Four Staten Island teens are facing hate-crime charges for taunting a Muslim classmate because of his faith, calling him a "terrorist" and repeatedly punching him in the genitals, cops said Monday.
"They took advantage of me because I was quiet," the 16-year-old-victim, whose first name is Kristian, told the Staten Island Advance, which first reported the story of the abuse.
Kristian's emotionally scarring ordeal is part of a disturbing spike in hate crimes across the city that was highlighted by news on Friday that a sadistic Bronx gang tortured three men because they were gay.
Police said the four Staten Island boys - three 14-year-olds who are Latino and a 15-year-old who is black - were collared Sunday night on charges of assault and aggravated harassment, both as hate crimes. They are being charged as minors, and police did not release their names.
The teens tormented Kristian, whose family is from Trinidad, over a months-long period while they were classmates at Intermediate School 51 on Staten Island, police said.
Kristian thought the abuse would end when he began classes at Staten Island's Port Richmond High School this fall. But when he learned that two of the bullies were in his freshman class, he told his parents of the abuse, and they called police, according to the Advance.
Kristian said the abuse has left him with trouble concentrating. He is being treated by a psychiatrist and a neurologist, his parents told the paper.
"The therapist says it's going to take a very long time for him to come back to being normal again," the boy's father told the Advance.
NY Daily News
Monday, 11 October 2010
US Republican candidate Rich Iott in Nazi uniform row (USA)
A Republican politician in the US has been criticised after pictures of him dressed in a Nazi uniform emerged on the internet.
Mr Iott admitted being a member of a group that re-enacted SS battles.
But he said he had been involved in re-enacting from many different eras and did not mean "any disrespect to anyone" in the US military.
Several photographs show Mr Iott posing as an officer in the Waffen SS - the combat wing of Hitler's feared Schutzstaffel.
The pictures first appeared on the website of Wiking, a re-enactment group based in America's mid-west.
Mr Iott, who uses the character name Reinhard Pferdmann, has admitted being a member of Wiking, saying it was a "purely historical interest".
And in a statement on his website, Mr Iott said: "Never, in any of my re-enacting of military history, have I meant any disrespect to anyone who served in our military or anyone who has been affected by the tragedy of war, especially the Jewish community.
"Historical re-enacting is a hobby enjoyed by millions of men - and women - around the world. I have been involved in historical re-enacting from many different eras since I was in college."
Mr Iott also posted several photographs which showed him dressed in a US World War I uniform and also in a Union uniform during a Civil War re-enactment.
Despite this, the situation is now making some in the Republican Party uncomfortable, the BBC's Ian Mackenzie in Washington says.
On Sunday, Republican whip Eric Cantor said he repudiated Mr Iott's actions.
"I do not support anything like this," he told Fox News on Sunday.
The Iott controversy comes amid growing concern in the Republican party about the views of some candidates for the mid-term elections in November, our correspondent says.
He adds that the growth of the ultra-conservative Tea Party movement has left them with one would-be senator who has questioned the civil rights legislation in the 1960s, while another confessed to dabbling in witchcraft and suggested scientists were implanting full human brains into mice.
BBC News
BNP told "stay away from matches" (UK)
The British National Party has been told by football fans to stay way from local grounds after members canvassed support outside the Oval at the weekend.
Graham Moore from the Castlereagh Glentoran Supporters' Club said the BNP was not something fans want to be associated with.
The BBC contacted the BNP office for a response, but no one replied.
Mr Moore said he noticed BNP literature on car windscreens on his way into the football ground.
"I noticed the BNP presence and I have to say I was a little puzzled.
"In the run up to elections we sometimes get mainstream parties outside the ground but this was very unusual, " Mr Moore said.
"I wasn't interested in what they were doing so I didn't go any closer to see what exactly they were doing.
"They were outside the ground so there is nothing the club can do but it's not something the supporters want to have to see."
East Belfast DUP MLA Robin Newton described the presence of the BNP at the football game as uninvited and unwelcome.
Mr Newton said a number of constituents contacted him to "express their disgust" at the presence of the BNP outside their local club.
"They go to the Oval to support the Glens and enjoy a game of football; they don't want to be faced with BNP messages of hate," Mr Newton said.
"Glentoran Football Club has a generational tradition of appealing to a broad range of supporters and players, irrespective of race or religion.
"I presume this BNP presence is some sort of campaign to raise their nauseous profile, and I appeal for everyone to stand as one to reject their message," he added.
"I understand they are now seeking to link their actions to some form of support for our troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"How ironic, given the fact that our brave young soldiers are currently fighting those who espouse exactly the same sort of bile and hate as preached by the BNP.
"The BNP should pack up their messages of hate and disappear. They have been rejected time and time again, they represent no-one, and we don't want them in our midst."
BBC News
BELGRADE RIOTS OVER, OFFICIALS CONDEMN VIOLENCE (Serbia)
Thousands of hooligans and skinheads attacked police in downtown Belgrade on Sunday as they tried to disrupt the city’s Pride Parade, leaving one hundred people injured and causing one million EUR of damage. Serbia’s interior minister Ivica Dacic told reporters that 6000 anti-gay protesters clashed with the 5600-strong police force. They threw stones, bricks, glass and Molotov cocktails at police.
Calm has now returned to the city but a heavy police presence remains on the streets, which are littered with stones, broken glass and debris from the riots. Hooligans brandished anti-gay slogans, broke windows of several buildings and demolished buses and cars as riots broke at several locations across Belgrade. In central Belgrade’s main street, Knez Mihailova, two shops, Nike and Djak, were looted. Belgrade's mayor Dragan Djilas told reporters that the total damage is estimated at around one million EUR. During the clashes about 100 people, mostly police officers, were injured. Police arrested 101 people. The Serbian government condemned the vandalism and violence and said that it is taking all measures to ensure public order. Attempts to hold Pride events in Belgrade have previously been marred by violence, and the event was cancelled last year because police could not guarantee the safety of the participants. Serbian President Boris Tadic said in a press statement that the rioters and organisers of the violence will be brought to justice. “The state is fully prepared to deal with vandals and hooligans that endangered public safety.
Serbia will ensure that the human rights of all citizens, regardless of their diversity, will be respected and any violent attempt to deny them that freedom will not pass,” said Tadic. Tomo Zoric, spokesman from the Prosecutor's office, said that prosecution and police will identify those who attacked police officers. He added that cameras, placed across the city, have recorded all critical events, and video footage of violence would be used in criminal proceedings as evidence. "The state will prove stronger than the extremist groups," said Zoric.
Parade escorted by police
“I expected that something like this would happen, maybe not on this scale, but we were aware of the risks," said Boris Milicevic from the Gay Straight Alliance. "The main question is who inspired this and who was the organiser.” The 1000-strong parade was sealed off by police throughout the short march from Manjez park to the Students’ Cultural Centre. The main ceremony started in the park with Abba songs, followed by speeches by several diplomats and activists. "We are here to celebrate this big day which we have been waiting for so long," said the representative of the European Commission in Belgrade, French diplomat Vincent Degert. Middle-aged woman Mirjana Ivancevic was one those waving the rainbow flags. “I am here to fight for the freedom of choice for my five-year-old grandson,” she said excitedly. Dusan Zlokolica from the group “Europe Does not Have an Alternative” believes that the fact the parade took place represented a step towards the EU. “This is one very important step Serbia should take in order to join the EU family,” he said. Dozens of foreigners made their way to Belgrade to express their support for the LGBT community’s fight for their rights. Clare Dimyon from the UK said: “I tried to keep my expectations down as I knew what the situation in Serbia is and what happened with the previous attempts for the parade to be held, but now I am standing here and all I can say is 'wow', this is really happening.” Nuns from a nearby churchyard cursed the procession with big wooden crosses as it passed, but police avoided a confrontation by keeping the parade moving. As participants reached the Students’ Cultural Centre, where a major party with a DJ Tijana T was taking place, the upbeat mood was soon replaced with panic as they learned details of the serious incidents across Belgrade.
Participants were not allowed to leave the centre and had to wait for special police vehicles to drive them to safe areas. Simon Simonovic, 29, said: “This is just confirmation that the state cannot deal with the hooligans.” Jelena Veljkovic, 24, criticised the police response. She said: “I’m so afraid that they [hooligans] could attack me on the way or once they [the police] drop me off. I think it would have been more secure if they had let us walk.” Sunday’s march was viewed as a major test for Serbia's government, which has vowed to protect human rights as it hopes to join the European Union. The first pride parade, in June 2001, was brought to a halt after clashes with protestors left several civilians and policemen injured. The second planned pride rally in Belgrade, which was scheduled to take place in September last year, was cancelled after police declared the risk to the marchers’ personal safety was too great following threats from right-wing groups to disrupt the event.
Balkan Insight
Here's a video of the event.
Video posted on You Tube by schranztech
Calm has now returned to the city but a heavy police presence remains on the streets, which are littered with stones, broken glass and debris from the riots. Hooligans brandished anti-gay slogans, broke windows of several buildings and demolished buses and cars as riots broke at several locations across Belgrade. In central Belgrade’s main street, Knez Mihailova, two shops, Nike and Djak, were looted. Belgrade's mayor Dragan Djilas told reporters that the total damage is estimated at around one million EUR. During the clashes about 100 people, mostly police officers, were injured. Police arrested 101 people. The Serbian government condemned the vandalism and violence and said that it is taking all measures to ensure public order. Attempts to hold Pride events in Belgrade have previously been marred by violence, and the event was cancelled last year because police could not guarantee the safety of the participants. Serbian President Boris Tadic said in a press statement that the rioters and organisers of the violence will be brought to justice. “The state is fully prepared to deal with vandals and hooligans that endangered public safety.
Serbia will ensure that the human rights of all citizens, regardless of their diversity, will be respected and any violent attempt to deny them that freedom will not pass,” said Tadic. Tomo Zoric, spokesman from the Prosecutor's office, said that prosecution and police will identify those who attacked police officers. He added that cameras, placed across the city, have recorded all critical events, and video footage of violence would be used in criminal proceedings as evidence. "The state will prove stronger than the extremist groups," said Zoric.
Parade escorted by police
“I expected that something like this would happen, maybe not on this scale, but we were aware of the risks," said Boris Milicevic from the Gay Straight Alliance. "The main question is who inspired this and who was the organiser.” The 1000-strong parade was sealed off by police throughout the short march from Manjez park to the Students’ Cultural Centre. The main ceremony started in the park with Abba songs, followed by speeches by several diplomats and activists. "We are here to celebrate this big day which we have been waiting for so long," said the representative of the European Commission in Belgrade, French diplomat Vincent Degert. Middle-aged woman Mirjana Ivancevic was one those waving the rainbow flags. “I am here to fight for the freedom of choice for my five-year-old grandson,” she said excitedly. Dusan Zlokolica from the group “Europe Does not Have an Alternative” believes that the fact the parade took place represented a step towards the EU. “This is one very important step Serbia should take in order to join the EU family,” he said. Dozens of foreigners made their way to Belgrade to express their support for the LGBT community’s fight for their rights. Clare Dimyon from the UK said: “I tried to keep my expectations down as I knew what the situation in Serbia is and what happened with the previous attempts for the parade to be held, but now I am standing here and all I can say is 'wow', this is really happening.” Nuns from a nearby churchyard cursed the procession with big wooden crosses as it passed, but police avoided a confrontation by keeping the parade moving. As participants reached the Students’ Cultural Centre, where a major party with a DJ Tijana T was taking place, the upbeat mood was soon replaced with panic as they learned details of the serious incidents across Belgrade.
Participants were not allowed to leave the centre and had to wait for special police vehicles to drive them to safe areas. Simon Simonovic, 29, said: “This is just confirmation that the state cannot deal with the hooligans.” Jelena Veljkovic, 24, criticised the police response. She said: “I’m so afraid that they [hooligans] could attack me on the way or once they [the police] drop me off. I think it would have been more secure if they had let us walk.” Sunday’s march was viewed as a major test for Serbia's government, which has vowed to protect human rights as it hopes to join the European Union. The first pride parade, in June 2001, was brought to a halt after clashes with protestors left several civilians and policemen injured. The second planned pride rally in Belgrade, which was scheduled to take place in September last year, was cancelled after police declared the risk to the marchers’ personal safety was too great following threats from right-wing groups to disrupt the event.
Balkan Insight
Here's a video of the event.
Video posted on You Tube by schranztech
Services face squeeze, says police authority chairman (UK)
The figure was twice the anticipated cost of policing the event and double the amount incurred at a similar rally in Leeds last October.
It means the total cost to the taxpayer for the Bradford event, including £100,000 spent by the Council on work at the Bradford Urban Garden, stands at about £750,000.
But Bradford Council leader Ian Greenwood suggested that the final overall cost of the August protest, which also involved a counter-protest by Unite Against Fascism, would be at least £1 million.
The £650,000 policing figure was revealed by Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison at a West Yorkshire Police Authority meeting in response to a question by authority chairman Mark Burns-Williamson.
Councillor Burns-Williamson told the Telegraph & Argus the EDL cost made a difficult financial situation even harder, following £10m budget cuts this year, and a further £5.2m savings being ordered by the new Government in June.
“It is money we wouldn’t have planned to spend in that way at the beginning of the year," he said.
“Obviously, £650,000 over a weekend is an extremely significant amount of money. We are having to find that out of our budget. We are not getting any extra resources from Government, or anywhere else.”
Coun Burns-Williamson said he and the Chief Constable had written to the Home Secretary about the policing of such events and exploring whether organisers of such protests could be accountable under civil law for providing stewards and a contribution towards the costs.
He said it was “inevitable” there would be fewer officers and police staff.
Coun Greenwood said: “My belief is that when we properly evaluate the cost to both police and the Council, the total will come to over a million pounds.
“The money needed to be spent, but if those people had not come to Bradford we would have deployed the money in a more constructive way and more in-keeping with the long-term needs of the community.”
The Telegraph and Argus
Far-right group causes disruption in Harborough (UK)
Market Harborough was brought to a standstill when supporters of a far-right group held an impromptu march in the town centre.
Police cordoned off the High Street on Saturday after several coaches carrying supporters of the English Defence League to a long-planned march in Leicester stopped without warning in Harborough.The protesters held a demonstration in High Street before getting back on their coaches and heading for Leicester to join the main protest march.
The English Defence League (EDL) is an English far-right single issue group which states its aim is to oppose what it considers as the spread of Islamic extremism in England.
Lutterworth Mail
English Defence League fail to show for Coventry march (UK)
Polic have reported a quiet weekend despite threats from the English Defence League that they were planning to march in Coventry.
On Friday a interview with the far-right group’s leader Tommy Robinson was posted on YouTube.
In it Mr Robinson said that there would need to be 1,000 police officers on the streets of the city to cope with a EDL protest in Coventry.
He also suggested the group would march on Nuneaton.
They planned to escort EDL members to a “protest pen” where a static protest could be carried out.
It was a similar story in Nuneaton, where police dog handlers waited at the train station in anticipation of protests.
Shops and market stalls closed early in anticipation of trouble as word spread that protesters were leaving Leicester.
John James, 47, runs the bag stall at the town’s market. He packed up half an hour early due to the expected protest.
“We’ve packed up early because last time when the Gurkhas marched there was a big fight here.”
Coventry Telegraph
On Friday a interview with the far-right group’s leader Tommy Robinson was posted on YouTube.
In it Mr Robinson said that there would need to be 1,000 police officers on the streets of the city to cope with a EDL protest in Coventry.
He also suggested the group would march on Nuneaton.
They planned to escort EDL members to a “protest pen” where a static protest could be carried out.
It was a similar story in Nuneaton, where police dog handlers waited at the train station in anticipation of protests.
Shops and market stalls closed early in anticipation of trouble as word spread that protesters were leaving Leicester.
John James, 47, runs the bag stall at the town’s market. He packed up half an hour early due to the expected protest.
Coventry Telegraph
Management at Silverton garage denies racism and assault (South Africa)
Management at a Pretoria petrol station have vehemently denied allegations of abuse and racism by a group of employees.
Several Silverton petrol attendants have described to Eyewitness News how their employer Whitey Joubert allegedly abused them over many years.
They say the have had to endure public humiliation and private beatings at the garage for years
“He swears at me in front of customers,” one employee said.
Another said, “He slapped me. I went away and I cried. I didn’t fight him or anything.”
But workers said the alleged punching of a female co-worker last week was the final straw.
“He punched me in front of my colleague,” the alleged victim said.
Joubert denied the allegations but refused to give Eyewitness News a response on the record.
Eye Witness News
Several Silverton petrol attendants have described to Eyewitness News how their employer Whitey Joubert allegedly abused them over many years.
They say the have had to endure public humiliation and private beatings at the garage for years
“He swears at me in front of customers,” one employee said.
Another said, “He slapped me. I went away and I cried. I didn’t fight him or anything.”
But workers said the alleged punching of a female co-worker last week was the final straw.
“He punched me in front of my colleague,” the alleged victim said.
Joubert denied the allegations but refused to give Eyewitness News a response on the record.
Eye Witness News
Oz to take action against 15 more police officers over Indian racism scam (Australia)
After sacking four officers and demoting one, the Australian authorites are all set to take action against 15 more Victorian police officers after a hearing for circulating racist email targeting Indians, in order to avoid a diplomatic row with New Delhi.
Fifteen more Victorian police officers are set to face hearings over racist and pornographic emails, including one at the centre of a diplomatic row showing the electrocution of an Indian man.
On Monday, Victoria Police said another fifteen officers would face hearings this month.
Nine will face hearings this week on Tuesday and Friday and six will face hearings next week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Stuff.co.nz reports.
Victoria Police has continually denounced the emails as being offensive, extreme, violent and intolerable after they were discovered and an investigation launched early this year.
After August hearings into the scandal and heeding to India's demands of strict action against Victorian Police officers involved in curculating a racist email video, the Australian authorities had sacked four officers and demoted one.
Another five Victoria Police officers have been fined up to 3000 dollars and placed on 12 month good behaviour bonds for taking part in the circulation of the unsavoury material.
After a series of attacks on Indian students in Australia, a racist e-mail scandal broke out showing Victoria Police officers joking about a video, which shows an Indian passenger on the roof of a train getting electrocuted as he touches the high-tension wires.
According to the Herald Sun, the police officers have been implicated for circulating a video of an Indian man getting electrocuted while sitting on top of a train and joking that it could be a way to fix Melbourne's Indian student problem. (ANI)
SIFY
Fifteen more Victorian police officers are set to face hearings over racist and pornographic emails, including one at the centre of a diplomatic row showing the electrocution of an Indian man.
On Monday, Victoria Police said another fifteen officers would face hearings this month.
Nine will face hearings this week on Tuesday and Friday and six will face hearings next week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Stuff.co.nz reports.
Victoria Police has continually denounced the emails as being offensive, extreme, violent and intolerable after they were discovered and an investigation launched early this year.
After August hearings into the scandal and heeding to India's demands of strict action against Victorian Police officers involved in curculating a racist email video, the Australian authorities had sacked four officers and demoted one.
Another five Victoria Police officers have been fined up to 3000 dollars and placed on 12 month good behaviour bonds for taking part in the circulation of the unsavoury material.
After a series of attacks on Indian students in Australia, a racist e-mail scandal broke out showing Victoria Police officers joking about a video, which shows an Indian passenger on the roof of a train getting electrocuted as he touches the high-tension wires.
According to the Herald Sun, the police officers have been implicated for circulating a video of an Indian man getting electrocuted while sitting on top of a train and joking that it could be a way to fix Melbourne's Indian student problem. (ANI)
SIFY
Sunday, 10 October 2010
FAR-RIGHT GROUP ELAM MARCH ON PRESIDENTIAL PALACE (Cyprus)
Members of the nationalist organisation National Popular Front (ELAM) marched through the streets of Nicosia yesterday enraged by recent comments made by President Demetris Christofias who called Greece an invading force in Cyprus. About 100 ELAM Members dressed in black t-shirts and holding Greek flags met at the parking lot behind Honda in Nicosia.
There, an individual who appeared to be one of the leaders of ELAM explained to the members that they should not get involved any fights and if things did get out of hand the ELAM “Death Squad” would protect them. The death squad consisted of about 12 well built men who led the march and started the chants in view of a small police presence. After politely enquiring who I was, acquiring my mobile phone number, and going through my phone to be sure I wasn’t taking pictures of them they agreed to let me follow them from a safe distance. At about 7:30pm the men marched towards the presidential palace holding banners which said “Respect the dead Greek soldiers” among the chants they sang were “EOKA come back to the Cypriot mountains” and “Cyprus is Greek.”
Once at “Anthropinon Dikaiomaton” square and opposite the presidential palace, Fotis Papafotis an EOKA and EOKA B stalwart who lost a hand fighting the British addressed the group. “My co-fighters I am crying because I look upon you and think of the struggle we are fighting against the traitors. The English occupation is still here, those that live and have lived in the dungeon opposite us (the presidential palace are responsible for that” Papafotis bellowed “those wretched people are the Sri Lankans of the British”. Papafotis went on to say that Christofias was just a pawn and that Makarios was the one that first called Greece an invading force.
After about an hour the ELAM members marched back and quietly dispersed without causing any trouble.
Cyprus Mail
There, an individual who appeared to be one of the leaders of ELAM explained to the members that they should not get involved any fights and if things did get out of hand the ELAM “Death Squad” would protect them. The death squad consisted of about 12 well built men who led the march and started the chants in view of a small police presence. After politely enquiring who I was, acquiring my mobile phone number, and going through my phone to be sure I wasn’t taking pictures of them they agreed to let me follow them from a safe distance. At about 7:30pm the men marched towards the presidential palace holding banners which said “Respect the dead Greek soldiers” among the chants they sang were “EOKA come back to the Cypriot mountains” and “Cyprus is Greek.”
Once at “Anthropinon Dikaiomaton” square and opposite the presidential palace, Fotis Papafotis an EOKA and EOKA B stalwart who lost a hand fighting the British addressed the group. “My co-fighters I am crying because I look upon you and think of the struggle we are fighting against the traitors. The English occupation is still here, those that live and have lived in the dungeon opposite us (the presidential palace are responsible for that” Papafotis bellowed “those wretched people are the Sri Lankans of the British”. Papafotis went on to say that Christofias was just a pawn and that Makarios was the one that first called Greece an invading force.
After about an hour the ELAM members marched back and quietly dispersed without causing any trouble.
Cyprus Mail
Bronx Gang Beats and Tortures Gay Recruit, 2 Others, Cops Say (usa)
Eight members of a Bronx gang who allegedly beat and tortured a new recruit they thought was gay and two other men in separate attacks early this week have been arrested on numerous charges, including hate crimes, police said.
The alleged attacks came amid heightened attention nationwide to anti-gay bullying after a string of suicides last month were attributed to harassment they had suffered.
The members of the gang, the Latin King Goonies, are being held on charges of burglary, robbery, assault, menacing, unlawful imprisonment and criminal sex acts, which are being added as a hate crime, police said.
One other was also being sought in the incident.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the first of the alleged assaults occurred at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday.
In the first incident, gang members allegedly forced a 17-year-old potential recruit for the street gang to an empty apartment in the Bronx that they used for parties and sex, Kelly said.
ABCNews
The alleged attacks came amid heightened attention nationwide to anti-gay bullying after a string of suicides last month were attributed to harassment they had suffered.
The members of the gang, the Latin King Goonies, are being held on charges of burglary, robbery, assault, menacing, unlawful imprisonment and criminal sex acts, which are being added as a hate crime, police said.
One other was also being sought in the incident.
New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the first of the alleged assaults occurred at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday.
In the first incident, gang members allegedly forced a 17-year-old potential recruit for the street gang to an empty apartment in the Bronx that they used for parties and sex, Kelly said.
ABCNews
English Defence League is a bigger threat than the BNP (UK)
By Jon Cruddas is the Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham
A thousand English Defence League supporters protested in Leicester yesterday, the latest in a wave of anti-Muslim activity across the country.
Last week, 40 EDL followers protested for three days outside a KFC restaurant in Blackburn which was trialling halal meat. A fortnight before, 30 EDL followers in Gateshead held an impromptu demonstration outside a police station after six of their friends were arrested for burning the Qur'an; a similar number attacked a leftwing meeting in Newcastle. On the anniversary of 9/11, there were EDL actions in London, Nuneaton, Leeds and Oldham.
The EDL is a much bigger threat than the BNP, consumed by infighting and debt since its crushing defeat in May's local elections. It also poses the biggest danger to community cohesion in Britain today. Its provocative marches, "flash demos" and pickets are designed to whip up divisions between communities and provoke a violent reaction from young British Muslims.
The group has regional organisers and units emerging in most towns and cities. They bring together a dangerous cocktail of football hooligans, far-right activists and pub racists. Yet there is no national strategy to deal with this group and little understanding of what the EDL is about, its appeal and how it is just one component, albeit a violent one, of a growing cultural, religious and political battle that is emerging across western Europe and is supported by rightwing religious groups in the US.
For those taking to the streets of Leicester, the EDL is providing a new white nationalist identity through which they can understand an increasingly complex and alienating world. In a similar way to how football hooligans once coalesced around support for Ulster loyalism and hatred of the IRA, the followers of the EDL genuinely believe they are "defending" their Britain against the threat of Islam. What makes the EDL much more dangerous is how it reflects a wider political and cultural war. Across western Europe rightwing populist parties are achieving huge electoral success on the same anti-Islam platform. This is being mirrored by the emergence of the Tea Party movement in the US and a religious right that is pouring money into western Europe to fight secular liberalism, which they blame for allowing Islam in through the back door.
There is now increasing chatter among many on the right, including Alan Lake, who is giving guidance to the EDL, of the need to establish a UK version of the Tea Party, which could occupy the space between the Conservatives and the BNP. Only last month a £200-a-head event in London was addressed by some of the organisations backing the Tea Party.
The threat of the EDL and the wider cultural war must be taken seriously. That is why we will soon be establishing a broad-based group to formulate a response. The right has become very organised; it is time for those of us who believe in a decent progressive society to do the same.
The Guardian
A thousand English Defence League supporters protested in Leicester yesterday, the latest in a wave of anti-Muslim activity across the country.
Last week, 40 EDL followers protested for three days outside a KFC restaurant in Blackburn which was trialling halal meat. A fortnight before, 30 EDL followers in Gateshead held an impromptu demonstration outside a police station after six of their friends were arrested for burning the Qur'an; a similar number attacked a leftwing meeting in Newcastle. On the anniversary of 9/11, there were EDL actions in London, Nuneaton, Leeds and Oldham.
The EDL is a much bigger threat than the BNP, consumed by infighting and debt since its crushing defeat in May's local elections. It also poses the biggest danger to community cohesion in Britain today. Its provocative marches, "flash demos" and pickets are designed to whip up divisions between communities and provoke a violent reaction from young British Muslims.
The group has regional organisers and units emerging in most towns and cities. They bring together a dangerous cocktail of football hooligans, far-right activists and pub racists. Yet there is no national strategy to deal with this group and little understanding of what the EDL is about, its appeal and how it is just one component, albeit a violent one, of a growing cultural, religious and political battle that is emerging across western Europe and is supported by rightwing religious groups in the US.
For those taking to the streets of Leicester, the EDL is providing a new white nationalist identity through which they can understand an increasingly complex and alienating world. In a similar way to how football hooligans once coalesced around support for Ulster loyalism and hatred of the IRA, the followers of the EDL genuinely believe they are "defending" their Britain against the threat of Islam. What makes the EDL much more dangerous is how it reflects a wider political and cultural war. Across western Europe rightwing populist parties are achieving huge electoral success on the same anti-Islam platform. This is being mirrored by the emergence of the Tea Party movement in the US and a religious right that is pouring money into western Europe to fight secular liberalism, which they blame for allowing Islam in through the back door.
There is now increasing chatter among many on the right, including Alan Lake, who is giving guidance to the EDL, of the need to establish a UK version of the Tea Party, which could occupy the space between the Conservatives and the BNP. Only last month a £200-a-head event in London was addressed by some of the organisations backing the Tea Party.
The threat of the EDL and the wider cultural war must be taken seriously. That is why we will soon be establishing a broad-based group to formulate a response. The right has become very organised; it is time for those of us who believe in a decent progressive society to do the same.
The Guardian
English Defence League forges links with America's Tea Party
The English Defence League, a far-right grouping aimed at combating the "Islamification" of British cities, has developed strong links with the American Tea Party movement.
An Observer investigation has established that the EDL has made contact with anti-jihad groups within the Tea Party organisation and has invited a senior US rabbi and Tea Party activist to London this month. Rabbi Nachum Shifren, a regular speaker at Tea Party conventions, will speak about Sharia law and also discuss funding issues.
The league has also developed links with Pamela Geller, who was influential in the protests against plans to build an Islamic cultural centre near Ground Zero. Geller, darling of the Tea Party's growing anti-Islamic wing, is advocating an alliance with the EDL. The executive director of the Stop Islamisation of America organisation, she recently met EDL leaders in New York and has defended the group's actions, despite a recent violent march in Bradford.
Geller, who denies being anti-Muslim, said in one of her blogs: "I share the EDL's goals… We need to encourage rational, reasonable groups that oppose the Islamisation of the west."
Devin Burghart, vice-president of the Kansas-based Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, said: "Geller is acting as the bridge between the EDL and the Tea Party. She plays an important role in bringing Islamophobia into the Tea Party. Her stature has increased substantially inside the Tea Party ranks after the Ground Zero mosque controversy. She has gained a lot of credibility with that stuff."
Details of the EDL's broadening aspirations came as about 1,000 supporters yesterday gathered to demonstrate in Leicester, which has a significant Muslim population. Home secretary Theresa May banned marches in the city last week but the EDL said its protest would proceed, raising fears of violence. Parts of Leicester were cordoned off to separate a counter-protest from Unite Against Fascism. Officers from 13 forces were on hand to maintain order.
The Tea Party is expected to be an influential force in America's mid-term elections. Last month their candidate Christine O'Donnell romped to the Republican nomination in Delaware, following a stream of populist rightwing candidates who carry the movement's endorsement. Burghart says anti-Islamic tendencies have become far more marked in the grassroots organisation: "As we move farther and farther away from the Tea Party origins, that were ostensibly around debt and bail-outs, social issues like Islamophobia are replacing that anger, that vigour. The idea that there is a war between Islam and the west is becoming commonplace."
Another Tea Party-associated grouping, the International Civil Liberties Alliance, which campaigns against Sharia law, confirmed that EDL leaders have made "contacts with members of important organisations within the American counter-jihad movement". A statement said: "It seems now that America and Europe are acting as one, and united we can never fail."
With the Tea Party said to benefit from millions of dollars of funding from conservative foundations, experts warn an alliance between the EDL and extremist elements within the US movement could allow the English group to invest in wider recruitment and activism.
Shifren, a Californian senate candidate, said Britain's Jewish community should rally behind the EDL: "The Jewish community is paralysed with fear, exactly what most radical Muslim agitators want. The people of England are in the forefront of this war – and it is a war. One of the purposes of this visit is to put the kibosh on the notion in the Jewish community that they cannot co-operate with the EDL, which is rubbish."
The EDL's website relaunched briefly last week with new US links. Currently shut down for "maintenance", the site featured prominent links to a site called Atlas Shrugs, which is run by Geller, and another US-based site, Jihad Watch, which compiles negative news coverage of Islamic militancy.
In addition, two members of the EDL leadership, a British businessman called Alan Lake who is believed to fund the group and a man known by the alias Kinana, are regular contributors to web forum 4Freedoms. The forum claims to be "organising US activities" and has links to the anti-jihad group, American Congress for Truth, which in turn has supporters within the Tea Party.
Lake is also believed to have been in touch with a number of anti-Islamic Christian evangelical groups in the US. One posting by Lake on 4Freedoms warns that the UK of the future will start to fragment into Islamic enclaves. Lake, believed to be a principal bankroller of the EDL, which claims to be a peaceful, non-racist organisation, is understood to be keen on the possibility of setting up the UK equivalent of the Tea Party. At an event organised by the Taxpayers' Allliance last month, US Tea Party organisers outlined how the movement emerged last year, partly in protest at the US bank bail-out.
Those present included Freedom Works and the Cato Institute, one of the Tea Party's main backers. However, Simon Richards, director of the Gloucestershire-based Freedom Association, which is looking at developing a pseudo-Tea Party movement in the UK, said he was concerned the project could be hijacked by elements such as the EDL. Nick Lowles of anti-fascist organisation Searchlight said: "The EDL is an integral part of an international campaign against Islam. While some are fighting in a cultural and political arena, the EDL are taking it to the streets. The images of the EDL allegedly taking on Muslim fundamentalists on the streets of Britain is also delighting right wing religious organisations in US."
the Guardian
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Man Blames Fires on Arsonist Targeting Neo-Nazi Bill White (USA)
Some believe imprisoned neo-Nazi leader Bill White may be the common denominator.
Investigators are working the case to find out if a connection is legitimate.
Dallas Powell spends his days buying, rehabbing then renting out properties but has never had as much trouble as he has since he bought this home on Patterson Avenue.
"I knew that he owned it before, but honestly I didn't think anything would happen," said Powell.
It is one of many homes that used to be owned by neo-Nazi Bill White, who is serving a stretch in prison for various hate crimes.
In September, arsonists tried to burn the house down to no avail. Three weeks later there was another fire. This time it was upstairs.
Still under investigation, Powell says it can't be anything else but arson.
"At that point in time I was pretty confident they were going after Bill White," Powell said.
In between it all, a home still owned by White, also caught on fire, although that has been ruled electrical.
"There's no indication, at all, that the two fires at 832 Patterson Avenue are any way related to Bill White,"
said Allen Williams, with the Roanoke Police Department.
Something Powell doesn't buy.
"They told me that there's quite a possibility they are connected," he says.
Taking no chances, Powell has put up signs and called the press, begging whoever may be responsible to stop.
"There might be a little humor in the signs but the reality is that I need to notify this arsonist that Bill White does not own this house, so please leave me alone," said Powell.
Officials are still investigating these fires, and say a connection has not been completely ruled out.
WSet
Neo-Nazi caught coaching youth football despite club ban (Germany)
Right-wing extremist Lutz Battke has been recently photographed at football practice in Laucha by broadcaster MDR, despite being suspended from his post in late August.
His football club, BSC 99 Laucha, gave in to massive pressure in August, banning him after months of conflict with the state sporting association (LSB) and the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), who objected to Battke’s membership in the far-right party.
The 52-year-old, who sports an Adolf Hitler-style moustache and a mullet, sits on the local county and city councils for the NPD. He is also planning to run for state parliament next year, MDR reported. Both the LSB and the DOSB found that his political affiliation him unfit to lead a children’s sports team.
But both Battke and BSC 99 Laucha appear to be defying the sporting authorities.
“This is insufferable news, which goes without saying,” president of the LSB Andreas Silbersack told MDR when shown the photographs. “Obviously some people use this position as a platform and use sports for a purpose they are not meant for.”
The LSB will pursue measures to have Battke permanently removed from the club, Silbersack said.
In a separate interview with news magazine Der Spiegel Silbersack said the entire football club could be dissolved for its failure to comply with the ban, calling the situation a “provocation.”
The LSB recently revised its rules to allow for a heavier hand against political extremism within sporting clubs, the magazine added.
But residents in the town of 3,000 who spoke with Der Spiegel seemed more upset about the “aggressive media interest” in their community than the possible far-right indoctrination of their children.
The NPD is deeply entrenched there, garnering 13.5 percent of the vote in the last community election – more than anywhere else in the state, the magazine said.
Battke, who is a master chimney sweep, is no stranger to headlines, though. In April 2008, state authorities stripped him of his position, which is akin to that of a civil servant. But he won a court appeal that July and was allowed to return to his post.
The Local Germany
Sarkozy meets Pope after Roma row (France/Italy)
President Nicolas Sarkozy met Pope Benedict XVI yesterday in a visit aimed at smoothing relations with Catholic leaders who have been critical of France’s expulsion of Roma migrants.
Mr Sarkozy appeared tense before his audience with the pontiff but was more relaxed after their talk, which lasted about 30 minutes and focused on international issues.
The visit, organised at the President’s request, follows strong criticism of the French government by Catholic bishops over the clearance in August of several illegal Roma camps and the forced repatriation of hundreds of Roma migrants. In August, the Pope made an apparent reference to the crackdown during a sermon in which he switched into French to make a call to “accept human diversity”.
After the meeting, Mr Sarkozy made a brief visit to St Peter’s Basilica and the chapel of St Petronilla, an early Christian martyr traditionally revered by the Church in France, where Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran said a “prayer for France”.
No public mention was made of the controversy surrounding the Roma issue but Cardinal Tauran’s prayer included an appeal “for the welcome of the persecuted and immigrants”. It was the first time a French president had participated at such a ceremony since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958. France’s secular constitution and strict separation of church and state generally make her leaders wary of overt religious displays.
Jury in Shenandoah hate crime case hears racist music (USA)
Derrick Donchak, one of two men charged with federal hate crimes in the beating death of an illegal Mexican immigrant, often wore a "Border Patrol" T-shirt and listened to "racist music" when he drove around Shenandoah, one of his high school friends testified Friday in federal court in Scranton.
As federal prosecutors continued to lay out evidence racial hate was behind the murder of Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala, they played the song, "The White Man Marches On" whose lyrics glorify violence against minorities. It was a song Donchak apparently knew well.
"He'd sing along with it," said Colin Walsh, 19. "He really didn't like Hispanics."
Walsh was with Donchak, Brandon Piekarsky and a group of other young men when Ramirez was fatally beaten and kicked on a street in Shenandoah on July 12, 2008. He has admitted he punched Ramirez in the head, sending him to the pavement, where he smacked the back of his head.
While Ramirez was on the ground, motionless, Walsh said, "I saw Brandon kick him in the side of the head."
Dr. Isidore Mihalakis, a forensic pathologist, said Ramirez died from blunt force trauma to head. He said Ramirez's skull was fractured in two injuries, one to the back of the head when he hit the ground, the other from a kick to the head. Mihalakis said he believed the combined effects of both injuries caused the death, though he later said either one alone was serious enough to have killed Ramirez.
Walsh said after the beating Piekarsky told him that "he kicked the guy so hard his shoes flew off."
Ariell Garcia, another witness at the scene who saw Ramirez lying on the ground, began to cry when she was asked about the kick to the head.
"It was like a muffled crack," she said.
Her husband, Victor Garcia, said Ramirez had called him on a cellphone that night, saying, "I'm getting beat up. Come back." About 20 minutes earlier, Garcia said he had dropped Ramirez and his girlfriend off at a nearby park.
In the background, Garcia said he heard voices yelling, "Mexican, spic." Garcia said he tried to break up the fight when he got back to the park until someone threw a punch at him.
"People were still trying to kick him, stomp him," Garcia said. He said he saw Ramirez get kicked in the head and watched the group of young men run away. He tried to "wake up" Ramirez who had foam coming out of his mouth.
When police began arriving on the scene, Garcia said he told them which way they had run. He said the police told him to "take everything out of your pockets."
"But they never went after the kids," Garcia said.
There was other testimony about steps the police did take after in the days after the fatal beating.
Julia Mickalowski, the mother of Brian Scully, one of the young men at the scene that night, said she received a phone call from Lt. William Moyer, telling her that if her son had gray blue sneakers to "get rid of them."
The small-town nature of Shenandoah has surfaced in other testimony involving Piekarsky's mother, who was a friend of then-Police Chief Matthew Nestor and was dating one of the officers, Patrolman Jason Hayes.
Hayes, who is no longer a police officer, stopped Donchak and Piekarsky while they were running from the scene that night. Nestor, Hayes and former Lt. William Moyer are scheduled to stand trial in January in federal court for their roles in the alleged cover-up.
After the beating, Walsh said Piekarsky joked to his friends about getting a Hispanic name tattooed on their bodies while hatching a story they would tell the police, one that would exclude any references to racial slurs being uttered that night or kicking him.
Walsh recalled a visit he had received from then Moyer at his house. He said Moyer, "asked if I talked with my friends."
"You know what I mean?" the officer said before leaving, adding, "Good luck, buddy," Walsh testified.
Defense attorney James A. Swetz, representing Piekarsky, quizzed Walsh on the plea agreement he signed in the federal case against him. Walsh said he had been told he could receive a nine-year prison sentence but hopes to receive only four years. Prosecutors have offered to seek a reduced sentence in exchange for his cooperation against Donchak and Piekarsky.
Though he has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime, Walsh said he does not believe what he did that night was motivated by racial hate on his part. He said he believes racial hate was behind the beating inflicted on Ramirez by Donchak and Piekarsky
The trial resumes Tuesday morning. The courthouse is closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday.
Citizens Voice
As federal prosecutors continued to lay out evidence racial hate was behind the murder of Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala, they played the song, "The White Man Marches On" whose lyrics glorify violence against minorities. It was a song Donchak apparently knew well.
"He'd sing along with it," said Colin Walsh, 19. "He really didn't like Hispanics."
Walsh was with Donchak, Brandon Piekarsky and a group of other young men when Ramirez was fatally beaten and kicked on a street in Shenandoah on July 12, 2008. He has admitted he punched Ramirez in the head, sending him to the pavement, where he smacked the back of his head.
While Ramirez was on the ground, motionless, Walsh said, "I saw Brandon kick him in the side of the head."
Dr. Isidore Mihalakis, a forensic pathologist, said Ramirez died from blunt force trauma to head. He said Ramirez's skull was fractured in two injuries, one to the back of the head when he hit the ground, the other from a kick to the head. Mihalakis said he believed the combined effects of both injuries caused the death, though he later said either one alone was serious enough to have killed Ramirez.
Walsh said after the beating Piekarsky told him that "he kicked the guy so hard his shoes flew off."
Ariell Garcia, another witness at the scene who saw Ramirez lying on the ground, began to cry when she was asked about the kick to the head.
"It was like a muffled crack," she said.
Her husband, Victor Garcia, said Ramirez had called him on a cellphone that night, saying, "I'm getting beat up. Come back." About 20 minutes earlier, Garcia said he had dropped Ramirez and his girlfriend off at a nearby park.
In the background, Garcia said he heard voices yelling, "Mexican, spic." Garcia said he tried to break up the fight when he got back to the park until someone threw a punch at him.
"People were still trying to kick him, stomp him," Garcia said. He said he saw Ramirez get kicked in the head and watched the group of young men run away. He tried to "wake up" Ramirez who had foam coming out of his mouth.
When police began arriving on the scene, Garcia said he told them which way they had run. He said the police told him to "take everything out of your pockets."
"But they never went after the kids," Garcia said.
There was other testimony about steps the police did take after in the days after the fatal beating.
Julia Mickalowski, the mother of Brian Scully, one of the young men at the scene that night, said she received a phone call from Lt. William Moyer, telling her that if her son had gray blue sneakers to "get rid of them."
The small-town nature of Shenandoah has surfaced in other testimony involving Piekarsky's mother, who was a friend of then-Police Chief Matthew Nestor and was dating one of the officers, Patrolman Jason Hayes.
Hayes, who is no longer a police officer, stopped Donchak and Piekarsky while they were running from the scene that night. Nestor, Hayes and former Lt. William Moyer are scheduled to stand trial in January in federal court for their roles in the alleged cover-up.
After the beating, Walsh said Piekarsky joked to his friends about getting a Hispanic name tattooed on their bodies while hatching a story they would tell the police, one that would exclude any references to racial slurs being uttered that night or kicking him.
Walsh recalled a visit he had received from then Moyer at his house. He said Moyer, "asked if I talked with my friends."
"You know what I mean?" the officer said before leaving, adding, "Good luck, buddy," Walsh testified.
Defense attorney James A. Swetz, representing Piekarsky, quizzed Walsh on the plea agreement he signed in the federal case against him. Walsh said he had been told he could receive a nine-year prison sentence but hopes to receive only four years. Prosecutors have offered to seek a reduced sentence in exchange for his cooperation against Donchak and Piekarsky.
Though he has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime, Walsh said he does not believe what he did that night was motivated by racial hate on his part. He said he believes racial hate was behind the beating inflicted on Ramirez by Donchak and Piekarsky
The trial resumes Tuesday morning. The courthouse is closed Monday for the Columbus Day holiday.
Citizens Voice
'Defence leagues' plan Amsterdam show of support for Geert Wilders (UK)
• English Defence League to defy Leicester march ban
Far right groups modelled on the English Defence League have been set up across Europe and are planning to demonstrate in Amsterdam in support of the Dutch politician Geert Wilders.
French and Dutch "defence leagues" will join the EDL and several other anti-Islamic organisations on 30 October to coincide with the end of Wilders's trial for hate speech and inciting racism.
About 2,000 EDL supporters are expected to demonstrate in Leicester tomorrow. Home secretary Theresa May banned marches in the city this week but the EDL said its protest would go ahead, raising fears of unrest.
The EDL, formed in Luton last year, has become the most significant far-right street movement in the UK since the National Front. It claims to be a peaceful, non-racist organisation protesting against "militant Islam". Many of its demonstrations have descended into violence and Islamophobic and racist chanting, attracting known football hooligans and far right extremists. At its most recent demonstration in Bradford, in August, 1,600 police officers tried to contain EDL supporters as bricks, bottles and smoke bombs were thrown. There were 13 arrests.
Critics say the demonstration in Amsterdam is a sign of the EDL's growing influence among far right and anti-Islamic groups in Europe and the US, and part of its self-proclaimed "international outreach work and networking".
The EDL refused to answer the Guardian's questions today but its leader, who uses the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, wrote on the group's website that the Amsterdam demonstration would "take the English Defence League global".
"The EDL has been in contact with our European brothers and sisters and we have decided that on Saturday 30th October the European defence league will be demonstrating in Amsterdam in support of Geert," Robinson wrote. "We hope that all of you will be able to join us for this, what promises to be a landmark demonstration for the future of the defence leagues."
The Amsterdam protest will see EDL supporters join other activists from countries including Germany, Belgium and Switzerland for the launch of what is being called the "European Defence League".
One group planning to attend is the French Defence League, or Ligue de Defense Française. It was formed in July and one of its co-founders confirmed it was modelled on the EDL. "We were indeed inspired by their [EDL's] statutes and by the spirit of openness which enlivens them," a spokesman wrote in an email to the Guardian.
Like the EDL, the French group denies it is racist or violent and says it aims to fight the "threat" Islam poses to France's values and customs. "We who wish to keep our values and our liberties must unite and fight those who are willing to sell the nation and our country for a politician's sash," the spokesman said.
The growth of the EDL and similar groups is of growing concern, says the Labour MEP for London, Claude Moraes, who chairs the all-party European parliament group on anti-racism.
"The EDL's racist and Islamophobic message is resonating across Europe as we can see from the formation of these groups," he said. "This is particularly dangerous because they are using this virulent Islamophobia as an excuse to promote what is a dangerous agenda of hate and division."
The European connections are part of a number of international links forged by the EDL in the past year. In August it emerged that the EDL had received endorsements from Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, opponents of a Muslim community centre being built near the site of the 9/11 attacks in New York. In one of her blogs Geller wrote: "I share the EDL's goals ... We need to encourage rational, reasonable groups that oppose the Islamisation of the west and not leave it solely to fringe groups like the BNP."
Last month Robinson and at least seven other EDL supporters flew to New York to attenda protest against the community centre near "ground zero".
In April EDL supporters attended a demonstration in support of Wilders in Berlin, and in June EDL delegates spoke at a "counter-jihad" conference organised by the International Civil Liberties Alliance in Zurich, where they gave a presentation entitled The Anatomy of an EDL Demo.
Nick Lowles of anti-fascist organisation Searchlight said: "The EDL is operating on two levels. There are the violent street demonstrations that have brought fear and division to towns and cities across the country, then there is the political wing of the organisation that is partly inspired by Christian fundamentalism and is making links and inspiring other groups in Europe and elsewhere."
The Guardian
Roads cordoned off ahead of Leicester EDL protest (UK)
Part of Leicester is being cordoned off ahead of two protests expected to take place in the city centre.
The English Defence League (EDL) is due to hold a demonstration and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) will stage a counter-protest.
Several roads around the eastern part of the city will be closed from 0900 until 1800 BST.
The groups are banned from marching but will be escorted to hold static protests in Humberstone Gate East.
Peace events
Officers from 13 forces will be on hand to maintain order. It is expected to be the largest police operation in Leicester for several decades.
Some bus routes will also be disrupted, so temporary stops have been set up in Belgrave Gate and Abbey Street.
A map showing details of road closures and other public information is available on the council's website.
A series of "green-themed peace events", including a performance by musician Billy Bragg, were held in Leicester on Friday and more are expected to take place on Sunday.
Some street lights will glow green, and the city council has urged people to wear green ribbons and attend the peace events as an alternative to taking part in any demonstrations.
BBC News
The English Defence League (EDL) is due to hold a demonstration and Unite Against Fascism (UAF) will stage a counter-protest.
Several roads around the eastern part of the city will be closed from 0900 until 1800 BST.
The groups are banned from marching but will be escorted to hold static protests in Humberstone Gate East.
Peace events
Officers from 13 forces will be on hand to maintain order. It is expected to be the largest police operation in Leicester for several decades.
Some bus routes will also be disrupted, so temporary stops have been set up in Belgrave Gate and Abbey Street.
A map showing details of road closures and other public information is available on the council's website.
A series of "green-themed peace events", including a performance by musician Billy Bragg, were held in Leicester on Friday and more are expected to take place on Sunday.
Some street lights will glow green, and the city council has urged people to wear green ribbons and attend the peace events as an alternative to taking part in any demonstrations.
BBC News
FAR-RIGHT BELGIAN COULD FACE MASSIVE FINE FOR MECCA SLUR
A far-right Belgian leader who posted names and addresses of 770 residents on the web in a bid to prove "Islamisation" was at work in the city of Antwerp could face a 500,000-euro fine for racism. Filip Dewinter, leader of Vlaams Belang (which means Flemish Interest), said on his website that the official registry of residents of an Antwerp suburb "includes only 21 Flemish names". "All the other names are African or North African. This mind-boggling list symbolises the Islamisation of entire districts of Antwerp and elsewhere," he said. Dewinter, who has a seat in the regional parliament of Flanders, dubbed the district in question "Mecca-on-Escaut", the latter being the river that runs through the northern city. His party, unlike an increasing popular sister movement in neighbouring The Netherlands, is on the decline, sliding from 24 percent of the regional vote in 2004 to 12.6 percent in June this year on an anti-immigrant and separatist platform. A commission for the protection of privacy filed a complaint Thursday against him before the Antwerp prosecutor's office, alleging violation of a 1992 law banning the publication of private information "based on racial or ethnic origin". A commission official, Emmanuel Vincart, told AFP that if the prosecutor pressed charges under article six of the country's privacy legislation, the politician could be fined up to half a million euros. Dewinter responded by saying he would keep the list to first names only. "But the political analysis remains unchanged," he said, according to the domestic Belga news agency. "Barely three percent of the names on the list are ethnic Flemish."
AFP
AFP
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)