influential in the BNP especially among the more hardline members, states that Dowson gave him these figures himself. That makes them more reliable than the statement on the BNP website at the end of May that Dowson’s Midas Consultancy had been paid a total of £165,000 since the end of 2007, a period of over two and a half years.

The fees paid to Dowson, an extremist anti-abortion campaigner with several criminal convictions, will stick in the craw of party staff on mainland Britain who were not paid in June according to Butler, who says the party is “insolvent” as a result of Griffin “deliberately, avoidably and recklessly” involving it in a series of legal cases.
The financial difficulties do not extend to the Belfast BNP call centre, which is run by Dowson. The staff there received their June pay as usual, which is perhaps not surprising as they are mostly members of Dowson’s and Griffin’s families, including Griffin’s eldest daughter Jennifer.

Meanwhile Griffin and his sidekick Clive Jefferson, the BNP’s national elections officer, continue to try to thwart Butler’s challenge by expelling his supporters from the party. Writing on the website set up by Simon Bennett, the BNP’s former webmaster, Colin Poulter, the party’s former Eastbourne organiser, says that an expulsion notice emailed to him on 28 June included the accusation that he was: “Working to collect signatures for a challenge against the Chairman whilst disqualified from all party association.”

Poulter, who joined the BNP in October 2008 and claims a long list of achievements in organising the party in Eastbourne, says: “So what of the deadly accusation that I am collecting signatures, SO WHAT, is this another pathetic attempt to intimidate people away from nominating or voting for Eddy Butler, or any other candidate, against Nick Griffin in the leadership contest?”

Elsewhere Alistair Barbour, who briefly served on the staff of Griffin’s European Parliament constituency office last year, has shed light on why he left so abruptly. After joining the BNP and achieving rapid promotion to Carlisle organiser and then North West secretary, he “started to see them for what they really are.
“When I got on Griffins staff I walked away in disgust,” Barbour writes. “Yes they are all they say they are. But there also as corrupt as mainstream politicians, in fact there worse. Main stream politician fleece the tax payer. BNP Ltd fleece there own as well. They use propaganda to the outside world via the website. But most importantly they use propaganda to there own supporters and members. Distorting facts and figures and hiding behind a veil of secrecy and lies. Propaganda is the largest tool they have. One other famous party in history relied heavily on propaganda I’m sure you all know who I mean.”

Griffin continues to revel in his highly paid position as an MEP. His latest act is to nominate the “brave Dutch MEP Geert Wilders” for the Sakharov prize for freedom of thought.

The award, in honour of the Soviet dissident scientist Andrei Sakharov, is meant to honour people who fight for human rights and freedom, not a rabid Islamophobe whose mission in life is to incite division and hate.

Hope Not Hate

BILL EXPOSES MIGRANTS TO ABUSE, NGO CLAIMS (Ireland)

A proposal in the Immigration, Residency and Protection Bill 2010 to deport people without any prior notice would leave extremely vulnerable people open to abuse, an NGO has claimed. Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) said the newly published Bill could deny access to justice to undocumented workers or those in a situation of forced labour. Siobhán O’Donoghue, its director, said giving the Minister for Justice the power to deport people without any notice could prevent a migrant who had been exploited taking their employer to court to claim unpaid wages. She said putting the migrant on a plane without any access to justice would make a mockery of all other efforts by the State to protect workers and hold rogue employers to account. She said the current system should be maintained. It gives people 15 days to present their case to the Minister before they can be deported. Ms O’Donoghue accused the Government of hypocrisy for promoting a humanitarian response for the 30,000 undocumented Irish in the US when it is not promoting such a process at home. She claims the Bill fails to recognise the “ad hoc immigration system implemented over the past few decades”, which has led to many people who entered the State legally becoming undocumented, and “inappropriately asks employers, health workers and service providers to become immigration law enforcement agents”.


irishtimes.com

KILL A JEW’ PAGE ON FACEBOOK SPARKS FUROR

A murderous anti-Semitic theme appeared on Facebook Sunday, when a user named “Alex Cookson” launched an open invitation to an “event” called “Kill a Jew Day.” The page on the popular social networking Web site urged users to violence “anywhere you see a Jew” between July 4 and July 22. A large image of a swastika was placed at the top of the page. Under the heading “description,” Cookson wrote, “You know the drill guys.” It was the fourth time that a call to murder Jews had been put on Facebook within recent days. The site attracted a torrent of anti-Semitic responses. “Can’t wait to rape the dead baby Jews,” one user wrote. Another user posted images of corpses piled on one another. A third user posted quotes by Adolf Hitler. Within hours, however, a large number of Israeli users converged on the site and posted comments on the page, with some expressing their disgust, and others mocking Cookson and his supporters. Others still expressed their anger at the page by sending profanities and threatening to track down anti-Semitic users. According to the Jewish Internet Defense Web site (JIDF), the page is one of a number “kill a Jew” Facebook pages that have been launched and subsequently removed following complaints in recent days. David Appletree, founder of JIDF, told The Jerusalem Post that incitement to anti-Semitic murder was a prevalent phenomenon on Facebook, and that not enough was being done to stop it. “I feel it’s very dangerous. This is part of a long-running campaign that we’ve fighting for well over two years,” Appletree said. “They’re taken down but they come back and they’re determined to keep them up. It’s very dangerous,” he added. Appletree said online anti- Semitism has already helped spur violent incidents, such as the 2007 assault on Holocaust author Elie Wiesel in San Francisco by a Holocaust denier, and the gun attack on the Holocaust Museum in Washington by a white supremacist armed with a rifle, which claimed the life of a security guard. “This incitement has been the precursor to violence against Jews,” he said.

On his Web site, Appletree wrote, “This is precisely why Facebook needs to take more proactive measures (ie. deactivating accounts responsible for, and taking part, in, this material). Facebook must implement IP bans on people involved in such material. Finally, law enforcement should get involved, Facebook should be subpoenaed, the IP’s of the people threatening and inciting violence should be obtained, and legal action should be immediately pursued.” Appletree told The Post that Facebook could implement technologies that are sensitive to keywords which could prevent such pages from being loaded. “Facebook is not proactive enough,” he said. Facebook said it would review the event page in question after being alerted to it by the Post.

Facebook removed the page from its site on Sunday evening for violating its terms of use. Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes added, “Unfortunately ignorant people exist and we absolutely feel a social responsibility to silence them on Facebook if their statements turn to direct hate. That’s why we have policies that prohibit hateful content and we have built a robust reporting infrastructure and an expansive team to review reports and remove content quickly.” Noyes added, “We take our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities very seriously and react quickly to remove reported content that violates our policies. Specifically, we’re sensitive to content that includes pornography, bullying, hate speech, and actionable threats of violence. “The goal of these policies is to strike a very delicate balance between giving our more than 400 million users the freedom to express themselves and maintaining a safe and trusted environment. When groups or pages make real threats or statements of hate we remove them. We encourage people to report anything they feel violates our policies using the report links located throughout the site.” In 2009, Facebook came under fire for refusing to remove groups that promoted Holocaust denial on the social networking site.

JPost

Two teens sentenced in hate attacks: Neo-Nazi gang writings found at A.V. home

Two Apple Valley teenagers accused of hollering racial slurs and assaulting a black family pleaded guilty Wednesday.

James and Regina McWilliams and their two sons were riding their bikes on Navajo Road on their way back from a park in Apple Valley on June 21. Then suddenly, Tommy Lee Rhea, 19, came rushing toward them, shouting racial slurs with a knife in his hand, officials said.

James McWilliams said he quickly got in front of his children to protect them. Rhea went back to his apartment to get Richard Butler Cambria, 17, James McWilliams said. The teenagers kept yelling slurs and threats while holding baseball bats, according to authorities.

"My kids were scared to death," Regina McWilliams said. "They were crying and screaming. ... They need to know they can't do things like this. It's 2010."

The victims suffered no injuries, but the parents say their 9- and 6-year-old boys are still suffering from the traumatic experience.

"He doesn't want to go outside by himself," Regina McWilliams said about her older son. "He's scared to go outside, go to the park. He wants to stay home."

Investigators found n e o -- Na z i a n d ga n grelated writings and taggings inside Rhea's home, Deputy District Attorney Shannon Faherty said. The defendants were initially charged with hate crime allegations.

Rhea and Cambria changed their pleas at the last minute before their preliminary hearing Wednesday at Victorville Superior Court.

Rhea pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and admitted to participation in criminal street gang. Judge John Tomberlin immediately sentenced him to four years in prison.
Cambria, who wore a gray juvenile detention sweatshirt, pleaded guilty to assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury and admitted to making criminal threats. He's scheduled to be sentenced to three years in prison on Aug. 24.

They'll each get a strike under California's Three Strikes law.

istockanalyst

So-Called Neo-Nazi Found Guilty Of Murder

An El Paso County jury found Kandin Wilson guilty of first-degree murder Thursday evening.


The so-called neo-Nazi recruit killed 29-year-old Susana Pelayo-Perez in a bungled robbery at a La Casita restaurant in Colorado Springs last year. Pelayo-Perez was a manager at the restaurant.

Wilson claimed he was not at the restaurant when Pelayo-Perez was shot. Wilson also said he was wrongly accused by Kyle Gray, an admitted member of the American Nazi Party who testified he was driving the car while Wilson shot the woman.

KRDO

National Resistance trial starts in the Czech Republic

Neo-Nazis could serve long prison terms for what were allegedly “childish pranks”

It would seem that the words of former Czech Interior Minister Martin Pecina are finally coming true. After taking office last May, he promised to deliver a harsh blow to domestic “extremists”, and the police on his watch did actually manage to track down the alleged perpetrators of the Vítkov arson attack on trial today in Ostrava.
What can those who are the leaders of the neo-Nazi scene be prosecuted for? They have not participated in violent actions for years – or rather, the police have not managed to prove their participation in such actions. That was the basic question the Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu - ÚOOZ) asked itself when it started this work at the end of 2008. After several raids and an “above-average” investigation conducted by Prague state prosecutor Zdeňka Gálková, at least some of the alleged heads of the neo-Nazi movement in the Czech Republic were charged in mid-June with promoting Nazism. Czech daily Lidové noviny reports that the trial will start in mid-July at the Prague 1 District Court.

The case file is more than 2 500 pages long and includes the Supreme Administrative Court and Constitutional Court verdicts banning the Workers’ Party. Commentator Tomáš Pecina posted the 30-page indictment on his website at the start of July, calling it a “Husák-style indictment” [Translator’s Note: Husák was the long-term Communist leader of Czechoslovakia]. He criticizes the state prosecutor for bringing the indictment over the mere posting of stickers or organization of public gatherings. He criticizes phrases such as “social defectiveness”, found in political scientist Ivo Svoboda’s expert testimony, which he publishes along with the photographic documentation of the propaganda materials confiscated from the accused. The commentator does not indicate how he managed to get a hold of these documents, which are redacted to refer to those indicted and the witnesses by their initials alone, with the exception of two Austrian citizens. Those familiar with the neo-Nazi scene, however, will easily guess who is specifically being referred to.

The aims of groups such as National Resistance (Národní odpor) were commented on some time ago by the spokesperson for the Security Information Service (BIS), Jan Šubert: “Their political program is unambiguous, there is no doubt: Political dictatorship, the creation of a racially pure state, and merciless combat with whomever disagrees.”

Political scientist and expert on extremism Miroslav Mareš says of the current indictment of the National Resistance members: “The crimes for which they are now indicted are not really what most of those charged should be tried for.”
Eight people are charged with the crime of supporting and promoting Nazism as part of an organized group, for which they face up to eight years in prison. Among these “worthy 30-year-olds” is the accountant F.V., who has been previously convicted of many other crimes. He is the alleged founder of National Resistance, which although never officially registered was nevertheless banned by the Supreme Court in 2006. He is also a former leading functionary in the Workers’ Party which was recently disbanded by the court. The long-time leader of that party’s candidate list in Prague, the student P.V., currently spending his ninth month in custody, and the administrative staffer M.H., who until recently was the leader of the party’s candidate list in Vysočina, are the other Workers’ Party leaders indicted. Another “celebrity” is the dispatcher P.F. of Prague, who is famous from the “Blue Star” case. That was the name of a restaurant in České Budějovice where, at the end of 1999, the hard core of the recently-formed National Resistance and roughly 30 young neo-Nazis brutally attacked the unsuspecting guests at a Roma party. The angry gang then proceeded through the town and attacked the guests at a club where left-wing youth usually gather. After many long years of court delays, more than 20 youths were eventually sentenced for their roles in these attacks, but only a few of them served actual prison sentences.

The youngest defendant in the National Resistance case is sales manager M.D., who represents its women’s branch, Resistance Women Unity. Only one of the defendants has done time before; for committing a crime while on probation, the court changed his previous sentence to a total of six weeks in prison.

The state’s covert response to the “battle for Janov”

The prosecution of this alleged neo-Nazi elite covers a total of four crimes committed between November 2008 and June 2009. A significant portion of the investigation took place under former Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer, specifically after the infamous (second) “battle for Janov”.

On the 2008 anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, the Workers’ Party organized a political demonstration in the North Bohemian town of Litvínov. From the demonstration point, hundreds of these “proponents of law and order” set off, accompanied by police, for the Janov quarter of Litvínov. Their fierce clashes with 1 000 police resulted in many injured police officers, demonstrators, and local onlookers. Almost none of those who committed this violence were ever criminally prosecuted, inspiring those who participated in the battle to commit further violent acts. According to police, those indicted for the April 2009 arson attack in Vítkov also participated in the Janov battle. Klárá Kalibová, an expert on extremism from the In Iustitia association, told CNN that the primary aim of the battle in Litvínov was not to attack police officers, but to attack the Roma living there, whom the police managed to protect after several hours of unprecedented tenacity.

After this “battle”, Langer praised the police for their “selfless engagement” and later gave some of them medals. At the same time however, he faced harsh criticism from human rights organizations who claimed the police must have known in advance that the neo-Nazis had been publicly calling for armed conflict. Since the police had sufficient advance evidence of this, they therefore had a reason to disperse the entire action and arrest its participants from its very first moments instead of allowing it to proceed.

Even after Janov, it seemed for quite some time that the Interior Ministry would be taking no other steps against the neo-Nazis. At the start of April 2009, similar street clashes took place in the Moravian town of Přerov, which police units again used force to disperse. Here too, only a fraction of the total number of those committing violence were ever criminally prosecuted; those who were prosecuted were only charged with disturbing the peace.
After this, the most serious racist crime in the country’s modern history took place, a nighttime Molotov cocktail attack on a Romani family in Vítkov. Two months later, the so-called “middle management” of the neo-Nazi movement was arrested, namely the producers and sellers of neo-Nazi music. Proceeds from the sale of this music have been financing the movement for years, including its organization of violent demonstrations and its pricey lawyers’ bills.

Childish pranks or the revival of the Third Reich?
Thanks to commentator Pecina, the public is learning today that the police did start taking action after the second “battle for Janov”. At the end of November 2008, immediately after Janov, police put wiretaps on the Czech section of the country’s neo-Nazi leaders and followed their preparations for a “strong action”, the posting of propaganda material the night before an “Anti-fascist Action” gathering against racism in mid-December in Prague. When the anti-fascists marched through Prague’s Old Town, they were greeted along the route by brand-new posters advertising the National Resistance web address which the defendants had allegedly posted.

Defendant P. V.’s attorney, Robert Cholenský, has been quoted in the media as saying the posting of the materials was “not a crime”. Cholenský, who used to work for the League of Human Rights, has successfully represented Roma attacked by police officers and participants in the CzechTek music festival. Since last year he has also been defending one of those arrested during the “Power I” police action. These defendants have either refused to testify or have claimed they were “randomly” on the scene and posted nothing.

“According to the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms, which is part of the Constitution of the Czech Republic (…) censorship is impermissible. However, it seems the Constitution has become merely a worthless shred of paper which our overlords are simply not interested in.” Such is the opinion of Petr Kotáb on the indictment. Kotáb is the former vice-chair of the Workers’ Party and the lead candidate of the Workers’ Social Justice Party in the Ústí district for this year’s parliamentary elections. He was recently sentenced to probation for supporting and promoting neo-Nazism. The verdict has not yet taken effect.

Some of the defendants are being prosecuted for organizing a “commemoration” in Jihlava at the start of June 2009. Five of the defendants together with leading neo-Nazis from Austria allegedly wanted to pay homage to the German soldiers who died in Jihlava during WWII. Those invited included 50-year-old Gottfried Küssel, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1993 in Vienna for the crime of attempting to revive the Nazi state; he served six years of his sentence. Jihlava was also visited by 85-year-old commentator Herbert Schweiger, a former member of Adolf Hitler’s SS Leibstandarte military unit which committed war crimes during WWII. This past April, Schweiger was sentenced to seven months in prison for the crime of attempting to revive the Nazi state by the Municipal High Court in Graz.

In the end, the Jihlava town hall dispersed the commemoration because it diverted from its officially announced purpose. The participants then set off on a protest march through the town. They laid their wreaths on the soldiers’ graves the following day. Attorney Cholenský says it is not possible to sue someone for organizing a public gathering. Here again, the defendants have refused to testify; some have simply said the action was announced as legally required. They allegedly did not participate in organizing it, and they allegedly did not intend to violate any laws by participating in it.

The main defendant – 20-year-old M. D. of Prague – has supposedly participated in all four of the crimes being prosecuted. She is the only one being prosecuted for creating and operating the neo-Nazi website of Resistance Women Unity (RWU), the women’s branch of National Resistance. Here the key witness is the famous co-founder of the League against Anti-Semitism, V. T. of Plzeň, who managed to convince the US-based server hosting the RWU website to take it down. The website was allegedly listed under another name without the server’s consent. The RWU website creators subsequently transferred its contents to another website and carried on until M. D. was taken into custody. According to the indictment, she operated the website alone. She refused to testify to police. She is also the only defendant charged with organizing, arranging and holding the “White Power Music” concert in the town of Srby u Kladna, where on 2 February 2009 neo-Nazi bands promoted hatred against “Jews, Roma and non-white immigrants”.

According to the file, M. D.’s underbelly is tattooed with the SS motto “My honor is loyalty” - in German. She was born in the year of the Velvet Revolution.

Romea

BNP fails to regain Goresbrook seat (UK)

The British National Party has failed to win a Barking and Dagenham council by-election in Goresbrook  ward.

Richard Barnbrook, who was ousted from his council seat in the same ward in May, had hoped to make a comeback in a by-election called because one of the Labour councillors elected was working for the council as a “lollipop lady” and so was not eligible to stand.

In a low turnout poll on 8 July, Louise Cowling, now no longer working for the council, won the seat again with 881 votes (46.6%), leaving Barnbrook in second place with 642 votes – 34.0%.

Hope not hate activists distributed a leaflet reminding voters that the BNP is a party of hate and lies, which has no solutions for the people of Barking and Dagenham and has now even turned its hate on itself, a reference to the bitter infighting currently besetting the party. A HOPE not hate team also worked on polling day itself to encourage people to use their vote.

Hope Not Hate

Pub targeted with graffiti after it was venue for BNP meetings

A pub which has been the venue for recent British National Party meetings has been targeted with graffiti.

A clean-up operation is under way around the Twisted Oak pub at St John's Hill, St Thomas, after it was targeted by graffiti vandals. It is expected to cost several hundred pounds to remove and may lead to the closure of roads affected.

Slogans calling for a boycott of the popular pub were daubed in yellow and black paint on roads leading to the pub and on bridge supports. Similar messages were painted on the surface of Balls Farm Road and Little John's Cross Hill which lead to the pub.

Dawn Oliver, who runs the pub with her partner Phil Lake, said she had received a warning phone call before the incident from a woman claiming to belong to an anti-fascist group.

Ms Oliver said: "She said that if we didn't do something to stop the BNP using the pub they would do something.

"She called again asking to bring in a leaflet but I said that I was not going to stop the BNP coming.

"After that we had the graffiti and now I have received an email that is not particularly pleasant about supporting their campaign.

"I have passed that on to the police. The worry is you don't know what else might happen."

Ms Oliver said the BNP met at the pub once every couple of months, and on the last occasion their meeting coincided with a get-together for the UK Independence Party.

She said: "The BNP people are very polite and very courteous. They do not approach other customers, they meet behind curtains and are very pleasant.

"I have no interest in politics but they are nice people.

"It is a matter of democracy. They are entitled to meet and they come here and spend their money and don't bother anyone. They are not doing anything wrong.

"The sad thing is that now the ordinary taxpayer has to pay to clear up the graffiti, which isn't fair at all."

She added: "We are well known as a friendly place and we have all sorts of clubs meeting here. We are certainly not going to be a intimidated by this.

"It is very much business as usual here."

A spokesman for the city council said it would take a couple of days to clean off the graffiti.
He said: "We will begin cleaning this today but it covers quite an area — the road surface in Balls Farm Road and Little John's Cross Hill as well as the footbridge leading across to Ide.

"It will cost several hundred pounds to remove and the road may have to be closed, or at least stop and go boards used while the work is being done."

This is Exeter

Obama sues state of Arizona over 'racist' new immigration law

President Obama has filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona over a new immigration law which it claims  will combat drug trafficking, murders and violent kidnapping.

Concerns over racial profiling and civil rights violations have been raised over the Arizona law, which is due to come into force on July 29.

It requires officers to question a person's immigration status if they have a reasonable suspicion they are in the U.S. illegally.
Suspicions include whether the person speaks poor English, is travelling an overcrowded vehicle or is stopped in an area where immigrants often congregate.

The law also makes it a state crime for legal immigrants not to carry their immigration documents.

Supporters say the crackdown is a necessary tool to keep illegal immigrants out of Arizona and to tackle criminal activities associated with them.

The White House has asked a judge to grant an injunction to block the law taking effect later this month.

It argues that immigration laws passed by Congress and enforced by a range of federal agenies must take precedence to any passed by a state legislature.

The lawsuit said: 'The nation's immigration laws reflect a careful and considered balance of national law enforcement, foreign relations and humanitarian interests.'

It adds: 'A state may not establish its own immigration policy or enforce state laws in a manner that interferes with the federal immigration laws.

'The Constitution and the federal immigration laws do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country.'

Kris Kobach, the University of Missouri/Kansas City professor who helped draft the Arizona law, has said it is only prohibiting conduct already illegal under federal law.

Harvard Law School professor Gerald Neuman has said Arizona could make a compelling legal argument that it has overlapping authority to protect its residents.

But court in the past have ruled that under the Constitution, any state law that conflicts with a federal law is pre-empted.

The pre-emption tactic has been used on several occasions, including by the Bush administration to limit product liability lawsuits.

It was also used to overturn bans on military recruiters passed by some California towns.

Peter Spiro, a constitutional law professor at Temple University, said: 'Immigration has traditionally and constitutionally been the historic preserve of the federal government, and there are cases going back to the late 19th century that say as much.

'So the Obama Administration has a lot to work with in filing this claim, and the fact that the claim is filed by the administration adds credibility... and increases the chances that law will be struck down on pre-emption grounds.

'That said, it not by any means a slam dunk.'

Regardless of how the case is determined at the district court level, it will likely be appealed.

The U.S. Supreme Court is already set to hear an Arizona immigration case in the fall when it takes up a challenge to a 2007 state law punishing employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

Mr Spiro added: 'It's clearly an important case. The Arizona law is unprecedented in its aggressive posture towards illegal immigrants.

'It's an important issue federally, really, that's the way the administration is framing it. They say the states do not have this kind of role as far an immigration legislation.'

Daily Mail

Hitler images posted on Facebook were offensive and caused distress (UK)

A 26-year-old man posted pictures of Adolf Hitler on Facebook in revenge for being dumped by his girlfriend for an Asian man.

Zack Timms posted messages on the social networking site amounting to threats of violence.

He wrote: “Can’t wait to have it out with Paki man – see you soon, safe.

Then: “Can’t wait to see my Bradford man defo going to be a knockout for Ronkswood lad.”

He also changed his profile picture to Hitler giving the Nazi salute.

Timms said he had posted the messages after he was threatened in the street by the partner of his ex-girlfriend. Timms of Canterbury Road, Ronkswood, Worcester, was arrested after the posts made on Tuesday, June 15, came to the attention of the woman’s sister. He deleted the messages soon after posting them.
But a visit to his Facebook page on the day of his court appearence showed that his profile picture displayed a stylised knight with a Nazi swastika and his political views were listed as “anti-Muslims”.

There were also pictures of the neo-Nazi group Combat 18’s logo and an image showing a man with his fist in the air and the words “white power”.

Matt Dodson, prosecuting, said: “His ex-girlfriend’s sister told her Timms had updated his Facebook page.

“She had been in a relationship with Timms for two weeks but that ended when she got back with her former partner.”
Timms was detained initially for harassment but was charged with making offensive communications.

He admitted the charge at Worcester Magistrates Court. During a police interview Timms told officers he had been threatened in the street by three Asian men and accused his ex-girlfriend’s partner of being one of the group.

He told officers he was “angered” by the incident and posted the messages in order “to wind him up”.

Barry Newton said his client had taken the break-up “badly” and had made a “stupid” mistake posting the messages.

Roger Warrington, the chairman of the magistrates, described Timms’ actions as “offensive” and said they “caused distress”.

He was ordered to pay £75 compensation and £85 costs.

Worcester News

Dutch Establishment Rejects Election Results

Dutch Queen Beatrix does not like Member of Parliament Geert Wilders, the winner of the recent elections in the Netherlands; she is attempting to prevent the formation of a right-wing coalition that includes him.

The maneuvers to exclude Mr. Wilders have angered ordinary Dutchmen. Asked to comment on television, many voters could be heard complaining, "What is the use of going to vote when we are not listened to anyway?"
June's general elections in the Netherlands resulted in a clear victory for the right. The Dutch Constitution, however, grants the Queen the power to appoint a person (or persons) of her choice to initiate and direct negotiations for the formation of a government coalition. By appointing the Labor politician Herman Tjeenk Willink to the position of formation facilitator, the Queen has made it clear that she wants a coalition that includes the Labor Party and excludes the Freedom Party of Geert Wilders.

An opinion poll taken last week shows that the Christian-Democrats would fall to the historic low level of 17 seats, while Mr. Wilders' PVV would become the largest party in the country with 30 seats, ahead of the Liberals (28 seats) and Labor (27 seats).

Following the elections, Mr. Wilders said: "We want to be part of the new government. More security, less crime, less immigration, less Islam – that is what the Netherlands has chosen … I don't think other parties can ignore us." He seems, however, to have overlooked the power of the monarch.

For months, rumors have been circulating that the 72-year old Queen has postponed resigning in favor of her son, 43-year old Prince Willem-Alexander of Orange, until after the 2010 elections because she wants to thwart Mr. Wilders' governmental ambitions. Although unelected, the Dutch monarch plays the decisive role in the government formation, and can easily bypass the electorate. This week, Afshin Ellian, a 44-year old Dutch professor of law at Leiden University, criticized the Queen for her role in obstructing a right-wing government.

Prof. Ellian came to the Netherlands in 1989 as a political refugee from Iran. He is a human rights activist and one of the Netherlands' most outspoken critics of Islam. "Sometimes one learns more about political and constitutional realities in two weeks than other times in decades," Ellian wrote on his blog. "Queen Beatrix," he said," has lost her impartiality in the eyes of many right-wing Dutchmen, The major winners of the past elections, namely the VVD and the PVV, have not been able to play a decisive role in the formation of a new cabinet."

On June 9, 2010, the Liberal VVD became the largest party in the Netherlands. It won 31 of the 150 seats in the Dutch House of Representatives, compared to 22 in the 2006 general election. The largest winner of the election, however, was the PVV, the Freedom Party of Geert Wilders, which won 24 seats, compared to only 9 in 2006. The parties of the resigning center-left coalition of Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende suffered considerable losses. Mr. Balkenende's own Christian-Democrat CDA fell to 21 seats from 41; the Labor Party fell to 30 seats from 33; and the Christian Union (CU) fell to 5 seats from 6.

Theoretically, the electorate's major swing to the right allows VVD-leader Mark Rutte to form a government with Mr. Wilders' PVV and the Christian-Democrats. This coalition would have 76 of the 150 seats and could count on the support of the small right-wing Protestant party SGP (2 seats) and perhaps even the CU (5 seats). Such a VVD-PVV-CDA coalition is that preferred by Mr. Rutte and also by the Dutch electorate. As this coalition would, however, be critical of immigration, multiculturalism, Islam, and the centralization projects of the European Union, while also being one the most pro-Israeli governments in the world, the Dutch political establishment is dreading a Rutte-Wilders cabinet.

Consequently, the CDA, which, as one of the Netherlands' traditional government parties closely linked to the Dutch establishment, was reluctant to start negotiations with VVD and PVV. Some in the CDA, moreover, argue that the CDA, as the greatest loser of the elections, should go into opposition. By appointing Herman Tjeenk Willink as her informer and representative in the coalition talks, the Queen has made it clear that she wants Labor to be part of the coalition. Before the elections, Labor explicitly stated that it would not form a government with the PVV. With the Labor politician Tjeenk Willink in the key role, it is obvious that the Queen is directing the Netherlands towards her own preference: a centrist coalition of Liberals, Laborites and Christian-Democrats. Such a coalition would have 82 seats. If the CDA preferred to join the opposition, a leftist coalition -- of Liberals, Laborites, and the left-liberals of D66 and the Green Left Party -- would be another possibility (81 seats). Another alternative, in case Mr. Rutte refuses to go along with the Queen's schemes, would be a leftist coalition of Laborites, Christian-Democrats, D66, the Greens and the CU (76 seats).

"The elite of the Left and the regents absolutely want to avoid the risk of a cabinet with Wilders," writes Prof. Ellian. "Wilders has been preliminarily excluded without the elite even considering negotiations with him." Ellian further points out that this is not just an injustice to Mr. Wilders, but also to his 1.5 million voters "who have been excluded from an important political process without as much as one relevant argument."

Mr. Tjeenk Willink, says Prof. Ellian, is now the Dutch "Viceroy," who has to neutralize both Messrs. Wilders and Rutte. The former because his outspokenness on issues such as Islam has made him unacceptable to the Dutch ruling establishment and the international elite; the latter because he has stated that his political priorities include an economic austerity program and a reduction of immigration levels.

Consequently, Queen Beatrix and her advisor Tjeenk Willink must maneuver very carefully. If they fail to put together a government without the PVV, there might be new elections, resulting in such a strong position for Mr. Wilders that one will not be able to exclude him

Hudson NY

Man in degrading assault by teenage girls in Arbroath, Scotland

Two teenage girls carried out a prolonged "degrading" assault on a vulnerable young man, Arbroath Sheriff Court has heard.

Paige Sharp, 16, and Danielle Sinclair, 17, admitted assaulting the 21-year-old man, who suffered from learning difficulties.

The victim suffered 16 separate injuries during the incident in Arbroath in March.
Both girls were remanded in custody and sentencing was deferred until Thursday.

One of the lawyers in the case said it was a "sordid and squalid" tale.

The public benches were cleared as a video recording taken on a mobile phone during the assault by an unnamed witness was shown to the court.

It showed the 21-year-old man being beaten and sworn at.

He was then sexually assaulted with a vacuum cleaner and was heard to shout and scream.

The court heard Sharp, who was only 15 at the time, and Sinclair launched their attack because they believed their victim had sexually assaulted Sinclair.

It also heard drink and drugs had been taken, including mephedrone, but apparently not by Sinclair.

The victim himself told police he was "wasted" on "Bubbles" - the street name for mephedrone - and on cannabis at the time of the assault.

Lawyers for both girls told Arbroath Sheriff Court they were deeply ashamed of what they had done and had pleaded guilty to the assault.

Sheriff Kevin Veal told the girls they had subjected their victim to "degrading" and "demeaning" actions.

BBC News

Boasting far right BNP chief says centre is in profit (UK)

BNP chief Nick Griffin is boasting that its call centre in Belfast has made a profit of nearly a quarter of a  million pounds.

Griffin revealed details of the party’s funds in an email sent to the media this week charting his party’s success.

And he says it’s all down to the success of the east Belfast-based call centre which is run by his sidekick Jim Dowson and where Griffin’s daughter Jennifer also works.

“The Belfast call centre is very popular with many ordinary people (especially the elderly or those living a long way from an active branch) who find it helps them keep in touch with the party,” says Griffin.

“The friendly personal touch was particularly noted during last winter’s bitter cold, when our call centre staff telephoned every single pensioner member to ask if they were alright or if they needed any help from a local party official.

“What is less well known is just how much ‘Belfast’ contributes financially to the well being of the British National Party.

“With BNP’s 2009 accounts now effectively complete we can reveal exclusively that the call centre has brought into the party an amazing £359,000 in first 15 months of operation.

“With big peaks during the European and General Elections, the average monthly income has been £26,330 at an average monthly running cost (including all set up costs, wages, line rentals, etc) of £8,000.

“The Belfast call centre has already made the BNP a direct profit of £223,000.”

And he praises his Belfast boss Jim Dowson who told porkies to the Press Complaints Commission that he was not a member of the BNP even though we had footage of him delivering a right wing speech to a BNP gathering two months ago.

“So well done to Jim Dowson for guiding us through the immensely complicated task of sourcing the right technology and setting up the whole operation, and to all the staff who have worked so hard to make the call centre such a success,” he says.

Griffin’s praise for the call centre is in stark contrast to May when the Belfast staff were blamed for a “cock up” at the General Election where the party fielded 339 candidates

They were accused of printing millions of leaflets which had an old text number printed on it.

The Sunday World was first to reveal that the BNP had secretly set up a call centre in Dundonald, east Belfast.

Jim Dowson denied any involvement even though we had clear evidence and sent a letter to the PCC press watchdog.

“They allege that I am a BNP life member when I have never been a member of the party ever in my life!” he wrote.

However, the Sunday World was sent a video by Searchlight magazine showing Jim praising the racist party and urging people to join up. And he’s even captioned ‘North West Fundraiser’.

Hope Not Hate

90-year-old Nazi suspect Adolf Storms dies (Germany)

A 90-year-old former SS sergeant who was No. 4 on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of most-wanted  Nazi war crimes suspects has died before he could be brought to trial, German authorities said Tuesday.

Adolf Storms died at his home in the western city of Duisburg on June 28, Dortmund prosecutor Andreas Brendel said. He said he did not know the exact cause of death.

Brendel's office charged Storms in November with 58 counts of murder for his alleged involvement in a massacre of Jewish forced laborers in a forest near the Austrian village of Deutsch Schuetzen.

Storms and other unidentified accomplices were accused of forcing at least 57 of the Jewish laborers to hand over their valuables and kneel by a grave before fatally shooting them from behind.

A day after the March 29, 1945 massacre, Storms was alleged to have shot another Jew who could no longer walk during a forced march in Austria from Deutsch Schuetzen to the village of Hartberg.

Several former members of the Hitler Youth who were helping the SS guard the prisoners on the march provided witness statements, and Brendel said he thought he had strong evidence against Storms.

"I would have liked to have tried the case," he said.

Efraim Zuroff, the top Nazi hunter at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said Storms' death before a trial could begin was a "classic example" of the challenges his office and prosecutors face today in continuing to pursue suspects more than six decades after the end of World War II.

"At least he was under investigation and faced indictment," Zuroff said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem.

Storms worked unnoticed for decades as a train station manager until a University of Vienna student doing undergraduate research uncovered his alleged involvement in the wartime massacre.

The student and his professor, Walter Manoschek, tracked him down and Manoschek then visited Storms several times. The professor conducted about 12 hours of interviews in which Storms repeatedly said that he does not remember the killings.

Yahoo News

Running Short, Running Scared?

The BNP has spent the past few days bussing in their big guns from all over the country in an attempt to get Richard Barnbrook elected back on to Barking and Dagenham Council in this Thursday's Goresbrook Ward By-election.

Recently elevated "Returns Officer" Clive Jefferson, has travelled all the way down from Cumbria to stay with Barnbrook and oversee the campaign, this is despite the fact that the renegade Eddy Butler is supposed to be Barnbrook's election agent.

Former Deputy Leader Simon Darby has also arrived, blogging separate desperate interviews with both the candidate and Jefferson making appeals for more members to come to B&D and help get the BNP vote out. They're trying to be upbeat and talking up their chances, but it's quite clear that the BNP in Barking and Dagenham has been decimated by not only the internal split but also their total wipe out in May's elections, Barnbrook would appear to be the only former Councillor shameless enough to show his face in the borough again.

Despite leadership candidate Butler cancelling a meeting on the weekend supposedly to campaign instead for Barnbrook, he was nowhere to be seen on Saturday when the BNP leader Nick Griffin, his arch enemy, made a brief appearance in the borough. The BNP may have been able to deliver more leaflets for the hapless Barnbrook if no less than seven security staff dressed in black suits and sun glasses were not watching Griffin's back and actually delivered some leaflets instead.

The Party continues to obsess about Searchlight's campaigning and while Griffin and his private army of minders played cat and mouse over whether they would actually have to come face to face with Butler and his followers, twenty Hope Not Hate activists leafleted the ward with a reminder of Barnbrook's previous record on the council.

We also managed to dig up the picture above taken of Barnbrook's house the last time he had the stress of an election campaign. They may be stressed about Thursday's election, but history dictates that at least they'll be well refreshed.

Hope Not Hate