Wiretaps upheld in Scottsdale bombing case (USA)

A federal court judge has ruled that wiretaps taken during an investigation into the 2004 mail bombing is admissible as evidence.

Twin brothers Dennis and Daniel Mahon are scheduled to stand trial next year in the bombing that badly injured Don Logan, who ran Scottsdale's diversity office at the time. He recovered and now works for Glendale. The Mahon brothers, 60, are avowed White supremacists with ties to White Aryan Resistance, a neo-Nazi supremacist organization, authorities said.

U.S. District Judge David Campbell wrote in his Sept. 27 order that attorneys for the Mahon brothers did not show that the wiretap was unnecessary.

"The wiretap was sought primarily to record communications between Dennis Mahon and his brother, Daniel, and other target subjects because of the long-standing relationships and trust these individuals have in each other. The affidavit explains why other investigative techniques would not capture those communications or the information contained therein," Campbell wrote.

The attorneys for the brothers had argued that a confidential informant working for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives coerced Dennis Mahon into incrimination himself based on the sexual nature of their friendship.

In a motion filed Sept. 7, Deborah Williams, Dennis Mahon's attorney, wrote that in February 2005, a confidential informant working for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives "launched an emotional assault on Mr. Mahon that was both outrageous and 'shocking to the universal sense of justice.' "
The motion contends the tactic violated Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination. The informant, Rebecca Williams, said in court that ATF agents recruited her in 2005 to get information on the Mahons. Williams was paid for every contact she made. She testified that she was promised $100,000 if the men were convicted.
Williams met the Mahons in January 2005 at a campground in Oklahoma. She would engage them in conversations inside vehicles that were wired to record the conversations, she said. Williams said she told the Mahons a story about a child molester she knew in California and the Mahons agreed to help her build a bomb to send to the person.

In January 2008, Williams visited the Mahons again in Rockford, Ill. Williams was staying in a motel also wired to pick up their conversations, with ATF agents in a room next door. Dennis Mahon spent the night with her in her room. Federal agents arrested the brothers in Illinois in June 2009.

AZ-Central 

Wilders 'makes Muslims feel unsafe' (Netherlands)

Muslims in the Netherlands say that remarks by politician Geert Wilders have poisoned attitudes toward them, according to complaints disclosed at his hate speech trial on Wednesday.

"My family and I no longer feel safe in the Netherlands because Mr Wilders is continually making hateful remarks about Islamic Dutch people," said one complaint read out by the judge.

"It's getting scary...soon the kids won't be able to say that they're Muslim or half-Moroccan," wrote the citizen, whose name was not released.

Dozens of similar complaints filed with public prosecutors eventually led them to file charges against Wilders, citing frequent statements he has made comparing Islam to fascism, calling for a ban on Muslim immigration and for banning the Koran.

Wilders is charged with inciting discrimination and hatred and with insulting a people on religious grounds, punishable with up to a year in jail and a fine.

Wilders, who polls suggest is the Netherlands' most popular politician, denies any wrongdoing. He says that his opinions are protected by freedom of speech and endorsed by more than a million people who voted for him in national elections last June.

He accused his judges of bias, but lost a motion this week to have them replaced. In an opening statement, he claimed his trial is political and he would remain silent in the Amsterdam court.

The case is seen as a test of how far a politician can go in speaking negatively about a religion without unlawfully infringing on religious freedom. He has never called for violence.

The debate over immigration has dominated Dutch politics for a decade, as it has in much of Europe. Immigration controls have been continually tightened due to rising resentment over the growing Muslim presence and their difficulty in accepting Dutch values. Muslims, mostly from Morocco and Turkey, now comprise about 6 % of the Netherlands' 16.5 million population.

Press Association

Nazi praise sparks Swiss rethink of Le Corbusier (Switzerland)

He's one of the titans of 20th Century architecture, but Le Corbusier is suddenly feeling the weight of history working against him.

The modernist master's legacy is coming under pressure after Switzerland's largest bank dropped an ad campaign featuring the architect and artist last week. Now, Zurich authorities are debating whether to dump plans to name a square after him.

Letters made public in recent years and a 2008 biography suggest that the visionary known for his cool, spare designs and revolutionary urban planning ideas was a Nazi sympathizer whose Fascist tendencies went far beyond what was previously known.

One letter shows Le Corbusier expressing clear enthusiasm for Hitler, even if at other times he calls the German leader a "monster."

"If he is serious in his declarations, Hitler can crown his life with a magnificent work: the remaking of Europe," Le Corbusier wrote to his mother in October 1940, at a time when he was shopping his radical ideas about urbanism across the continent. That was also shortly after Hitler's armies conquered France and much of Western Europe.

It's been a tough week in Switzerland for the artist born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, who died in 1965 after helping to create an international modern architecture movement along with giants such as American Frank Lloyd Wright and German Bauhaus innovators Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe.

The revelations are not completely surprising, as it has long been known that Le Corbusier aligned himself with the French far-right in the 1930s and accepted a post as a city planner for the Vichy regime that ruled France and collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.

What is perhaps most noteworthy is the sudden Swiss rejection of a native son — born in the sleepy town of La Chaux-de-Fonds — whose face appears on the 10-franc bill. His name graces a square in the capital of Bern and a street in Geneva.

"For UBS, the most important thing in our campaign is the message we wish to communicate," said Jean-Raphael Fontannaz, a spokesman for the Zurich-based banking giant. "We don't want the message to be lost in a discussion about Le Corbusier. We also don't wish to hurt the feelings of anyone."

Fontannaz said UBS AG used Le Corbusier in an advertising drive that began in August. It dropped the artist last week.

UBS' decision came after protests from Jewish groups and publishers in Switzerland, who accused Le Corbusier of being an anti-Semite. The accusation hit a raw nerve with a bank that suffered a crisis in the 1990s over revelations that it prevented Jewish claimants from accessing Holocaust-era accounts belonging to their ancestors. The row resulted in a $1.25 billion settlement.

"It's incomprehensible that UBS chose Le Corbusier as an exemplary Swiss personality," Vreni Mueller-Hemmi, head of the Swiss-Israel Society, told the weekly SonntagsZeitung. The group's vice president, Lukas Weber, told The Associated Press that he was pleased with UBS' decision.

Zurich authorities decided three years ago to name a square next to the central train station after Le Corbusier once construction was completed. But authorities now say they are taking another look at the historical record. A decision will be made at a meeting of the city's street-naming commission next month, said spokeswoman Charlotte de Koch.

Le Corbusier left an enormous body of work, including some 30,000 architectural plans, 7,000 watercolor paintings, 500 oil paintings and 52 books. He was perhaps as famous for his philosophy of architecture as for actual works. Among his most famous structures are the Villa Savoye near Paris, the Punjab government complex at Chandigarh, India, the Unite d'Habitation apartment block in Marseille and Notre-Dame-du-Haut chapel in Ronchamp, France.

Despite the recent controversies, Le Corbusier still has Swiss defenders.
"It's a different issue if you make a publicity campaign," said Werner Abegg, spokesman for the money-printing national bank. "The bank note highlights essentially the influence of a person. It's uncontested in the case of Le Corbusier."

Abegg told the AP that the bank had no plans to change its currency.

Associated Press

WHY FOOTBALL ANTI-RACISM CAMPAIGN AIMS TO TEACH LESSONS IN SCHOOL.. NOT JUST ON THE PITCH (Scotland, uk)

Football fans will be aware of the Show Racism The Red Card campaign at stadiums on matchdays. The rest of the week, the action moves to schools, where the real work of the crusade takes place. And it's ex-footballers such as Rangers and Hearts player Derek Ferguson who are working with kids to spread the anti-racism message. In partnership with the campaign's team, they visit schools, hosting workshops on racism and take kids on football coaching sessions. And it has proved a big success. Derek said: "The workshops work really well and I enjoy being a part of them. The coaching sessions blend well with the classroom lessons and the response we get from kids is great. "Linking the issue to football has been useful as it helps break up the session so that kids aren't just sitting in a classroom having information fed to them for two hours. The things we are focusing on in the training sessions complement what we've been talking about earlier." One of Derek's workshops was at Glasgow's Bellahouston Academy, a school with a diverse population. He was joined by education worker Dee Kinning, who led a talk on Islamophobia. It featured a DVD in which footballers Didier Drogba and Thierry Henry talked about their attitudes towards Islam.

Dee said: "The Show Racism The Red Card campaign began when the Newcastle goalkeeper Shaka Hislop visited a few sixth-form colleges to talk about racism. "We have 11 former professional footballers working with us. "The workshop we're doing captures kids' imagination. It gets them talking about their experiences. "We also do club events where primary sevens get to visit football grounds, have a tour of the stadium and meet players who talk to them about their experiences of racism. "It's all about challenging stereotypes and building empathy. "It gives kids from an ethnic minority background the opportunity to get a dialogue going with their classmates." Pupils agree that the workshops are worthwhile. Second-year pupil Zharah Khan, 12, said: "We learn a lot about racism in school and that's important as it shows you how much you can hurt people by what you say." Classmate Jaffer Naheem, 13, said: "Some people who are racist don't know the consequences of what they are doing but we learn about that, so we know what it's like to be a victim."

Deputy headteacher Margaret Canning added: "Pupils' relationships with each other is a major theme. Racism is addressed throughout the school, from religious and moral education classes to English to modern languages." Show Racism The Red Card campaign manager Billy Singh added: "Our aim is for future generations to be responsible citizens and live in a tolerant society. "We also recently launched our anti-sectarian film called Rivals Not Enemies at Fir Park. "Our first fans' event will take place at Hamilton Racecourse on Thursday. Anyone interested should get in touch. Confirmed for the event are ex-players Derek Ferguson, Gerry Britton and Jim Duffy." The seventh annual Fortnight of Action in Scotland will take place from Friday October 15 to 31.

Scotish Daily Record

MUSICIAN GIVEN 3 YEARS IN PRISON FOR RACIST LYRICS (Czech Rep.)

The Czech Supreme Court (NS) has upheld a three-year prison sentence for Michal Moravec, singer of the Imperium band, for having spread racist lyrics, and it turned down his appellate review, NS spokesman Petr Knoetig told CTK Friday. Moravec asked the NS to annul the previous verdict of lower-level courts. Now he can only file a constitutional complaint. Moravec originally faced up to eight years in prison if found guilty.

He was also charged with drunk driving for which the court banned from driving motor vehicles for two years. By coincidence, Moravec was arrested within an extensive police raid against the organisers of neo-Nazi concerts. However, he was charged with an act committed a longer time ago. His defence counsel argued that Moravec had not committed the crime he was charged with as the lyrics did not contain anything unlawful. Moreover, it was difficult to understand them, he said. According to the charges, Moravec had CDs of songs with lyrics celebrating national socialism produced. The CD was called Triumph of the Will, alluding to the propaganda film by Leni Riefenstahl on the NSDAP congress in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1934. Moravec was then partially spreading the CDs himself and promoted them at public concerts.
The CD's booklet includes a text about the "Leader" (Fuehrer) whose ideas words and deeds must never be forgotten. The band was also singing "white revolution - the only solution" in English. Moravec said the band was actually not singing "white revolution" but "write revolution," arguing with his bad pronunciation of English lyrics.

Prague Daily Monitor

Christian Democrat dissidents back coalition but remain anti-Wilders (Netherlands)

The two Christian Democrat MPs who object to forming a coalition which involves the anti-Islam PVV said on Tuesday evening they were still against the alliance.

The two – Kathleen Ferrier and Ad Koppejan – voted in favour of the new government set-up on Tuesday afternoon, opening the way for the Netherlands’ first minority government in over 60 years.

But the duo told tv and radio programmes later that they were still against the political link-up with Geert Wilders’ party. And if cabinet plans threaten to discriminate against Muslims and immigrants, they will vote against them.

Votes‘Geert Wilders is not rid of us yet,’ Koppejan was quoted as saying.

‘We know 30% of the CDA support us,’ Ferrier said, referring to the no vote at last weekend’s CDA conference.

For example, she said: ‘if [new rules on] integration courses are being used as an excuse used to deport people, we will stop that.’
 
Criticism
CDA leader Maxime Verhagen said after the meeting that all CDA MPs shared their concerns. ‘All 21 will follow the cabinet with a critical eye,’ he said.

But Geert Wilders said after a final meeting with Verhagen and VVD leader Mark Rutte that the agreement reached on policy areas of specific concern to the PVV remained unchanged. ‘We will not give a millimetre,’ the anti-Islam campaigner told reporters.

That agreement covers tighter rules on family reunions, denationalisation and criminalising illegal immigration. Many of the proposals it contains are against international and European law.

Opposition MPs said they doubted that the new coalition, which will control 76 of the 150 seats in parliament, will be stable.

Now the coalition deal has been finalised, VVD leader Rutte is expected to begin the process of appointing ministers.

Dutch News

Geert Wilders' inciting hatred trial resumes (Netherlands)

The trial of MP and anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders on charges of inciting hatred resumed on Wednesday after a special hearing rejected claims the court was biased against him.

On Monday, Wilders’ lawyer Bram Moszkowicz challenged the legitimacy of the court after the presiding judge appeared to criticise Wilders’ evoke his right to silence.

But judges at the special hearing ruled Jan Moors' comments, although clumsily formulated, did not imply prejudice against Wilders and said the trial could continue as planned.

Wilders, a silent partner of the probable new government, is on trial in Amsterdam on charges of discrimination and inciting hatred against Muslims, Moroccans and non-Western immigrants.
The trial centres on a number of statements made by Wilders over the years. In one, he likened the Koran to Hitler's book Mein Kampf and called for it to be banned.

In another, he said: 'The borders will be closed that day for all non-western immigrants....We have to stop the tsunami of islamisation. It is affecting our heart, our identity, our culture.'

Today's hearing is expected to include a showing of Fitna, Wilders' 17 minute video compliation of footage linking Islam to violence.

Dutch News

A black sun rises in a declining Japan

Until recently, it was the likes of Mitsuhiro Kimura that worried Japan’s political mainstream. The leader of the far-right Issuikai movement, he counted Saddam Hussein and French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen among his allies, and created friction with Japan’s neighbours by loudly denying the country’s Second World War crimes.

But now Mr. Kimura is among those concerned about a new breed of extremists, who are capitalizing on the bruised pride and swelling anger in Japan with a brand of politics that makes even a friend of the former Iraqi dictator uncomfortable. As this country staggers through a second decade of economic stagnation, and suffers the indignation of being eclipsed by historic rival China, there’s a common refrain coming from the growing ranks of this country’s young and angry: Japan must stand up for itself – and that foreigners are to blame for the country’s ills.

Take the past week alone. Infuriated by a perceived Japanese climbdown in a dispute with China over an island chain that both nations claim, right-wingers tossed smoke bombs at the Chinese consulates in the cities of Fukuoka and Nagasaki. Another man was arrested with a knife in his bag outside the Tokyo residence of Prime Minister Naoto Kan. On Friday, a motorcade of 60 cars organized by a right-wing group briefly surrounded a bus carrying Chinese tourists in Fukuoka, prompting Beijing to issue a warning to its citizens about the dangers of visiting Japan.

No one was hurt in any of the incidents. But they highlight a tide of rising nationalism that is just one of the new social ills afflicting a country that 20 years ago was the richest and most stable on the planet. Two consecutive “lost decades” and a dearth of political leadership – five prime ministers in the past four years – have unmoored Japan.

“There is a deepening sense that society is at an impasse,” Mr. Kan told an extraordinary session of Japan’s parliament convened last week. He went on to list off Japan’s many and deepening problems: economic stagnation; rising unemployment; an aging society and the highest suicide rate in the developed world.
One issue Mr. Kan didn’t mention is that more and more Japanese are turning away from traditional politics and embracing extremist ideologies laced with chilling hints of the country’s militaristic history.

On Saturday, an estimated 2,700 rightists marched through Tokyo’s main shopping district, decrying the government’s perceived weakness in the dispute with Beijing and calling for Chinese and Koreans to leave Japan. Several smaller anti-Chinese and anti-foreigner marches took place again Sunday, with some in the crowd wearing military-style black uniforms and others waving the Rising Sun flag the country’s military flew while conquering nearly all of East Asia during the Second World War.

“If you are not tough enough to stand up for Japan, get out of Japan! We need to fight against China!” a member of the extremist Zaitokukai movement shouted through a bullhorn Sunday morning, his anger echoing through the high-end shopping malls and coffee shops of Tokyo’s Shibuya district.

Another marcher switched targets when it was his turn at the bullhorn. “Throw illegal immigrants into Tokyo Bay!” he yelled to loud cheers from his fellow marchers and silent stares from shoppers who paused to watch the procession. If anyone disagreed with the sentiment, no one said so publicly.

The weekend rallies were organized over the Internet by new right-wing organizations that, unlike their predecessors, don’t play by the staid rules of Japanese politics. Dubbed the “Net far right” by local media and police, groups such as Zaitokukai have capitalized on the anger and despair many Japanese feel as this proud country struggles to come to grips with its economic malaise, as well as a sense that Japan is losing relevance and respect on the international stage. Founded three years ago, Zaitokukai claims to have more than 10,000 active members, with several times that number quietly following them and reading their xenophobic postings online.

“These Net right-wingers have no rules, no restrictions … . I’m against this kind of hate speech, these ugly comments. Their thoughts and ideas are okay, but the way they express them is not,” said Mr. Kimura, whose own Issuikai movement made headlines earlier this year by hosting an international gathering of right-wingers, including Mr. Le Pen, that featured a visit to the controversial Yasukuni shrine, which honours Japanese war dead, including several convicted war criminals.

The return of Japanese extremism is in many ways unsurprising. While economists fret over the country’s slow overall growth and the threat of deflation, it’s the microeconomic picture that can be truly shocking.
With unemployment at a historic high of over 5 per cent – a number that understates the problem since many Japanese have given up looking for work altogether – the newly homeless now fill the country’s parks and Internet cafés. Twenty-three per cent of Tokyo schoolchildren will rely on government aid for things such as school supplies this year. Depression stalks the country and 26,500 people committed suicide in 2009, the highest rate in the world. If the Great Recession is over, it doesn’t feel like the recovery has started yet in Japan.

As in Europe 80 years ago, blame for the country’s troubles has fallen on foreigners. The No. 1 target is ethnic Koreans who live in Japan (Zaitokukai is the Japanese acronym for the group’s unwieldy formal title, Citizens’ Group That Will Not Forgive Special Privileges for Koreans in Japan), followed by the Chinese. A liberalized immigration system, which pundits across the spectrum agree is desperately needed to help deal with a rapidly aging population, is considered too sensitive to touch for any politician concerned about keeping his job in the next election.

“There are of course some similarities with the fascist and Nazi movements. Those who join Zaitokukai are the jobless and the underemployed, those on the periphery of the established society. They’re disheartened, and they have a lot of frustration,” said Gemki Fujii, a right-wing intellectual and author. However, he said that Zaitokukai is doomed to remain a fringe group because few Japanese admire the group’s abrasive tactics.
But the xenophobia that Zaitokukai helps spread via the Internet and its street demonstrations appears to be taking hold in Japan, which has a long tradition of isolating itself from the world. Racist comments about the country’s ethnic Korean and Chinese citizens are startlingly common, while other foreigners – including some long-term residents of Japan – say they also feel increasingly unwelcome, and complain of police harassment and rules that prevent non-Japanese from renting homes or gaining professional tenure.

While many of Japan’s neighbours – including China and both North and South Korea – say Tokyo still needs to do more to atone for its wartime misdeeds, academics say the country is moving in the opposite direction.

“There’s been a re-emergence of a right-wing, nationalistic discourse and reinterpretation of history,” said Koichi Nakano, an associate professor of political science at Sophia University in Tokyo. “Go into a Tokyo bookstore and you’re bound to run into piles of books that would not be acceptable in Western society – Holocaust denials and the such. If it were Germany, there would be a big scandal in the international community. But because it’s Japan and [the books are] in Japanese, it makes it kind of invisible.”
Despite its status as one of Japan’s leading academic institutions, even Sophia University found itself on Zaitokukai’s target list last year when a small crowd gathered in front of the campus gates to shout “Christians, get out of Japan!”

“Badmouthing Chinese or Koreans in a very racist way is so abundant that it doesn’t even offend people any more,” Prof. Nakano said. “There was a taboo and now the taboo is gone. They kind of things they say, even in the late 1990s were almost unthinkable.”

Globe and Mail

Taxi driver subjected to tirade of racist abuse, court told (UK)

Daniel Miller

An Asian taxi driver was subjected to a tirade of racist abuse before being punched in the face by a customer.

Daniel Miller, 28, from Canberra Close in Stoke Hill, Exeter, launched the attack on the driver after a disagreement broke out over the fare.

Miller has just been sentenced after he pleaded guilty to racially aggravated common assault on Hackney Carriage driver Mohammad Numan at an earlier hearing.

The Echo has revealed a growing concern among taxi companies and police over a recent increase in the number of physical and verbal attacks on drivers.

Darren Pike, owner of Alpha Taxis, recently installed a CCTV camera in his vehicle in a bid to curb the abuse. Police and Exeter City Council, which licences vehicles, are also supporting the move after revealing that assaults are increasing.

Miller received a community order for 12 months, to include a 'thinking skills programme', and 150 hours of unpaid community service under the supervision of a probation officer.
He was also ordered to pay £50 compensation to Mr Numan to cover the unpaid fare and injury, and £150 costs.
Prosecuting, Ed Canning told the court the victim was a taxi driver working off the rank in Sidwell Street who picked up Miller after a night out.

He said: "On arrival to his address Mr Miller said he didn't have enough money to pay and Mr Numan asked for something for security while he went inside to get the money.

"A disagreement started and Miller started to racially abuse Mr Numan and repeatedly punch him. Mr Numan put his hand up to protect himself and received bruising," Mr Canning continued.

"Mr Miller then issued more racist abuse and punched the left side of Mr Numan's forehead. He then kicked the wing mirror of his car. Neighbours were disturbed and the police were called."

Miller had previously told police he had been drinking and had a tendency to become abusive when drunk.
The court heard that Mr Numan had made a claim for compensation for the fare of £6.75 that was never paid.

In mitigation, Gareth Evans said: "Mr Miller is a seriously contrite 28-year-old and he is ashamed of his actions.

"Mr Miller reached for his wallet but had no money. The disagreement provoked an inappropriate response. This doesn't justify what happened and Mr Miller knows he cannot justify it. There was never any prospect that Mr Miller was not going to pay Mr Numan his fare.

"Mr Miller is not a racist person and does not hold racist views."

Miller told police he didn't remember much about the incident because of the drink.

Mr Evans added: "He accepts responsibility and recognises his behaviour was over the top and inappropriate. He had massively too much to drink that night but he is not an excessive drinker usually."

The court heard Miller is in full time work and lives with his mother and father.

In August, seven attacks against drivers in the city were reported to police in the space of just three weeks.
Among the incidents was a horrific attack which left a driver with serious head injuries.

As revealed in the Echo, a 36-year-old local man was assaulted at the side of a busy road in Beacon Heath and was knocked unconscious.

Taxi firms interested in working with the police on the installation of cameras can call Sergeant Beverley Weston on 01392 451585.

This is Exeter

Orkney racist killer appeals (Scotland, UK)

Michael Ross was found guilty of murdering Shamsuddin Mahmood in 1994 and he is now making a bid to clear his name.

The man convicted for the racist killing of an Orkney waiter 16 years ago is appearing at the High Court in Edinburgh in a bid to clear his name.

Michael Ross is appealing against his conviction.

In 2008, he was found guilty of murdering Shamsuddin Mahmood, who was shot while working at an Indian Restaurant in Kirkwall in 1994.

The murder remained unsolved for 12 years until Northern Constabulary re-opened the case in 2007 and brought Black Watch sniper Ross – who was just 15 at the time – to justice.

Four days of court time have been set aside to hear Ross’s arguments for his appeal.

The emergence of a potential new witness could be the key to his success. Aberdeen woman Amelia Swanney – came forward after Ross was convicted.

The 28-year-old environmental consultant claims she had been with Ross in another part of Kirkwall when Mr Mahmood was shot. However, court officials were unable to say whether Miss Swanney’s evidence was a part of the appeal.

Ross who tried to escape from court at the end of his trial has continued to maintain his innocence.

Jailing him for a minimum of 25 years, Lord Hardie told the 32-year-old it was “a vicious, evil, unprovoked murder”. But now the former Army Sergeant has launched an appeal against his conviction and sentence.

News STV

Tennis ace 'victim of racist barrage' (UK)

Three men have been arrested after tennis player Anne Keothavong was allegedly racially abused as she prepared for a tournament in Devon.

The 27-year-old, Britain's No3-ranked player, posted on Twitter that she was "disgusted" after being subjected to a "barrage" of abuse.

Police said the men were arrested for the abuse and a shoplifting offence.

This is London

Disbanding Gárda rally ruled illegal (Hungary)

Police acted unlawfully by dissolving a rally of the far-right militia the Magyar Gárda on Erzsébet tér on July 4, 2009, when Jobbik chairman Gábor Vona was detained, the Municipal Court ruled in a final verdict on Monday.

Jobbik MP Tamás Nagy-Gaudi said the verdict should represent a turnabout in the assessment of the group and end its "persecution". The court said the meeting should only have been dissolved if it had become violent.

Politics Hu

Judges decide today if Wilders' inciting hatred trial can continue (Netherlands)

A special court in Amsterdam will decide on Tuesday afternoon if new judges should be sworn in for the trial of anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders on charges of inciting hatred.

On Monday, Wilders’ lawyer Bram Moszkowicz challenged the legitimacy of the court after the presiding judge appeared to criticise Wilders’ decision not to answer any questions.

Jan Moors said Wilders had often been accused of avoiding discussion about his views on Islam and Muslims. ‘By remaining silent, it seems you're doing that today as well,’ he said.

Wilders evoked his right to silence at the start of the trial, saying he would not answer any questions and that his lawyer would answer on his behalf.

Wilders, a silent partner of the probable new government, is on trial in Amsterdam on charges of discrimination and inciting hatred against Muslims, Moroccans and non-Western immigrants.

Statements
The trial centres on a number of statements made by Wilders over the years. In one, he likened the Koran to Hitler's book Mein Kampf and called for it to be banned.

In another, he said: 'The borders will be closed that day for all non-western immigrants....We have to stop the tsunami of islamisation. It is affecting our heart, our identity, our culture.'

As each statement was read out in court, Moors asked Wilders if the quotation was accurate and if he had approved it before publication. In each case, Wilders refused to answer.

Dutch News

Vatican paper slams Berlusconi over ‘Jewish joke’

The official Vatican newspaper slammed Italy's prime minister for a joke that played on Jewish stereotypes and made fun of the Holocaust.

Silvio Berlusconi told "offensive" and "deplorable" jokes, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said in an editorial published Sunday

Berlusconi was filmed telling the "Jewish joke" to well-wishers Oct. 2; the video clip was posted online by the anti-Berlusconi newspaper La Repubblica.

In the clip the prime minister recounts how a Jew charged another Jew about $4,000 a day for hiding him during World War II. The punchline of the joke states, "The Jew says, the question now is whether we should tell him Hitler is dead and the war is over."

Berlusconi has been filmed or quoted in recent years making a number of other jokes that include content seen as sexist or offensive.

In its editorial the L'Osservatore Romano said, "The head of the government's jokes appear more deplorable" and "offend indiscriminately the feeling of the faithful and the sacred memory of the six million victims" of the Holocaust.

JTA

Police act over Blackburn halal demos (UK)

Police have obtained an order to restrict a right-wing group's protests over the serving of halal meat at Blackburn's Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Officers acted after seven nights of demonstrations kicked off with scenes of disorder as 50 English Defence League protestors descended on the Haslingden Road restaurant.

Four men were arrested on suspected public order offences late on Sunday and a skip was set on fire.
The problems prompted police to obtain an order which limits the protests to no more than nine demonstrators and means they must end their action by 7.30 each night.

And last night there were signs the order was working, with only eight protestors on site who pledged to follow the police line.
The EDL, a right-wing group which says it is against the 'Islam-ification' of England', is protesting about KFC's decision to pilot the use of Halal meat at the Blackburn restaurant.

Activists had pledged to demonstrate for seven nights from Sunday.

Senior officers took advantage of a little-used piece of legislation called a Section 14 order to bring in the restrictions.
A police spokesman said: "Whilst the police are keen to respect the demonstrators' rights to lawful protest, restrictions have been deemed necessary to maintain public order and reassure the public in the Blackburn area, following minor incidents of disorder that occurred on Saturday."

Salim Mulla, chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques (LCM), said he had spoken with police over the protests and backed officers' actions.

He said: "We don't want any confrontation. We have asked the youth to keep away from the area. That is the message we are sending out and to let the police do their job.

"The EDL are totally unrepresentative of British society. We don't want to give them any prominence.
"Most people are willing to work together for better understanding of each other."

However, despite the protests, Coun Mulla said the LCM did not accept that KFC's meat was halal.
He said to be granted the status by the LCM the killing needed to be taken in the name of God, be hand slaughter and ensure the three main veins are cut so death is instant.

Coun Mulla said: "This method is less cruel than other methods and that has been shown in evidence from scientists.

"KFC stun the animals first and use a mechanical slaughter device, so we cannot support that."

Blackburn MP Jack Straw said no-one had ever complained to him about the serving of halal meat.
He said: "I eat halal and I have never had any problems with it.

"The police action to me seems to be perfectly sensible.

"This seems to be an effort by these people are more right wing than the BNP to stir up problems which don't exist."
Last night eight people from EDL gathered to protest outside the KFC.

A spokesman for the EDL said: "We have agreed with the police their conditions are fair enough and we are happy to abide by them.

"We are here to stop the Islamification of England. There are quite a few issues which concern us, such as the welfare of the animals that are slaughtered."

A spokesperson for KFC said they were carrying out the halal trial due to demand from customers.

He said: "Overall response has been positive. Our halal chicken is still stunned before slaughter.

"However we have made sure that there is a non-halal restaurant nearby, to give customers a choice.

"Police advised us of these planned protests, which are the actions of a very small minority, and while we acknowledge the right to peaceful demonstration, we do not tolerate any anti-social behaviour at our stores."

Blackburn Citizen

Protester assaulted officer at EDL rally (UK)

An Anti-Fascist protester arrested at the EDL rally in Bolton town centre has been found guilty of assaulting a police officer.

Roger Cox denied assaulting PC Darren Calladineat the English Defence League rally and Unite Against Fascism counter-demonstration on March 20.

But yesterday magistrates found him guilty of the offence, and said his version of events were “not credible”.

Justice4Bolton, a campaign group which claimed police used heavy-handed tactics on the day, held a show of solidarity outside the court before the trial started. The court heard that PC Calladine, of the tactical aid unit, was trying to arrest a man who was kicking out, when Cox pulled the man back into the crowd. Cox then hit the officer in the chest and swore at him.

Cox, aged 28, was forced to the ground and was handcuffed, with assistance from PC Eugene Mole.
Andrew Fitzpatrick, defending, accused the police of pushing the demonstrators.

He said: “Is it not the case there was concerted effort by the police to move the demonstrators away from where they were in the square?”

PC Calladine replied: “No, the police were trying to hold the line.”

“I’m suggesting that pushing came from the police,” said Mr Fitzpatrick. PC Calladine repeated that the police were trying to hold the line.
Mr Fitzpatrick suggested that PC Calladine “made a beeline”
for Cox.
PC Calladine said: “That is not correct. He struck me on the chest and helped another male make good his escape.”

The court heard that Cox, of Croydon Road, Newcastle, has a previous conviction for resisting arrest at an immigration demonstration in 2008.

He tried to fasten himself to a steering wheel of a police van in dawn raids.

Cox said that he was not doing anything wrong when PC Calladine arrested him in Victoria Square.
He said: “I saw the officer come down to me and he did not come into contact with anyone else, and he grabbed me. I did not see any punching or kicking by protesters but I did see violence from the police.”
He told the court he did not hit the officer in the chest and he did not swear at him.

He said that a CCTV camera on top of the magistrates court was pointing in his direction and might have recorded the incident.

Mr Fitzpatrick asked for an adjournment before the trial to obtain more CCTV, but the application was rejected. The trial was supposed to be held in July but that was put back when the same request was made.
Magistrates said there had been ample time to request the CCTV.

Chairman of the bench Stephen Paine said: “PC Calladine gave credible evidence.

“Cox’s evidence was also consistent but the version of events did not seem credible.”

The case has been adjourned to November 1 for sentence.

After the case, Lindsay Bessell, a spokesman for Justice4Bolton, said: “It is a policeman’s word against a protester so it was obvious there would be guilty verdict.

“There is no justice in the legal system and that’s why Justice4Bolton has formed to ensure this sort of thing stops.

Hopefully this decision will be challenged and we will continue to support other defendants.”

Bolton News

BNP takes hate message to Larne with fake picture (Northern Ireland)

The BNP has taken its race hate message to Larne.
 Skinhead members of Nick Griffin's far-right party spent the last week leafleting homes in the Co Antrim seaside town.

They put scaremongering mail through doors warning about a new asylum seeker centre which is being built in Larne.

The BNP news-sheet includes a fake picture of two Muslim women dressed in burkas walking down the Glenarm Road.

The leaftlet states: “The good folk of Larne do not want their town being used as a dumping |ground, holding centre, or whatever name the liberal elite wish to call it.

“No matter how much sugar coating is applied to this foul tasting proposal, the Ulster BNP...will not have the wool pulled over their eyes.”

But what the BNP leaflet does not say is that the asylum centre is being built inside the local PSNI station.

The 25 immigrants held there ahead of deportation will not be able to leave the complex.

They will not be allowed enter the town and will be shielded from public view.

Larne Mayor Bobby McKee accused the BNP of whipping up racial tension.
He said: “I wouldn't give these BNP people the time of day.

They held a protest at a council meeting at the beginning of September and only 10 people showed up. They have no support.”

Bobby explained that the majority of refugees who will be held at the new detention centre will be children.

“They will be held within the grounds of the PSNI station before being deported. It's not like they will be running the streets,” he added. “Instead of moaning the BNP should recognise the contribution refugees have made to society.

“They come to Northern Ireland and gladly do the jobs no-one else will do.

“You've got to give them credit for that, they are only trying to escape poverty.”

The BNP Larne leaflet drop was the brainchild of its new Northern Ireland organiser Steve Moore — who was born in the town. On the BNP’s website, Moore said: “Local people are horrified by this news that their town has been earmarked as a dumping ground for illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers.

“We have seen that it is almost impossible to deport anyone from our country because of the insane Human Rights Act. Larne will undoubtedly become home to these economic migrants.”

Belfast Telegraph

Thousands demonstrate against racism (Sweden)

Over 4,000 people gathered in central Stockholm on Monday to demonstrate for diversity and against racism, with the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats in focus as the party took its place in parliament for the first time.

The demonstrators gathered on Sergels Torg in central Stockholm to listen to speeches and then began a march towards Sweden's parliament, the Riksdag, on Myntorget.

Behind the demonstration were the anti-racism groups the "September Alliance", Stockholm's anti-racist culture association, and various Facebook groups, with speeches held by, among others, Left Party leader Lars Ohly.

Similar, if smaller, demonstrations were held across the country on Monday evening.

The demonstration was a repeat of the massive spontaneous turnout on the day after the Swedish general election, which left the Sweden Democrats with 5.7 percent of the vote and 20 seats in parliament.

Monday was the first day the new members of parliament gathered in the chamber, for a roll-call and to vote on various officials, including the speaker and deputy speakers.

The Sweden Democrats had attempted to use the speaker election to push for negotiations with the major parties as the party stood to hold the balance of power, but neither the Moderates nor the Social Democrats took up the offer.

While the Sweden Democrats in the end elected to vote with the Alliance candidate, Per Westerberg, the party's 20 votes had no impact on the outcome as he was returned to the post by 194 votes to 153.

The Local Sweden

Geert Wilders trial halted as lawyer accuses judge of bias

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Guardian

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

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

 Politics Hu