The specter of racism has returned to Australian politics with former One Nation MP Pauline Hanson announcing her intention to run for the NSW upper house.
The former One Nation leader is attempting a political comeback, standing as an independent in the run up to the March 26 election.
The controversial Hanson launched her surprise bid for the NSW seat Tuesday night, with the nomination accepted by the NSW Electoral Commission.
Running as part of a group of 16 independents, the divisive Ms Hanson last stood for election to the NSW Parliament in 2003 where her anti-immigration rhetoric and arch-conservative policies angered ethnic communities and failed to gain traction.
Speaking to Xinhua from his office in NSW parliament, NSW Greens MP Ian Cohen said on Wednesday the former One Nation Party leader's return into the national eye was a serious step backwards in Australia's fight against racism.
"Pauline Hanson's election will be a huge threat to our multi- cultural community. It appears there will be a grand conservative coalition in the upper house of parliament which will change the political culture in NSW to a very worrying degree."
News of Hanson's candidacy casts a long conservative shadow over the nations most populous state where a labor government is almost certainly coming to the end of a 16 year run in office.
Fears are growing that a large Liberal-National party Coalition victory could deliver a working majority in the Legislative Council with the support of Christian and Shooters and Fishers party MPs.
Labor says a decision by the Greens not to preference Labor has increased the likelihood of a conservative controlled upper house.
Embattled NSW Premier Kristina Keneally was quick to condemn Hanson's candidacy.
"We absolutely condemn the sorts of racist and discriminatory policies which come from Ms Hanson and parties like One Nation," Keneally said.
The NSW Liberal Party has also said it would offer no preferences to Hanson.
But Hanson shot back on local radio: "I'm not racist."
"I have ... as an Australian ... a right to question immigration and multiculturalism, which I don't believe is helping our country. I don't think there's anything wrong with that," she added.
The right-wing One Nation Party's populist and xenophobic slogans include anti-immigration policies, anti-globalization, demands for renewed tariff protection and bitter attacks on the establishment, governments and politicians while seeking to appeal to "ordinary Australians".
Ian Cohen fears the tone of debate that Hanson's return will engender.
"It will have a massive impact on social issues in this country.. I'm extremely worried," he said.
People Daily
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Suspect arrested in case of bomb at MLK day parade (USA)
A federal law enforcement official says a man has been arrested in the case of a bomb placed at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane in January.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that federal agents arrested the man Wednesday and are preparing to search a location tied to the man.
The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case ahead of an official announcement planned later in the day.
KHQ-TV of Spokane reported that federal and local law enforcement officers had surrounded a home near Colville, Wash., about 80 miles northwest of Spokane. Two T-shirts found inside the bomb were tied to that rural area.
Additional details were not immediately available.
The FBI has said nothing about possible suspects, but public opinion from the beginning focused on some of the white supremacist groups that have brought notoriety to the region in the past three decades. The area once served as headquarters for Richard Butler's Aryan Nations, whose members were lured by the small number of minorities.
Officials for the FBI in Spokane, which is leading the search, declined to comment on the developments Wednesday.
The bomb was found inside a backpack by city workers before the parade started on Jan. 17. The parade was rerouted and the bomb was defused without incident.
Officials for the FBI described the bomb as sophisticated and designed to produce mass casualties.
The bomb was sent to an FBI lab in Quantico, Va., and the agency offered a $20,000 reward for information from the public.
The two T-shirts found with the bomb were tied to Stevens County. One of the shirts was distributed last year at the "Relay for Life" race in Colville. The second shirt — which had the words "Treasure Island Spring 2009" on the front — was from a local theater production in 2009 in the town of Chewelah.
Associated Press
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that federal agents arrested the man Wednesday and are preparing to search a location tied to the man.
The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case ahead of an official announcement planned later in the day.
KHQ-TV of Spokane reported that federal and local law enforcement officers had surrounded a home near Colville, Wash., about 80 miles northwest of Spokane. Two T-shirts found inside the bomb were tied to that rural area.
Additional details were not immediately available.
The FBI has said nothing about possible suspects, but public opinion from the beginning focused on some of the white supremacist groups that have brought notoriety to the region in the past three decades. The area once served as headquarters for Richard Butler's Aryan Nations, whose members were lured by the small number of minorities.
Officials for the FBI in Spokane, which is leading the search, declined to comment on the developments Wednesday.
The bomb was found inside a backpack by city workers before the parade started on Jan. 17. The parade was rerouted and the bomb was defused without incident.
Officials for the FBI described the bomb as sophisticated and designed to produce mass casualties.
The bomb was sent to an FBI lab in Quantico, Va., and the agency offered a $20,000 reward for information from the public.
The two T-shirts found with the bomb were tied to Stevens County. One of the shirts was distributed last year at the "Relay for Life" race in Colville. The second shirt — which had the words "Treasure Island Spring 2009" on the front — was from a local theater production in 2009 in the town of Chewelah.
Associated Press
JEWISH RADIO CANCELS FRENCH FAR-RIGHT INTERVIEW (France)
A Jewish radio station Wednesday cancelled an interview with French far-right leader Marine Le Pen after complaints by Jewish groups that her party was anti-Semitic. Radio J had justified inviting her to come on air Sunday on the grounds that polls appear to show her anti-immigrant National Front has moved beyond marginal status and she could win a first-round presidential vote. But its top political editor Frederic Haziza told AFP on Wednesday that the station had cancelled the interview since it was "impossible to ensure that it would take place in good conditions." It would have been a first for Radio J, which always declined to interview Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine's father and predecessor as leader of the Front, because of his public comments about Jews that caused outrage. Among complaints from several groups, the Jewish students' union UEJF said the radio invitation was "dangerous and inappropriate," branding the National Front "structurally anti-Semitic and racist." The interview "could give rise to a kind of complacency among the Jewish community and its institutions concerning Marine Le Pen and risks giving her even more exposure," the group said. The deputy leader of the Front, Louis Aliot, said the party planned to sue the UEJF and the anti-Semitism watchdog BNCVA for defamation based on their complaints.
AFP
AFP
Racism conviction for neo-Nazis (Belgium )
A court in the western town of Veurne has convicted three members of the extreme right wing Blood & Honour organisation on charges connected with the staging of several neo-Nazi concerts.
This is the first time that members of Blood & Honour have been convicted on the basis on anti-racism legislation.
One of the concerts took place during a ceremony honouring the Nazi's paramilitary organisation, the SS.
One of the concerts was also covertly filmed by VRT News.
One of those convicted also attended a memorial concert in honour of Ian Stuart Donaldson, the English founder of Blood & Honour.
The court ruled that it was established that the three defendants were involved in the organisation of a neo-Nazi ceremony of remembrance and that during the concerts inflammatory and racist language was openly used.
Two of the three defendants received a three month suspended gaol sentence. Given his record the third will have to serve his three month custodial sentence.
Belgium's anti-racism centre CGKR is upbeat. Jozef De Witte (photo): "We're pleased that there is a conviction. It's an important precedent. At last a court has acted and taken account of the spirit of the law."
Flanders News
This is the first time that members of Blood & Honour have been convicted on the basis on anti-racism legislation.
One of the concerts took place during a ceremony honouring the Nazi's paramilitary organisation, the SS.
One of the concerts was also covertly filmed by VRT News.
One of those convicted also attended a memorial concert in honour of Ian Stuart Donaldson, the English founder of Blood & Honour.
The court ruled that it was established that the three defendants were involved in the organisation of a neo-Nazi ceremony of remembrance and that during the concerts inflammatory and racist language was openly used.
Two of the three defendants received a three month suspended gaol sentence. Given his record the third will have to serve his three month custodial sentence.
Belgium's anti-racism centre CGKR is upbeat. Jozef De Witte (photo): "We're pleased that there is a conviction. It's an important precedent. At last a court has acted and taken account of the spirit of the law."
Flanders News
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Nationalist party stages "pro-Hungarian" demo (Hungary)
Some 1,000 supporters of the radical nationalist Jobbik party staged a demonstration in Gyongyospata, a small town in northern Hungary, on Sunday, saying that crime had increased in the area.
Jobbik leader Gabor Vona insisted that the protest was not "anti-Gypsy" but "pro-Hungarian".
"We want peace and calm," he added.
Vona said that the government and the national police had failed to ensure public order since the general elections last April, and called on Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Interior Minister Sandor Pinter and police leaders to resign.
Deputy leader of Jobbik Tamas Sneider said his party was against crime in general, but "ethnic crime" was especially unacceptable. He suggested that criminals consituted "ethnically homogeneous groups", which he said could trigger unrest and (anti-Roma) pogroms in the country.
Some 200 police officers were present to secure the demonstration, an unnamed source from the site told MTI.
Polotics.Hu
Jobbik leader Gabor Vona insisted that the protest was not "anti-Gypsy" but "pro-Hungarian".
"We want peace and calm," he added.
Vona said that the government and the national police had failed to ensure public order since the general elections last April, and called on Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Interior Minister Sandor Pinter and police leaders to resign.
Deputy leader of Jobbik Tamas Sneider said his party was against crime in general, but "ethnic crime" was especially unacceptable. He suggested that criminals consituted "ethnically homogeneous groups", which he said could trigger unrest and (anti-Roma) pogroms in the country.
Some 200 police officers were present to secure the demonstration, an unnamed source from the site told MTI.
Polotics.Hu
BILL ON PENALIZING GENOCIDE DENIAL: HANDLING IN DUTCH PARLIAMENT RESUMED
The replies of Christian Union faction, published in a document of 23 pages, to the questions of various factions in the Dutch parliament take the bill to penalise public and deliberate denial of genocide, one step further. The bill which was introduced in 2006 by the Christian Union faction in Dutch parliament (The Dutch House of Representatives), could so far not count on a majority support. This was evident from many critical questions of the factions in the parliament during the written preparation. One of the issues raised was whether such a bill is necessary, assuming that the articles on discrimination and insulting of a group already present in Dutch Penal Law sufficiently cover the criminalisation of genocide denial. Also restrictions on freedom of expression in present Dutch public debate are weighing seriously. There are also many questions about the scope and definition of the term genocide.
The Christian Union party has recently held a roundtable discussion in which several groups have commented on the bill and some like the Centre for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI) and the Federation of Armenian Organisations in the Netherlands (FAON) have brought forward arguments to move to the explicit criminalisation of genocide denial. The Christian Union faction, as the author of the bill, has in a memorandum of reply among others emphasised the need for explicit criminalisation of genocide denial based on the text and the objectives of the EU Framework Decision of 28 November 2008 on “Combating certain forms and manifestations of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law”. This decision explicitly assumes the criminalisation of the genocide denial by the Member States. The author of the bill also considers that clarity of legislation is needed, which can not be inferred from the existing case law. In this case law, for example, the fact that the denial of the Holocaust was offensive to surviving Holocaust victims and their immediate families played a role. It is not clear what a judge would decide if there are no longer (Holocaust) survivors or their next of kin.
With regard to freedom of expression, it is among others argued that its protection for example in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is not intended for such serious offences of a group. Regarding the concept of genocide, in any case, as examples of genocide are mentioned the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, as well as the genocides in Rwanda and Srebrenica. Criteria such as recognition and "general consensus" in this context are also discussed. The coming period will show if, in the current political situation in Holland regarding the election results to Dutch parliament in 2010, a majority in the Dutch parliament will support the bill. It can be expected that later this year the plenary debate will take place on the bill in the Dutch parliament.
Panorama
The Christian Union party has recently held a roundtable discussion in which several groups have commented on the bill and some like the Centre for Information and Documentation Israel (CIDI) and the Federation of Armenian Organisations in the Netherlands (FAON) have brought forward arguments to move to the explicit criminalisation of genocide denial. The Christian Union faction, as the author of the bill, has in a memorandum of reply among others emphasised the need for explicit criminalisation of genocide denial based on the text and the objectives of the EU Framework Decision of 28 November 2008 on “Combating certain forms and manifestations of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law”. This decision explicitly assumes the criminalisation of the genocide denial by the Member States. The author of the bill also considers that clarity of legislation is needed, which can not be inferred from the existing case law. In this case law, for example, the fact that the denial of the Holocaust was offensive to surviving Holocaust victims and their immediate families played a role. It is not clear what a judge would decide if there are no longer (Holocaust) survivors or their next of kin.
With regard to freedom of expression, it is among others argued that its protection for example in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is not intended for such serious offences of a group. Regarding the concept of genocide, in any case, as examples of genocide are mentioned the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide, as well as the genocides in Rwanda and Srebrenica. Criteria such as recognition and "general consensus" in this context are also discussed. The coming period will show if, in the current political situation in Holland regarding the election results to Dutch parliament in 2010, a majority in the Dutch parliament will support the bill. It can be expected that later this year the plenary debate will take place on the bill in the Dutch parliament.
Panorama
Skinhead Murder Prompts PETA "KKK" Ad (USA)
A T.V. ad produced by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is raising eyebrows among dog owners in the Sacramento area. It is linked to the death of white supremacist David Lynch, who was murdered last week in Citrus Heights. The ad shows a meeting of the American Kennel Club that is attended by a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
When asked if he was at the wrong meeting, he says he fits right in because the organization believes in purity of bloodlines and selective breeding. The ad is designed to get people to adopt mixed breed dogs as opposed to purebreds.
“Whenever somebody buys a dog from a breeder or a pet store a dog from local animal shelter loses that chance for a good home,” said Ashley Byrne, Senior Campaigner for P.E.T.A.
Byrne said Lynch’s murder was an opportunity to make something good of an topical story.
“The death of white Supremacist David Lynch has rekindled the dialogue about those who believe in the purity of the races and bloodlines,” said Byrne.
But dog owner Meribeth Bean, who owns two mixed breed dogs, said P.E.T.A. was “going to the extreme.” She said purebred dog owners love their animals too and that the finger-pointing should go to people who don’t spay or neuter their dogs. In addition, she said she lived in the South with a black family when the Klan was active.
“I felt the vibes of the KKK and what they were trying to do and I was it was hurtful to them,” said Bean.
Dog owner Jennifer Dossman was also taken aback when she viewed the dad, but reacted with nervous laughter. She and others at a Sacramento dog park thought the ad was clever as well as controversial. She acknowledged that some people might be offended, but said “I never really thought about it like that. I see the similarities between the KKK and the AKC). I understand what P.E.T.A. is doing.”
That is of course P.E.T.A.’s goal. But the controversy also means some T.V. stations won’t run the ad. However, P.E.T.A. gets free media coverage as a result of that controversy as well.
Fox 40
When asked if he was at the wrong meeting, he says he fits right in because the organization believes in purity of bloodlines and selective breeding. The ad is designed to get people to adopt mixed breed dogs as opposed to purebreds.
“Whenever somebody buys a dog from a breeder or a pet store a dog from local animal shelter loses that chance for a good home,” said Ashley Byrne, Senior Campaigner for P.E.T.A.
Byrne said Lynch’s murder was an opportunity to make something good of an topical story.
“The death of white Supremacist David Lynch has rekindled the dialogue about those who believe in the purity of the races and bloodlines,” said Byrne.
But dog owner Meribeth Bean, who owns two mixed breed dogs, said P.E.T.A. was “going to the extreme.” She said purebred dog owners love their animals too and that the finger-pointing should go to people who don’t spay or neuter their dogs. In addition, she said she lived in the South with a black family when the Klan was active.
“I felt the vibes of the KKK and what they were trying to do and I was it was hurtful to them,” said Bean.
Dog owner Jennifer Dossman was also taken aback when she viewed the dad, but reacted with nervous laughter. She and others at a Sacramento dog park thought the ad was clever as well as controversial. She acknowledged that some people might be offended, but said “I never really thought about it like that. I see the similarities between the KKK and the AKC). I understand what P.E.T.A. is doing.”
That is of course P.E.T.A.’s goal. But the controversy also means some T.V. stations won’t run the ad. However, P.E.T.A. gets free media coverage as a result of that controversy as well.
Fox 40
MUSLIMS, JEWS WARN EUROPE: MAINSTREAMING OF FAR-RIGHT PARTIES IS UNACCEPTABLE
In Paris, European Muslim and Jewish leaders agree on joint action against extremists
Prominent Muslim and Jewish leaders from across Europe gathered in Paris have pledged to stand together against the rise of far-right xenophobic and racist parties that represent an escalating peril to ethnic and religious minorities across Europe, including Jews and Muslims. Members of the Coordinating Committee of European Muslim and Jewish Leaders, including top communal leaders from Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the US, announced plans for a series of public events in European capitals, on 9 May (Europe Day). The leaders expressed deep concern about the emergence into the political mainstream of extremist parties in many European countries and declared that it was “totally unacceptable” that several of these parties had been accepted by governing coalitions as tacit partners where they are allowed to help shape the agenda.
Contending that “Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racism must never be allowed to become respectable,” the leaders expressed disquiet over recent pronouncements by European statesmen including President Sarkozy of France, Chancellor Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Cameron of Britain, characterizing multiculturalism as a failure; comments that have been cited by far-right parties as evidence that they are winning the battle for public opinion in Europe. Promising to press European decision-makers not to co-operate in any way with extremist parties, the Jewish and Muslim leaders vowed: “We will not allow ourselves to be separated, but will stand together to fight bigotry against Muslims, Jews and other minorities. An attack on any of us is an attack on all of us.” Citing studies which show that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are both growing rapidly in countries across Europe, the communal leaders affirmed that “Jews and Muslims are equal stakeholders in Europe, not expendable guests, and must therefore enjoy the same rights as everybody else. Appeasing those that sow the seeds of hatred and division is not only morally wrong, but will have disastrous consequences for Europe if allowed to continue.”
The first meeting of the Coordinating Committee was initiated by the New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU), the World Council for Muslim Inter-Faith Relations (WCMIR), and the World Jewish Congress (WJC), and is a follow up to the first annual Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish leaders, which was launched in Brussels last December - see www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/events/10. At the time, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy received the group and endorsed its aims.
WCMIR’s European chair, British Imam Abduljalil Sajid, declared: “Islamophobia and anti-Semitism represent the sharp end of racism in Europe, so Jews and Muslims must fight them together, and prevent anyone from turning us into scapegoats. At the same time, Europeans of all backgrounds should come together to defend basic European and universal values of democracy, pluralism and mutual acceptance.”
FFEU President and WJC Vice President Rabbi Marc Schneier, who successfully initiated similar activities between Muslims and Jews in America together with the Islamic Society of North America, declared: “Although much of the venom of extremist and populist parties is directed these days against Muslims, it should not be forgotten that several of the far-right parties, including the National Front in France, have histories replete with anti-Semitism. On 9 May, we will gather in Paris and elsewhere to say that the rise of such parties across Europe is menacing to both of our communities, as well as to basic democratic values of pluralism and tolerance. If Europe wants to remain true to its ethical and spiritual foundations, it must embrace people from different cultures, religions and ways of life. If not, it will not only fail as a concept, it will lose its soul.”
World Jewsih Congress
Prominent Muslim and Jewish leaders from across Europe gathered in Paris have pledged to stand together against the rise of far-right xenophobic and racist parties that represent an escalating peril to ethnic and religious minorities across Europe, including Jews and Muslims. Members of the Coordinating Committee of European Muslim and Jewish Leaders, including top communal leaders from Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the US, announced plans for a series of public events in European capitals, on 9 May (Europe Day). The leaders expressed deep concern about the emergence into the political mainstream of extremist parties in many European countries and declared that it was “totally unacceptable” that several of these parties had been accepted by governing coalitions as tacit partners where they are allowed to help shape the agenda.
Contending that “Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racism must never be allowed to become respectable,” the leaders expressed disquiet over recent pronouncements by European statesmen including President Sarkozy of France, Chancellor Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Cameron of Britain, characterizing multiculturalism as a failure; comments that have been cited by far-right parties as evidence that they are winning the battle for public opinion in Europe. Promising to press European decision-makers not to co-operate in any way with extremist parties, the Jewish and Muslim leaders vowed: “We will not allow ourselves to be separated, but will stand together to fight bigotry against Muslims, Jews and other minorities. An attack on any of us is an attack on all of us.” Citing studies which show that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are both growing rapidly in countries across Europe, the communal leaders affirmed that “Jews and Muslims are equal stakeholders in Europe, not expendable guests, and must therefore enjoy the same rights as everybody else. Appeasing those that sow the seeds of hatred and division is not only morally wrong, but will have disastrous consequences for Europe if allowed to continue.”
The first meeting of the Coordinating Committee was initiated by the New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU), the World Council for Muslim Inter-Faith Relations (WCMIR), and the World Jewish Congress (WJC), and is a follow up to the first annual Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish leaders, which was launched in Brussels last December - see www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/events/10. At the time, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy received the group and endorsed its aims.
WCMIR’s European chair, British Imam Abduljalil Sajid, declared: “Islamophobia and anti-Semitism represent the sharp end of racism in Europe, so Jews and Muslims must fight them together, and prevent anyone from turning us into scapegoats. At the same time, Europeans of all backgrounds should come together to defend basic European and universal values of democracy, pluralism and mutual acceptance.”
FFEU President and WJC Vice President Rabbi Marc Schneier, who successfully initiated similar activities between Muslims and Jews in America together with the Islamic Society of North America, declared: “Although much of the venom of extremist and populist parties is directed these days against Muslims, it should not be forgotten that several of the far-right parties, including the National Front in France, have histories replete with anti-Semitism. On 9 May, we will gather in Paris and elsewhere to say that the rise of such parties across Europe is menacing to both of our communities, as well as to basic democratic values of pluralism and tolerance. If Europe wants to remain true to its ethical and spiritual foundations, it must embrace people from different cultures, religions and ways of life. If not, it will not only fail as a concept, it will lose its soul.”
World Jewsih Congress
Monday, 7 March 2011
Nick Griffin and the Nazi flag dilemma. It's BNP Facepalm time again! (UK)
Yesterday on this blog we posted an item about Nick Griffin meeting with Welsh Neo-Nazi Bryan Powell in Swansea on Saturday the 5th of March.
Really un-surprisingly the reality avoidance “We Adore Griffin” denial chumps aka the Nationalist PRATriots have claimed that the photo below of Brian at home in front of the Nazi flag is fake because (get this) the flag is the wrong way round.
Now this is coming from people that “KNOW” which way the Nazi flag should be hung so we should really respect their opinion.
Um, no we don't respect their opinion, basically on anything.
The image in question has been on-line for ages, and it is very, VERY well known that the Welsh Defence League (WDL) members in Swansea were Neo-Nazis.
Sorry I should say “Are Neo-Nazi’s”, as the Welsh Defence League has disbanded due to (don’t’ laugh) racist infiltration. This huge post could be a hint as to what inazifiltration could be responsible for that.
Anyway here’s another image of Brian doing his Nazi grove thang. No it’s not fake.
Nor are they doing a white supremacist version of the Saturday Night Fever dance.
Nor are they doing a white supremacist version of the Saturday Night Fever dance.
Finally a documentary made by BBC Wales that exposes the Neo-nazi’s in the WDL that Brian was a part of. (Although the fash will claim that its probably a iluminati lefty conspiracy made up thingy with actors and Pixar animation.)
I would like to post that this is guaranteed to clear up the ludicrous claims that it’s all fake and lies and does prove that Nick Griffin did spend Saturday night in the company of a Neo-Nazi.
But I doubt it.
It’s much easier for them dance merrily off into fantasy land of ignorance and delusions than except that this is true.
Ex-Aryan Nations lawyer's trial to begin in Idaho (USA)
An attorney known for representing white supremacists goes on trial in federal court on Monday, charged with hiring a hit man to kill his wife and mother-in-law.
Edgar J. Steele's wife insists her husband is innocent and has been set up by the government because of his anti-Semitic, white supremacist views and for representing clients such as Aryan Nations.
"My husband is innocent, and the only reason the (FBI) put him in jail is to silence him," Cyndi Steele said after his June 11 arrest.
Federal prosecutors say they have plenty of evidence against Steele, 65, including tape recordings of him talking with the hit man about killing his wife. Prosecutors have said Steele was after insurance money and also wanted to pursue a woman in Ukraine.
Court documents contend Steele, for some time, had been building a relationship with a woman in Ukraine and sent her a letter even after his arrest. Cyndi Steele said the Ukrainian woman was involved in a "Russian-bride" scam and that her husband had been hired by the victim to bring down the human trafficking ring.
Steele is a Coast Guard veteran and UCLA law graduate who practised for years in Sandpoint.
He is well-known in anti-Semitic and white supremacist circles as the lawyer who defended Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler in a 2000 lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center, on behalf of two people who were attacked by the group's security guards. Steele lost the case, and Aryan Nations was bankrupted after being ordered to pay $6.3 million to the victims.
But he became popular in the white supremacist community and went on to represent other controversial figures, make speeches at white supremacist events and launch the website ConspiracyPenPal.com, where he published his views. He also wrote a book, "Defensive Racism: An Unapologetic Examination of Racial Differences."
"I have defended and provide legal advice to probably more of the politically incorrect than has any other attorney in America today," Steele said in a 2009 essay available on his website. "Always, I have required that they be fundamentally decent people and always they must be innocent, regardless of how things might eventually turn out in court."
Steele has drawn support from numerous far-right groups.
A press release sent this week by supporters of Steele who operate a website called Free Edgar Steele contended the government's case is fabricated, including a fake voice on the recordings.
"The FBI and US Attorney's Office in Idaho are seeking to bring down another innocent person, Edgar Steele, and send him to prison, because he is an advocate for the US Constitution and individual rights," the release said. "Our own freedom is at stake."
Steele was arrested by FBI agents at his home last June and faces four felony counts, including use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
Court records said an informant, Larry Fairfax, told the FBI that Steele offered to pay him up to $125,000 to kill his wife and her mother in a car crash meant to look like an accident.
While Fairfax told federal agents about the plot, he failed to inform them he'd already placed a pipe bomb under Cyndi Steele's vehicle, which did not explode while she drove to Oregon and back. The bomb was found by startled workers after she took her vehicle for an oil change. A bomb squad robot removed the explosive without incident.
Cyndi Steele has said in court documents that she believes Fairfax stole more than $45,000 in valuables from her home when he worked as a handyman there, and planted the bomb to cover his crimes.
Fairfax admitted to placing the bomb, but told agents he manipulated the fuse to malfunction, according to court documents. His attorneys contend Fairfax planned to take Steele's money but not go through with the killing.
Fairfax reached a deal to plead guilty to one count of possession of an unregistered firearm and one count of making a firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act.
The plea agreement document said Fairfax and Steele had several conversations between November 2009 and June 2010 in which they discussed killing Cyndi Steele and her mother.
The document said Steele also asked Fairfax to put a pipe bomb under Steele's own vehicle. Edgar Steele planned to ignite it after his wife's death "to provide an alibi or evidence that both he and his wife had been targeted for murder."
Steele also told Fairfax "to make sure that they were dead after the accident because Edgar Steele did not want to take care of a paraplegic," according to an FBI affidavit.
After his arrest, the government contends Steele immediately started pleading with his wife to discredit the case.
According to phone conversations recorded from jail, Steele told his wife that prosecutors have taped recordings that were doctored to sound as if he was hiring a hit man to kill her. Steele pleaded with her to deny the voice on the tapes belonged to him.
"This is going to be a 'Mission: Impossible' world-class-level production," Steele told his wife during a conversation recorded June 13. "I love you dearly. I would never be so stupid as to hire somebody else to kill anybody, for Christ sake, least of all you. You've gotta do this."
The Steeles, who married in 1985, have three grown children. They have endured marital troubles in the past.
Cyndi Steele, who operates a horse farm on the couple's property, had filed for divorce in June 2000, alleging her husband "misrepresented his marital status and eligibility" in online dating profiles "with the sole intention of meeting women."
The case was dismissed two months later.
Seattle Pi
Edgar J. Steele's wife insists her husband is innocent and has been set up by the government because of his anti-Semitic, white supremacist views and for representing clients such as Aryan Nations.
"My husband is innocent, and the only reason the (FBI) put him in jail is to silence him," Cyndi Steele said after his June 11 arrest.
Federal prosecutors say they have plenty of evidence against Steele, 65, including tape recordings of him talking with the hit man about killing his wife. Prosecutors have said Steele was after insurance money and also wanted to pursue a woman in Ukraine.
Court documents contend Steele, for some time, had been building a relationship with a woman in Ukraine and sent her a letter even after his arrest. Cyndi Steele said the Ukrainian woman was involved in a "Russian-bride" scam and that her husband had been hired by the victim to bring down the human trafficking ring.
Steele is a Coast Guard veteran and UCLA law graduate who practised for years in Sandpoint.
He is well-known in anti-Semitic and white supremacist circles as the lawyer who defended Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler in a 2000 lawsuit brought by the Southern Poverty Law Center, on behalf of two people who were attacked by the group's security guards. Steele lost the case, and Aryan Nations was bankrupted after being ordered to pay $6.3 million to the victims.
But he became popular in the white supremacist community and went on to represent other controversial figures, make speeches at white supremacist events and launch the website ConspiracyPenPal.com, where he published his views. He also wrote a book, "Defensive Racism: An Unapologetic Examination of Racial Differences."
"I have defended and provide legal advice to probably more of the politically incorrect than has any other attorney in America today," Steele said in a 2009 essay available on his website. "Always, I have required that they be fundamentally decent people and always they must be innocent, regardless of how things might eventually turn out in court."
Steele has drawn support from numerous far-right groups.
A press release sent this week by supporters of Steele who operate a website called Free Edgar Steele contended the government's case is fabricated, including a fake voice on the recordings.
"The FBI and US Attorney's Office in Idaho are seeking to bring down another innocent person, Edgar Steele, and send him to prison, because he is an advocate for the US Constitution and individual rights," the release said. "Our own freedom is at stake."
Steele was arrested by FBI agents at his home last June and faces four felony counts, including use of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
Court records said an informant, Larry Fairfax, told the FBI that Steele offered to pay him up to $125,000 to kill his wife and her mother in a car crash meant to look like an accident.
While Fairfax told federal agents about the plot, he failed to inform them he'd already placed a pipe bomb under Cyndi Steele's vehicle, which did not explode while she drove to Oregon and back. The bomb was found by startled workers after she took her vehicle for an oil change. A bomb squad robot removed the explosive without incident.
Cyndi Steele has said in court documents that she believes Fairfax stole more than $45,000 in valuables from her home when he worked as a handyman there, and planted the bomb to cover his crimes.
Fairfax admitted to placing the bomb, but told agents he manipulated the fuse to malfunction, according to court documents. His attorneys contend Fairfax planned to take Steele's money but not go through with the killing.
Fairfax reached a deal to plead guilty to one count of possession of an unregistered firearm and one count of making a firearm in violation of the National Firearms Act.
The plea agreement document said Fairfax and Steele had several conversations between November 2009 and June 2010 in which they discussed killing Cyndi Steele and her mother.
The document said Steele also asked Fairfax to put a pipe bomb under Steele's own vehicle. Edgar Steele planned to ignite it after his wife's death "to provide an alibi or evidence that both he and his wife had been targeted for murder."
Steele also told Fairfax "to make sure that they were dead after the accident because Edgar Steele did not want to take care of a paraplegic," according to an FBI affidavit.
After his arrest, the government contends Steele immediately started pleading with his wife to discredit the case.
According to phone conversations recorded from jail, Steele told his wife that prosecutors have taped recordings that were doctored to sound as if he was hiring a hit man to kill her. Steele pleaded with her to deny the voice on the tapes belonged to him.
"This is going to be a 'Mission: Impossible' world-class-level production," Steele told his wife during a conversation recorded June 13. "I love you dearly. I would never be so stupid as to hire somebody else to kill anybody, for Christ sake, least of all you. You've gotta do this."
The Steeles, who married in 1985, have three grown children. They have endured marital troubles in the past.
Cyndi Steele, who operates a horse farm on the couple's property, had filed for divorce in June 2000, alleging her husband "misrepresented his marital status and eligibility" in online dating profiles "with the sole intention of meeting women."
The case was dismissed two months later.
Seattle Pi
COLLEAGUES MOURN DEATH OF RUSSIAN ANTIRACISM CAMPAIGNER GALINA KOZHEVNIKOVA
In a country with few prominent voices speaking out against racism, Galina Kozhevnikova was a determined exception. Kozhevnikova was the deputy director of SOVA, a Moscow-based group founded in 2002 that has proven one of the few reliable sources of information on xenophobia and racist attacks in post-Soviet Russia. She died on March 5 from an unspecified illness at the age of 36. Historian Vyacheslav Likhachev, a specialist on nationalist movements, told RFE/RL's Russian Service that Kozhevnikova was "an honest, professional, and very good person." "It was clear that this was work, but for her it was also very personal. It was more a matter of antifascist activism than plain professional motivation," Likhachev says. "It's known that she was received serious personal threats from neo-Nazis. But she understood the kind of sphere she was working in. She understood the ways in which it could be dangerous. And for her it was a conscious choice. It was her struggle, so to speak." Russia has been plagued by growing racism in the years since the Soviet collapse, as social and economic uncertainty have fed both labor migration and a rising resentment of non-Slavic newcomers.
Outspoken Critic
A number of patriotic, nationalist, and neo-Nazi groups have sprung up in recent years, the most extreme of which have sought to intimidate non-Slav residents and labor migrants, including many Central Asians and other former Soviet nationals. Hundreds of migrants and other non-Russian residents are beaten and killed each year in Russia. SOVA was one of the few organizations to publish statistics on such attacks and to offer counsel to their victims. Kozhevnikova was an outspoken critic of ultranationalist trends in Russia. In an interview with RFE/RL following the January 2010 contract killing of human rights lawyer Sergei Markelov and a young journalist, Anastasia Baburova, Kozhevnikova said the rising power of the far right threatened the security of the entire country. "The ultra-right has openly turned to antistate terror and direct terror and have set themselves the aim of destabilizing the situation in the country, creating an all-out panic with which they then aim to start a military coup," she said. Tatyana Lokshina, the deputy director of the Moscow office of the watchdog group Human Rights Watch, told Interfax that Kozhevnikova the "No. 1 expert" on radical nationalism. Kozhevnikova's death is being mourned by many members of Russia's diaspora community, who saw in her a valuable ally and defender of migrants' rights.
'Big Loss'
Abdullo Davlatov, who heads the Tajiks in Russia association, the largest Tajik-diaspora group in Russia, told RFE/RL's Tajik Service that his community had lost a powerful protector. "Her death is a big loss. She was a strong defender of all the foreign migrants and nonmigrants, including Tajiks, who were victims of racial attacks," Davlatov says. "Diaspora groups always claim that we are the ones defending our migrants, but I believe that Tajik migrants got more support from Galina than from all of us." In a statement, SOVA said Kozhevnikova "kept working until the last moment," despite suffering from what they described as a "grave disease." Her latest report, on racism and xenophobia in Russia in 2010, is expected to be published soon. Natalya Taubina, who heads the Public Verdict rights foundation, told RFE/RL's Russian Service that she was a rigorous researcher who was deeply committed to fighting racism in her country. "Galya was probably one of the very few experts in our country who understood this problem really well and could speak about it in a very professional and thoughtful way, without hysterics, and very convincingly," Taubina says. "I'm sure that she could prevail in a dispute with any opponent on issues related to xenophobia and ethnic hatred. "It's actually pretty difficult to imagine how we're going to live without Galya," she adds.
rferl.org
Outspoken Critic
A number of patriotic, nationalist, and neo-Nazi groups have sprung up in recent years, the most extreme of which have sought to intimidate non-Slav residents and labor migrants, including many Central Asians and other former Soviet nationals. Hundreds of migrants and other non-Russian residents are beaten and killed each year in Russia. SOVA was one of the few organizations to publish statistics on such attacks and to offer counsel to their victims. Kozhevnikova was an outspoken critic of ultranationalist trends in Russia. In an interview with RFE/RL following the January 2010 contract killing of human rights lawyer Sergei Markelov and a young journalist, Anastasia Baburova, Kozhevnikova said the rising power of the far right threatened the security of the entire country. "The ultra-right has openly turned to antistate terror and direct terror and have set themselves the aim of destabilizing the situation in the country, creating an all-out panic with which they then aim to start a military coup," she said. Tatyana Lokshina, the deputy director of the Moscow office of the watchdog group Human Rights Watch, told Interfax that Kozhevnikova the "No. 1 expert" on radical nationalism. Kozhevnikova's death is being mourned by many members of Russia's diaspora community, who saw in her a valuable ally and defender of migrants' rights.
'Big Loss'
Abdullo Davlatov, who heads the Tajiks in Russia association, the largest Tajik-diaspora group in Russia, told RFE/RL's Tajik Service that his community had lost a powerful protector. "Her death is a big loss. She was a strong defender of all the foreign migrants and nonmigrants, including Tajiks, who were victims of racial attacks," Davlatov says. "Diaspora groups always claim that we are the ones defending our migrants, but I believe that Tajik migrants got more support from Galina than from all of us." In a statement, SOVA said Kozhevnikova "kept working until the last moment," despite suffering from what they described as a "grave disease." Her latest report, on racism and xenophobia in Russia in 2010, is expected to be published soon. Natalya Taubina, who heads the Public Verdict rights foundation, told RFE/RL's Russian Service that she was a rigorous researcher who was deeply committed to fighting racism in her country. "Galya was probably one of the very few experts in our country who understood this problem really well and could speak about it in a very professional and thoughtful way, without hysterics, and very convincingly," Taubina says. "I'm sure that she could prevail in a dispute with any opponent on issues related to xenophobia and ethnic hatred. "It's actually pretty difficult to imagine how we're going to live without Galya," she adds.
rferl.org
POLL PUTS FAR RIGHT AHEAD IN FRENCH PRESIDENTIAL RACE (France)
The leader of France's far-right National Front party, Marine Le Pen, would come out ahead of incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of voting if a presidential election were held now instead of in the spring of 2012, according to the surprise result of a latest political-opinion poll published Sunday. The poll, published in the daily newspaper Le Parisien, gives Le Pen 23% of voting intentions, ahead of Sarkozy and Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry. The poll was carried out among a sample group of 1,618 people by the Louis Harris Interactive organization. In five previous polls between March and November last year, Le Pen scored voting intentions of between 11% and 13%.
Le Pen recently took over leadership of her party from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who, in the first round of the 2002 election, came in second to conservative Jacques Chirac, beating Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin, who subsequently retired from politics. French voters then closed ranks behind Chirac in the runoff round to keep Le Pen out. Sarkozy's popularity has sagged in recent months amid a series of ministerial scandals that culminated in a cabinet shake-up at the end of February. His political foes say he is paying the price for what they see as an uncompromising and fear-mongering stance on immigration and stirring up anti-Muslim sentiment. The recent civil unrest in North Africa since December is another factor that has worried public opinion in France, which has a large North African immigrant population.
Political commentators have cautioned that the margin of error for such on-line polls is large, of more than 2%. And they point out that the those polled weren't asked to give their opinion on Dominique Strauss-Kahn, currently head of the International Monetary Fund. Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist, hasn't declared his intention to run for the presidency in 2012, although he benefits from much more favorable popularity ratings than Martine Aubry. Le Pen is drawing her support from Sarkozy's camp according to the poll results. More than 20% of those who said they would vote for her in the first round said they had voted for Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election. Sarkozy has yet to declare his candidacy to seek a second term in 2012. Jean-Francois Cope, Secretary-General of Sarkozy's UMP party, said it would be a mistake to read too much into the poll result so far ahead of the election, saying that the poll "is just one among many" and called on the party's members to "keep a cool head." He acknowledged that moderate conservatives will suffer attacks from both the left and the far right in the lead-up to the election in 14 months' time.
Wall Street Journal
Le Pen recently took over leadership of her party from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, who, in the first round of the 2002 election, came in second to conservative Jacques Chirac, beating Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin, who subsequently retired from politics. French voters then closed ranks behind Chirac in the runoff round to keep Le Pen out. Sarkozy's popularity has sagged in recent months amid a series of ministerial scandals that culminated in a cabinet shake-up at the end of February. His political foes say he is paying the price for what they see as an uncompromising and fear-mongering stance on immigration and stirring up anti-Muslim sentiment. The recent civil unrest in North Africa since December is another factor that has worried public opinion in France, which has a large North African immigrant population.
Political commentators have cautioned that the margin of error for such on-line polls is large, of more than 2%. And they point out that the those polled weren't asked to give their opinion on Dominique Strauss-Kahn, currently head of the International Monetary Fund. Strauss-Kahn, a Socialist, hasn't declared his intention to run for the presidency in 2012, although he benefits from much more favorable popularity ratings than Martine Aubry. Le Pen is drawing her support from Sarkozy's camp according to the poll results. More than 20% of those who said they would vote for her in the first round said they had voted for Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election. Sarkozy has yet to declare his candidacy to seek a second term in 2012. Jean-Francois Cope, Secretary-General of Sarkozy's UMP party, said it would be a mistake to read too much into the poll result so far ahead of the election, saying that the poll "is just one among many" and called on the party's members to "keep a cool head." He acknowledged that moderate conservatives will suffer attacks from both the left and the far right in the lead-up to the election in 14 months' time.
Wall Street Journal
Protesters outnumber supporters as BNP leader speaks at a Swansea pub (Wales, UK)
Addressing the party faithful in a Swansea pub, he said that a revolution was coming, and that it was the party's role to "lead our people to the light".
The presence of the controversial politician in Swansea led to a noisy demonstration in the street outside the Landore inn, with protesters outnumbering supporters.
The Evening Post was the only media organisation to attend Saturday night's meeting at The Globe, which attracted around 65 activists from as far afield as London and Liverpool.
In a room above the bar, the party leader began by saying that mass immigration was destroying Britain and was "grotesquely unfair" to working people.
He said that unless migrants spoke English or Welsh they should not get access to benefits or schooling, and he called for a ban on building mosques — adding that the Koran was a fundamentalist book "about conquering other people".
But most of the MEP's speech was about the state of the economy, and how "they" — the political elites in charge — were intent on destroying the country.
He said: "The bankers crash has scarcely started — it is going to be truly horrible, and the Tory party cuts are not going to help, they are going to make it worse." He warned of a coming 1930s-style depression.
He went on to say that institutions such as the family, schools, the health service, council housing, and the Post Office were being deliberately undermined and privatised by a combination of hard-left activists and multinational business.
He also said Britain had been deliberately "de- industrialised".
He concluded by telling supporters that the party was on the "hard road" that would eventually lead to revolution and power.
He said: "The night is always darkest just before the dawn, but the dawn will come, and we will lead our people to the light."
He urged members to work to become community leaders ahead of the revolution.
While the leader talked, a group of around 80 anti- fascist protestors gathered near the pub.
Police blocked both ends of Mysydd Road and kept the protestors — some of whom wore masks — at one end of the street.
Among the crowd was David Phillips, leader of the Labour group on Swansea Council. He said: "Nick Griffin and the BNP are not welcome here — the people of Swansea do not support them and do want them here."
Chief superintendent Mark Mathias said he was happy with the policing arrangements.
He said: "Everybody has the right to express themselves peacefully, and the police presence was purely to ensure that the peace was kept."
He also thanked the people of Mysydd Road for their patience during the operation.
This is South Wales
Voting reform would give voice to extreme parties, says Clarke (UK)
Extreme political parties such as the far-right British National Party will be given a voice in British politics if the referendum on voting reform is passed on May 5th, leading Conservative minister Kenneth Clarke has said.
The referendum on the introduction of the alternative vote, which would put an end to first-past-the-post, was agreed between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats as part of the smaller party’s price to enter the coalition, although Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg once described it as “a miserable little compromise” compared with the party’s preference for proportional representation.
So far, opinion polls show that the majority of the public have failed to grasp the nature of the change proposed, though, if opinion polls are to be believed, voters coming to a decision are increasingly likely to come down against AV, which has been used in Australia for nearly a century, but rarely elsewhere.
The issue featured prominently during the Conservatives’ spring conference in Cardiff over the weekend, where posters warned delegates that the alternative vote would see candidates who finish third in the race for first preferences ending up winning, once subsequent preferences are counted.
The decision yesterday to feature Mr Clarke so prominently during a conference debate on the issue has much to do with hopes that the justice secretary, who is regarded as dangerously left-wing in many of his sentiments by Conservative grassroots, can attract middle-ground support, both inside and outside the party.
Saying it is “extremely important” that the referendum is beaten, Mr Clarke said that, if passed, it would mark “a profound change” in UK politics, leading to a situation where every future British government is formed in post-election negotiations between parties, rather than decided by voters in the ballot boxes.
First-past-the-post, he said, allows voters to make clear changes: “If I look back with the benefit of hindsight, I really cannot recall, with hindsight, a general election where I think the great British public got it wrong . . . We were finished in 1997. It was plain that it was time for us to be put out of our misery and a change to be made. Gordon Brown was finished in 2010 and it was plainly in the national interest for Labour to be extinguished.”
Noting that the referendum is taking place while the Conservatives are in a coalition pact with the Liberal Democrats, Mr Clarke said: “The irony is that I am rather happily serving in a coalition government, [but] at the moment Britain is best in class as coalition governments go across western Europe.” He said he had believed before the election that a hung parliament would be “a catastrophe”, but Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg had successfully brought the two parties together to face a national crisis, putting party interest aside.
Using the Olympics to illustrate his opposition to AV, prime minister David Cameron said: “Imagine it’s London 2012. We’re all watching the 100 metres. Usain Bolt powers home first over the line. But then he gets to the podium and it is the guy who finished third who gets the gold. We wouldn’t put up with this in the Olympics. We shouldn’t put up with it in our democracy.”
Irish Times
The referendum on the introduction of the alternative vote, which would put an end to first-past-the-post, was agreed between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats as part of the smaller party’s price to enter the coalition, although Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg once described it as “a miserable little compromise” compared with the party’s preference for proportional representation.
So far, opinion polls show that the majority of the public have failed to grasp the nature of the change proposed, though, if opinion polls are to be believed, voters coming to a decision are increasingly likely to come down against AV, which has been used in Australia for nearly a century, but rarely elsewhere.
The issue featured prominently during the Conservatives’ spring conference in Cardiff over the weekend, where posters warned delegates that the alternative vote would see candidates who finish third in the race for first preferences ending up winning, once subsequent preferences are counted.
The decision yesterday to feature Mr Clarke so prominently during a conference debate on the issue has much to do with hopes that the justice secretary, who is regarded as dangerously left-wing in many of his sentiments by Conservative grassroots, can attract middle-ground support, both inside and outside the party.
Saying it is “extremely important” that the referendum is beaten, Mr Clarke said that, if passed, it would mark “a profound change” in UK politics, leading to a situation where every future British government is formed in post-election negotiations between parties, rather than decided by voters in the ballot boxes.
First-past-the-post, he said, allows voters to make clear changes: “If I look back with the benefit of hindsight, I really cannot recall, with hindsight, a general election where I think the great British public got it wrong . . . We were finished in 1997. It was plain that it was time for us to be put out of our misery and a change to be made. Gordon Brown was finished in 2010 and it was plainly in the national interest for Labour to be extinguished.”
Noting that the referendum is taking place while the Conservatives are in a coalition pact with the Liberal Democrats, Mr Clarke said: “The irony is that I am rather happily serving in a coalition government, [but] at the moment Britain is best in class as coalition governments go across western Europe.” He said he had believed before the election that a hung parliament would be “a catastrophe”, but Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg had successfully brought the two parties together to face a national crisis, putting party interest aside.
Using the Olympics to illustrate his opposition to AV, prime minister David Cameron said: “Imagine it’s London 2012. We’re all watching the 100 metres. Usain Bolt powers home first over the line. But then he gets to the podium and it is the guy who finished third who gets the gold. We wouldn’t put up with this in the Olympics. We shouldn’t put up with it in our democracy.”
Irish Times
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Russia: Four Neo-Nazi skinheads sentenced for up to 22 years in prison for homicide and bombing at Moscow’s markets
On the 3 of March, the Moscow city court has sentenced four neo-Nazi skinheads to heavy terms in prison upon charges of homicide and bombing in Moscow, reported by Gazeta.ru.
It follows from the verdict that the Nazi gang led by 23-year old Anton Vasiliyev, who graduated from a vocational-technical school, has committed its crimes since August 2008 and until January 2009. Initially, Vasiliyev and Polyakov, his associate, would stage explosions at municipal markets using pipe bombs made up of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder, staffed with nuts and bolts. In just one episode, no one has been killed or injured, when a “Grilled chicken” stand was set on fire next to the “Petrovskiy-Razumovskiy” metro station. Three subsequent blasts, staged at “Petrovskiy-Razumovskiy”, “Lianozovskiy” and “Tushinskiy” markets have affected at least 10 people, including one child.
The oldest of the convicts, Anton Vasiliyev, has been sentenced to 22 years in the highest security prison, while his associates, Konstantin Kucher, Andrey Gordeev and Vladislav Polyakov would serve 9 to 13 years. In addition, the criminals will have to compensate some 1,1 mln roubles to the victims. The investigation has found that on top of the four blasts, the convicts have, in the period between December 26, 2008 and January 19, 2009, committed 4 murders and 11 attempts of homicide against persons who did not look Russian, as well as 3 robberies. In particular, Vasiliyev, Gordeev and Kucher were found guilty of murdering nationals of Kazahkstan, Uzbekistan and Cameroon, and 7 attempts of murder, against, inter alia, nationals of China and Korea. Besides, Vasiliyev and Gordeev were charged with another three murder attempts, including against citizens of Capo-Verde and Gabon. None of the convicts however has pleaded guilty. “We’ve attacked those people in order to force them out from Moscow” – one of them, Kucher, said in the court.
On the 3rd of January, 2009, he threw some “half a glass” of gasoline at two Korean women in the Moscow street named after academician Volgin. Meanwhile, Vasiliyev set them on fire and Gordeev was filming them on a video camera. “We did not think that much gasoline would kill them. Besides, they were fully dressed for winter.” – he confessed in the court.
Another victim, a passerby named Jambarov, was stabbed 22 times by Vasiliyev and Kucher next to the “Tulskaya” metro station, according to the convict’s assurances: “not too hard.”
According to the “Sova” informational analytical center, these Nazis belong to the ultra-nationalistic group “Autonomous Slavonic Resistance”. In February 2011, a jury at the Moscow city court has found them not guilty of a string of murders and partially guilty of staging a series of blasts in Moscow and racist assaults.
En.Rian
It follows from the verdict that the Nazi gang led by 23-year old Anton Vasiliyev, who graduated from a vocational-technical school, has committed its crimes since August 2008 and until January 2009. Initially, Vasiliyev and Polyakov, his associate, would stage explosions at municipal markets using pipe bombs made up of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder, staffed with nuts and bolts. In just one episode, no one has been killed or injured, when a “Grilled chicken” stand was set on fire next to the “Petrovskiy-Razumovskiy” metro station. Three subsequent blasts, staged at “Petrovskiy-Razumovskiy”, “Lianozovskiy” and “Tushinskiy” markets have affected at least 10 people, including one child.
The oldest of the convicts, Anton Vasiliyev, has been sentenced to 22 years in the highest security prison, while his associates, Konstantin Kucher, Andrey Gordeev and Vladislav Polyakov would serve 9 to 13 years. In addition, the criminals will have to compensate some 1,1 mln roubles to the victims. The investigation has found that on top of the four blasts, the convicts have, in the period between December 26, 2008 and January 19, 2009, committed 4 murders and 11 attempts of homicide against persons who did not look Russian, as well as 3 robberies. In particular, Vasiliyev, Gordeev and Kucher were found guilty of murdering nationals of Kazahkstan, Uzbekistan and Cameroon, and 7 attempts of murder, against, inter alia, nationals of China and Korea. Besides, Vasiliyev and Gordeev were charged with another three murder attempts, including against citizens of Capo-Verde and Gabon. None of the convicts however has pleaded guilty. “We’ve attacked those people in order to force them out from Moscow” – one of them, Kucher, said in the court.
On the 3rd of January, 2009, he threw some “half a glass” of gasoline at two Korean women in the Moscow street named after academician Volgin. Meanwhile, Vasiliyev set them on fire and Gordeev was filming them on a video camera. “We did not think that much gasoline would kill them. Besides, they were fully dressed for winter.” – he confessed in the court.
Another victim, a passerby named Jambarov, was stabbed 22 times by Vasiliyev and Kucher next to the “Tulskaya” metro station, according to the convict’s assurances: “not too hard.”
According to the “Sova” informational analytical center, these Nazis belong to the ultra-nationalistic group “Autonomous Slavonic Resistance”. In February 2011, a jury at the Moscow city court has found them not guilty of a string of murders and partially guilty of staging a series of blasts in Moscow and racist assaults.
En.Rian
The BNP's Nazi link exposed once again in a easy to follow dummies blog post (UK)
Ok, let's keep this simple so the fascists can follow it.
Last night in Swansea, South Wales, Nick Griffin leader of the BNP held a meeting with fellow patriots to discuss their campaign to get representatives of their party into the Welsh Assembly.
One of the adoring fascist groupies present at the time was Bryan Powell.
And here he is proudly standing with BNP leader Nick Griffin.
C'mon Mr Griffin, click your heels together three times and make a wish that when you claim its all lies people will believe you this time.
Last night in Swansea, South Wales, Nick Griffin leader of the BNP held a meeting with fellow patriots to discuss their campaign to get representatives of their party into the Welsh Assembly.
One of the adoring fascist groupies present at the time was Bryan Powell.
And here he is proudly standing with BNP leader Nick Griffin.
And here's Mr Powell relaxing at home.
Obviously this will be an embarisment to the BNP and especially Nick Griffin because nobody could have know about this, or could they?
Well that's not true as Mr Powell's Neo-Nazism has been known for some time.
And as EDL are quite happy to ignore it, we should also expect the BNP to do exactly the same thing.
C'mon Mr Griffin, click your heels together three times and make a wish that when you claim its all lies people will believe you this time.
Far-right group 'to become a political party' (UK)
The leader of the far-right English Defence League last night confirmed that the group would be holding talks with a view to becoming a legitimate political party.
Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said last night: “We’re having a meeting this week with politically minded people and we’re discussing the options. We know the support we’ve got from one end of the country to the other because we talk sense. So we’re having more discussions this week. It’s something we’re seriously looking at.
“We’ve been meeting with top political people for a year about this and now we’re getting close. We’ve been sitting down with a couple of lads who are posh-speaking, public school boys, who have been in politics before, and we’re discussing with them where it can go.”
Supporters of the group, which formed in 2009, have often been involved in violent scuffles with anti-fascist demonstrators in areas with large Muslim populations including Luton, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent and Bradford. Several journalists have received anonymous threats in the past when covering EDL demonstrations.
In a bizarre twist, the move towards legitimisation for the far-right group is said have come after the Daily Star newspaper last month published what Richard Peppiatt, a former reporter on the paper, believed at the time to be a false story. The article stated that the EDL planned to field candidates at a general election.
Last week Peppiatt quit the tabloid, admitting he produced made-stories for the Star and saying he believed it gave sympathetic coverage to the EDL.
The Independent on Sunday understands one reporter, from a different news organisation, who recently interviewed Mr Robinson, claims that the EDL had the idea to become a political party after seeing the Star’s fabricated article.
But Mr Robinson distanced himself from that suggestion, saying starting a political party was something the EDL had intended to do for at least a year.
Mr Peppiatt said of his decision to quit: “Going public has been at once the easiest and most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make. The messages of support from all quarters of the media and beyond, has confirmed to me I’m fighting the good fight, if belatedly. Obviously it was shocking when the attempts to intimidate me began, but it only served to harden my resolve.”
The Daily Star rejected the suggestion it supports far-right organisations. “For the record, the Daily Star editorial policy does not hold any negativity towards Islam and the paper never, and does not endorse the EDL.”
Since making his resignation letter public, Mr Peppiatt has received numerous emails, phone calls and text messages from unknown sources. One such message says: ‘We r (sic) doing a KISS AND TELL on u.’ Whilst an email reads, ‘I’m one of your FB [Facebook] friends and it’s about time you were honest with people. Stop the bullshit Pepps. We all know everything about you. Meet me at 8pm outside GH.’
The Independant
Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said last night: “We’re having a meeting this week with politically minded people and we’re discussing the options. We know the support we’ve got from one end of the country to the other because we talk sense. So we’re having more discussions this week. It’s something we’re seriously looking at.
“We’ve been meeting with top political people for a year about this and now we’re getting close. We’ve been sitting down with a couple of lads who are posh-speaking, public school boys, who have been in politics before, and we’re discussing with them where it can go.”
Supporters of the group, which formed in 2009, have often been involved in violent scuffles with anti-fascist demonstrators in areas with large Muslim populations including Luton, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent and Bradford. Several journalists have received anonymous threats in the past when covering EDL demonstrations.
In a bizarre twist, the move towards legitimisation for the far-right group is said have come after the Daily Star newspaper last month published what Richard Peppiatt, a former reporter on the paper, believed at the time to be a false story. The article stated that the EDL planned to field candidates at a general election.
Last week Peppiatt quit the tabloid, admitting he produced made-stories for the Star and saying he believed it gave sympathetic coverage to the EDL.
The Independent on Sunday understands one reporter, from a different news organisation, who recently interviewed Mr Robinson, claims that the EDL had the idea to become a political party after seeing the Star’s fabricated article.
But Mr Robinson distanced himself from that suggestion, saying starting a political party was something the EDL had intended to do for at least a year.
Mr Peppiatt said of his decision to quit: “Going public has been at once the easiest and most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make. The messages of support from all quarters of the media and beyond, has confirmed to me I’m fighting the good fight, if belatedly. Obviously it was shocking when the attempts to intimidate me began, but it only served to harden my resolve.”
The Daily Star rejected the suggestion it supports far-right organisations. “For the record, the Daily Star editorial policy does not hold any negativity towards Islam and the paper never, and does not endorse the EDL.”
Since making his resignation letter public, Mr Peppiatt has received numerous emails, phone calls and text messages from unknown sources. One such message says: ‘We r (sic) doing a KISS AND TELL on u.’ Whilst an email reads, ‘I’m one of your FB [Facebook] friends and it’s about time you were honest with people. Stop the bullshit Pepps. We all know everything about you. Meet me at 8pm outside GH.’
The Independant
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Neo-Nazi "adopted" highway may be named for Holocaust survivor (USA)
Missouri lawmakers will back a plan to name a stretch of highway for a Holocaust survivor, three years after a neo-Nazi group "adopted" it in a litter-clearing program, the bill's sponsor said on Friday.
Representative Sara Lampe said she respects the free speech rights of the National Socialist Movement, but wants people to see Springfield, a stronghold of Christian activism in America's Bible Belt, as welcoming Jews and all faiths.
The bid to have the 1.5 mile stretch of highway near Springfield named for Rabbi Ernest Jacob has strong bipartisan support and the backing of his family, she said.
"It's important when people travel down that highway to know we have diversity in this community," Lampe, a Springfield Democrat, told Reuters on Friday.
Jacob moved to Springfield after World War II and was known for working well with ministers of all faiths for the good of the religious community, Lampe said.
The proposal passed a Missouri House committee on Tuesday and Lampe expects it to win full approval of the legislature this spring. The signs could go up late this summer, she said.
An effort to name the highway section after another rabbi ended two years ago after objections from his family. A bill to name the segment for Nazi war criminal hunter Simon Wiesenthal failed to gain legislative approval last year.
Reuters
Representative Sara Lampe said she respects the free speech rights of the National Socialist Movement, but wants people to see Springfield, a stronghold of Christian activism in America's Bible Belt, as welcoming Jews and all faiths.
The bid to have the 1.5 mile stretch of highway near Springfield named for Rabbi Ernest Jacob has strong bipartisan support and the backing of his family, she said.
"It's important when people travel down that highway to know we have diversity in this community," Lampe, a Springfield Democrat, told Reuters on Friday.
Jacob moved to Springfield after World War II and was known for working well with ministers of all faiths for the good of the religious community, Lampe said.
The proposal passed a Missouri House committee on Tuesday and Lampe expects it to win full approval of the legislature this spring. The signs could go up late this summer, she said.
An effort to name the highway section after another rabbi ended two years ago after objections from his family. A bill to name the segment for Nazi war criminal hunter Simon Wiesenthal failed to gain legislative approval last year.
Reuters
BNP 'unlikely' to fight to replace councillor after resignation (UK)
And it seems likely there will be no attempt to replace him at the upcoming May local elections.
The far-right party sprang a shock when it comfortably won Swanley St Mary’s ward in a 2009 by-election after a Labour councillor resigned.
In doing so he became the first BNP councillor to be elected outside of London.
Mr Golding, who was once expelled from the party for allegedly attacking its only ethnic minority councillor, said he resigned because he had moved out of the area and was no longer able to attend council meetings or work on behalf of residents.
According to the party’s south east regional director, the BNP is unlikely to field a replacement candidate in the May 5 elections.
John Underwood, a Labour councillor for St Mary’s ward, welcomed his decision to resign.
"He only attended three council meetings the whole year," he said. "He has completely disappeared.
"Yes I’m pleased in a way because we can get on and do our work. He was totally useless, he never accepted any committee posts and he only ever turned up when he felt like it.
"He was most critical about everyone else and could make offensive comments at times."
Mr Golding resigned on Monday with immediate effect. He said: "Basically I’ve moved out of the area and I can no longer carry out my duties.
"I cannot carry out the duties of a councillor on behalf of my constituents so I want to allow the seat to go to someone else.
"I did not want to carry on taking the money, the allowance, while I was not able to do any work."
Asked if he had felt any hostility while at the council because he represented the views of the far-right party, he said: "Not at all, all the council officials were always fair and friendly.
"The only hostility was from Labour councillors."
Mr Golding, former communication director for the BNP, would not say where he has moved to, but said he would continue as a south east regional fundraiser for the party.
Andy McBride, south east regional director for the BNP, said the party was unlikely to put forward another candidate to fight for the St Mary’s seat in the May 5 elections.
"We don’t have a meeting until Tuesday next week," he said. "County organisations will decide whether it is going to be viable.
"To win that seat was an anomaly. I’m not aware of any candidate at the moment. We are concentrating on reform and a major reworking of the party, getting rid of people who have caused us problems."
When Mr Golding snatched the St Mary’s seat it, was the first BNP victory in the south east outside London.
At the time he said: "Young people in this ward have said they find it almost impossible to get a council house.
"All the council houses are given to foreigners and asylum seekers – that has got to stop."
Sevenoaks council’s Labour group leader Bryan Harrod said the party would be fighting hard to regain the sewith strong candidates.
In response to Mr Golding’s departure, he said: "I don’t think he has been a very effective councillor. He only turns up at full council now and against so I don’t see how he can be putting forward the residents concerns.
Kent News
Call for calm ahead of English Defence League and Unite Against Fascism protests (UK)
Community leaders appealed for calm ahead of protests by the English Defence League. Hundreds of right-wing demonstrators are set to descend upon the town centre on Saturday afternoon.
A rival protest by the left-wing group Unite Against Fascism was also set to take place in Deeplish – sparking fears of clashes between the opposing factions.
But faith leaders were urging people to stay calm, while the police had vowed to clamp down on any violence.
Mushtaq Ahmed, chairman of Rochdale Council of Mosques, said that he had asked Muslims not to join in during Friday prayers yesterday.
He told the Observer: "We are asking people not to organise their own counter protests as it will not help.
"We have heard that there may be some young men coming from neighbouring towns and we do not welcome them.
"We have got good community cohesion here in Rochdale and hopefully it will pass off peacefully.
"The EDL have a democratic right and we respect that as long as it does not cause problems for the rest of the community."
More than 500 EDL members were expected to meet in the town before holding a demonstration outside the town hall and war memorial from about 1.30pm.
Seventy-four people were arrested and seven injured in violent clashes between the EDL and UAF during a protest in Bolton last March while 10 people were injured and 44 arrested during an EDL protest in Manchester city centre in October 2009.
But Leon Britain, north west organiser for the EDL, said the Rochdale protest would be peaceful.
He said: "We are coming to Rochdale to highlight the paedophile grooming in the town and have been invited by our Rochdale division.
"We are not out to cause tension and do not go out intent on causing trouble.
"If you look at our previous demonstrations in Bolton and Manchester where there has been fighting it has only been because of the police force being against us and from radical Islamists attacking us."
Chief Supt John O' Hare, the man in charge of Rochdale police, was leading the security operation.
He said: "This event will be policed in a professional and sensitive manner but I must make it clear that anyone who is coming with the sole intention of intimidating communities or inciting violence and racism can expect a swift and robust police response.
"GMP has been working extremely closely with the council, all faith groups in the town and other partners to inform residents and address any concerns they have.
"Our police operation does not finish once the demonstrators leave town.
"There will be an extensive policing operation into the night and in the days afterwards."
Town centre pubs were expected to remain open as usual and Roger Ellis, chief executive of Rochdale council, said shops would trade as normal while the protest took place.
He said: "Public safety is our priority and police will be joined by officers from various council services to provide a substantial and visible reassuring presence throughout the day, during the event and afterwards.
"We respect everyone's democratic right to undertake a peaceful demonstration but be assured that we will support the police in dealing swiftly with any criminal or public order offences."
MP Simon Danczuk said: "I understand that many people are angry at the cuts, frustrated that they're working harder for less and looking for scapegoats.
"But Rochdale should not be bullied by the English Defence League who are coming to our town to sow division, fear and hatred."
Manchester Evening News
A rival protest by the left-wing group Unite Against Fascism was also set to take place in Deeplish – sparking fears of clashes between the opposing factions.
But faith leaders were urging people to stay calm, while the police had vowed to clamp down on any violence.
Mushtaq Ahmed, chairman of Rochdale Council of Mosques, said that he had asked Muslims not to join in during Friday prayers yesterday.
He told the Observer: "We are asking people not to organise their own counter protests as it will not help.
"We have heard that there may be some young men coming from neighbouring towns and we do not welcome them.
"We have got good community cohesion here in Rochdale and hopefully it will pass off peacefully.
"The EDL have a democratic right and we respect that as long as it does not cause problems for the rest of the community."
More than 500 EDL members were expected to meet in the town before holding a demonstration outside the town hall and war memorial from about 1.30pm.
Seventy-four people were arrested and seven injured in violent clashes between the EDL and UAF during a protest in Bolton last March while 10 people were injured and 44 arrested during an EDL protest in Manchester city centre in October 2009.
But Leon Britain, north west organiser for the EDL, said the Rochdale protest would be peaceful.
He said: "We are coming to Rochdale to highlight the paedophile grooming in the town and have been invited by our Rochdale division.
"We are not out to cause tension and do not go out intent on causing trouble.
"If you look at our previous demonstrations in Bolton and Manchester where there has been fighting it has only been because of the police force being against us and from radical Islamists attacking us."
Chief Supt John O' Hare, the man in charge of Rochdale police, was leading the security operation.
He said: "This event will be policed in a professional and sensitive manner but I must make it clear that anyone who is coming with the sole intention of intimidating communities or inciting violence and racism can expect a swift and robust police response.
"GMP has been working extremely closely with the council, all faith groups in the town and other partners to inform residents and address any concerns they have.
"Our police operation does not finish once the demonstrators leave town.
"There will be an extensive policing operation into the night and in the days afterwards."
Town centre pubs were expected to remain open as usual and Roger Ellis, chief executive of Rochdale council, said shops would trade as normal while the protest took place.
He said: "Public safety is our priority and police will be joined by officers from various council services to provide a substantial and visible reassuring presence throughout the day, during the event and afterwards.
"We respect everyone's democratic right to undertake a peaceful demonstration but be assured that we will support the police in dealing swiftly with any criminal or public order offences."
MP Simon Danczuk said: "I understand that many people are angry at the cuts, frustrated that they're working harder for less and looking for scapegoats.
"But Rochdale should not be bullied by the English Defence League who are coming to our town to sow division, fear and hatred."
Manchester Evening News
Daily Star reporter quits in protest at tabloid's 'anti-Muslim' coverage (UK)
Richard Peppiatt admits producing fictional stories about celebrities and accuses tabloid of inciting racial tensions.
The Daily Star has been accused of printing fictional stories by a disgruntled reporter who has resigned over its "hatemongering" anti-Muslim propaganda.
In a resignation letter, Richard Peppiatt said he was leaving after the Star gave sympathetic coverage to the far-right English Defence League last month.
Peppiatt admits producing a number of fictional stories about celebrities during his two years at the tabloid, a practice he implies was sanctioned by his seniors.
The reporter, who was once made to dress up in a burqa, now accuses the paper of inciting racial tensions and Islamaphobia. "You may have heard the phrase 'the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil sets off a tornado in Texas'," Peppiatt wrote to the proprietor, Richard Desmond, in a letter seen by the Guardian.
"Well, try this: 'The lies of a newspaper in London can get a bloke's head caved-in down an alley in Bradford.' If you can't see that words matter, you should go back to running porn magazines."
Desmond's media empire has included pornographic magazines and adult TV channels as well as Express newspapers, Channel 5 and celebrity magazines. Desmond has said he was not consulted before the decision to publish the front-page story and editorial about the EDL.
Peppiatt tells him in his letter: "The weight of your ownership rests heavy on the shoulders of everyone, from the editor to the bloke who empties the bins."
Peppiatt, who handed in his resignation this week, said the "incendiary" suggestion the EDL was planning to field election candidates was known to be an exaggeration. "But further up the newsprint chain it appears a story, too good to allow the mere spectre of reality to restrain, was spotted," he wrote.
The EDL story is one of a number of prominent articles published by the Star that Peppiatt claims were made up, including some of his own. The reporter was recently involved in stories claiming Rochdale council had spent taxypayers' money on "Muslim-only squat-hole loos". In fact, the toilets were neither paid for by the local authority or "Muslim-only".
"I was tasked with writing a gloating follow-up declaring our post-modern victory in 'blocking' the non-existent Islamic cisterns of evil," Peppiatt wrote. The Press Complaints Commission later ruled the story was inaccurate and misleading.
The reporter also quotes Kelly Brook, who recently complained about the number of fabricated stories she reads about herself on the internet. She said: "There was a story that I'd seen a hypnotherapist to help me cut down on the time I take to get ready to go out. Where do they [journalists] get it from?"
Peppiatt wrote: "Maybe I should answer that one. I made it up. Not that it was my choice: I was told to." He said he had "plucked" the story about Brook's experimentation with hypnotherapy from his imagination, adding: "Not that it was all bad. I pocketed a £150 bonus."
In a list of "my other earth-shattering exclusives" for the Star, Peppiatt recalls producing articles about Michael Jackson, the pop star Robbie Williams and Katie Price which he said had no factual basis.
He also admits making up a story suggesting that Matt Lucas was on suicide watch following the death of the comedian's former civil partner. Lucas won substantial damages in court. Peppiatt criticises the Star's editorial judgment in his letter, accusing it of hypocrisy, and "arranging the day's news based on the size of the subjects' breasts".
He adds: "On the awe-inspiring day millions took to the streets of Egypt to demand freedom, your paper splashed on: JORDAN … THE MOVIE. A snub to history? Certainly," he writes. "An affront to Journalism? Most definitely."
As a young reporter desperate to make his name in Fleet Street, Peppiatt concedes he took to his commissions "with gusto", but now questions the ethics of what he was required to do, suggesting he was at times promoting an anti-Muslim agenda.
"On order I dressed up as John Lennon, a vampire, a Mexican, Noel Gallagher, St George (twice), Santa Claus, Aleksandr the Meerkat, the Stig, a transvestite, Alex Reid. When I was ordered to wear a burqa in public for the day, I asked: 'Just a head scarf or full veil?' Even after being ambushed by anti-terror cops when panicked Londoners reported 'a bloke pretending to be a Muslim woman', I didn't complain.
"Mercifully, I'd discovered some backbone by the time I was told to find some burqa-clad shoppers (spot the trend?) to pose with for a picture [with me] dressed in just a pair of skin-tight M&S underpants."
Peppiatt's letter concludes by criticising Desmond for not providing greater resources. "When you assign budgets thinner than your employee-issue loo roll there's little option but for Daily Star editors to build a newspaper from cut-and-paste jobs off the Daily Mail website, all tied together with gormless press releases.
"But when that cheap-and-cheerful journalism gives the oxygen of publicity to corrosive groups like the EDL ... it's time to lay down my pen."
The Daily Star rejected Peppiatt's claims, implying he may hold a grudge against his employer after being "passed over" for several staff positions. It said: "Regarding the paper's coverage of Islam, he never voiced any disquiet over the tone. For the record, the Daily Star editorial policy does not hold any negativity towards Islam and the paper has never, and does not endorse, the EDL."[Peppiatt] refers to a Kelly Brook story – in fact he approached and offered the newspaper that story, vouched for its accuracy, and then asked for and received an extra freelance fee for doing so," the statement said.
The Star also claimed that Peppiatt had been warned by senior reporters after suggesting he would make up quotes.
The Guardian
Read the letter in full Here
In a resignation letter, Richard Peppiatt said he was leaving after the Star gave sympathetic coverage to the far-right English Defence League last month.
Peppiatt admits producing a number of fictional stories about celebrities during his two years at the tabloid, a practice he implies was sanctioned by his seniors.
The reporter, who was once made to dress up in a burqa, now accuses the paper of inciting racial tensions and Islamaphobia. "You may have heard the phrase 'the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil sets off a tornado in Texas'," Peppiatt wrote to the proprietor, Richard Desmond, in a letter seen by the Guardian.
"Well, try this: 'The lies of a newspaper in London can get a bloke's head caved-in down an alley in Bradford.' If you can't see that words matter, you should go back to running porn magazines."
Desmond's media empire has included pornographic magazines and adult TV channels as well as Express newspapers, Channel 5 and celebrity magazines. Desmond has said he was not consulted before the decision to publish the front-page story and editorial about the EDL.
Peppiatt tells him in his letter: "The weight of your ownership rests heavy on the shoulders of everyone, from the editor to the bloke who empties the bins."
Peppiatt, who handed in his resignation this week, said the "incendiary" suggestion the EDL was planning to field election candidates was known to be an exaggeration. "But further up the newsprint chain it appears a story, too good to allow the mere spectre of reality to restrain, was spotted," he wrote.
The EDL story is one of a number of prominent articles published by the Star that Peppiatt claims were made up, including some of his own. The reporter was recently involved in stories claiming Rochdale council had spent taxypayers' money on "Muslim-only squat-hole loos". In fact, the toilets were neither paid for by the local authority or "Muslim-only".
"I was tasked with writing a gloating follow-up declaring our post-modern victory in 'blocking' the non-existent Islamic cisterns of evil," Peppiatt wrote. The Press Complaints Commission later ruled the story was inaccurate and misleading.
The reporter also quotes Kelly Brook, who recently complained about the number of fabricated stories she reads about herself on the internet. She said: "There was a story that I'd seen a hypnotherapist to help me cut down on the time I take to get ready to go out. Where do they [journalists] get it from?"
Peppiatt wrote: "Maybe I should answer that one. I made it up. Not that it was my choice: I was told to." He said he had "plucked" the story about Brook's experimentation with hypnotherapy from his imagination, adding: "Not that it was all bad. I pocketed a £150 bonus."
In a list of "my other earth-shattering exclusives" for the Star, Peppiatt recalls producing articles about Michael Jackson, the pop star Robbie Williams and Katie Price which he said had no factual basis.
He also admits making up a story suggesting that Matt Lucas was on suicide watch following the death of the comedian's former civil partner. Lucas won substantial damages in court. Peppiatt criticises the Star's editorial judgment in his letter, accusing it of hypocrisy, and "arranging the day's news based on the size of the subjects' breasts".
He adds: "On the awe-inspiring day millions took to the streets of Egypt to demand freedom, your paper splashed on: JORDAN … THE MOVIE. A snub to history? Certainly," he writes. "An affront to Journalism? Most definitely."
As a young reporter desperate to make his name in Fleet Street, Peppiatt concedes he took to his commissions "with gusto", but now questions the ethics of what he was required to do, suggesting he was at times promoting an anti-Muslim agenda.
"On order I dressed up as John Lennon, a vampire, a Mexican, Noel Gallagher, St George (twice), Santa Claus, Aleksandr the Meerkat, the Stig, a transvestite, Alex Reid. When I was ordered to wear a burqa in public for the day, I asked: 'Just a head scarf or full veil?' Even after being ambushed by anti-terror cops when panicked Londoners reported 'a bloke pretending to be a Muslim woman', I didn't complain.
"Mercifully, I'd discovered some backbone by the time I was told to find some burqa-clad shoppers (spot the trend?) to pose with for a picture [with me] dressed in just a pair of skin-tight M&S underpants."
Peppiatt's letter concludes by criticising Desmond for not providing greater resources. "When you assign budgets thinner than your employee-issue loo roll there's little option but for Daily Star editors to build a newspaper from cut-and-paste jobs off the Daily Mail website, all tied together with gormless press releases.
"But when that cheap-and-cheerful journalism gives the oxygen of publicity to corrosive groups like the EDL ... it's time to lay down my pen."
The Daily Star rejected Peppiatt's claims, implying he may hold a grudge against his employer after being "passed over" for several staff positions. It said: "Regarding the paper's coverage of Islam, he never voiced any disquiet over the tone. For the record, the Daily Star editorial policy does not hold any negativity towards Islam and the paper has never, and does not endorse, the EDL."[Peppiatt] refers to a Kelly Brook story – in fact he approached and offered the newspaper that story, vouched for its accuracy, and then asked for and received an extra freelance fee for doing so," the statement said.
The Star also claimed that Peppiatt had been warned by senior reporters after suggesting he would make up quotes.
The Guardian
Friday, 4 March 2011
Race attackers given detention (Wales, UK)
A fast food takeaway was the scene of chaos when two women were attacked by four customers.
At one point, one of the women had her hair extensions pulled out and paraded in front of her by an attacker. The two black women were then ridiculed when monkey noises and gestures were made at them.
Amy Morgan, 20, of Ash Crescent, Merthyr Tydfil, admitted two counts of common assault and Toni Pippin, 18, of Heol Ty Mawr, Merthyr Tydfil, admitted two counts of racially aggravated common assault.
Two other teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were also in the dock.
A 16-year-old girl admitted two counts of racially aggravated common assault and her 17-year-old female co-defendant two counts of common assault.
Laurence Jones, prosecuting at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, said all four had been in the local McDonald’s restaurant when the two victims walked in on the evening of May 28.
They were subjected to monkey noises as one of the girls jumped up and down making animal gestures and food was thrown at them as they were physically attacked.
At one point, one of them had her hair extensions pulled out as she was dragged across the floor. Manager Darren Edwards had to step in to stop the attack as they grappled on the floor.
Andrew Davies, defending Pippin, who has a record for violence, said she had turned to drink and drugs at a very early age but was now in a stable relationship and expecting a child.
Claire Wilks, defending Morgan, said the Matalan worker was “immature” and “prone to giggling”.
“She is quite a quiet young lady,” she said.
The court heard only Pippin had a criminal record and that the two unnamed teens were high achieving individuals in sporting and academic arenas with promising futures.
The 16-year-old was given six months’ detention and the 17-year-old four months, while Morgan was given four months and Pippin 12 months, both in a young offender’s institution.
Wales Online
At one point, one of the women had her hair extensions pulled out and paraded in front of her by an attacker. The two black women were then ridiculed when monkey noises and gestures were made at them.
Amy Morgan, 20, of Ash Crescent, Merthyr Tydfil, admitted two counts of common assault and Toni Pippin, 18, of Heol Ty Mawr, Merthyr Tydfil, admitted two counts of racially aggravated common assault.
Two other teenagers, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were also in the dock.
A 16-year-old girl admitted two counts of racially aggravated common assault and her 17-year-old female co-defendant two counts of common assault.
Laurence Jones, prosecuting at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court, said all four had been in the local McDonald’s restaurant when the two victims walked in on the evening of May 28.
They were subjected to monkey noises as one of the girls jumped up and down making animal gestures and food was thrown at them as they were physically attacked.
At one point, one of them had her hair extensions pulled out as she was dragged across the floor. Manager Darren Edwards had to step in to stop the attack as they grappled on the floor.
Andrew Davies, defending Pippin, who has a record for violence, said she had turned to drink and drugs at a very early age but was now in a stable relationship and expecting a child.
Claire Wilks, defending Morgan, said the Matalan worker was “immature” and “prone to giggling”.
“She is quite a quiet young lady,” she said.
The court heard only Pippin had a criminal record and that the two unnamed teens were high achieving individuals in sporting and academic arenas with promising futures.
The 16-year-old was given six months’ detention and the 17-year-old four months, while Morgan was given four months and Pippin 12 months, both in a young offender’s institution.
Wales Online
SURVIVORS OF ROMA HOLOCAUST VICTIMS AGAINST BAN ON STAY (Czech Rep.)
Survivors of the Roma Holocaust victims ask Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas to prevent debate on a proposal for ban on stay in certain municipalities and other similar steps, in an open letter signed by Cenek Ruzicka, chair of the Committee for the Redress of the Roma Holocaust. The letter says these are "anti-social measures" and that society would "get even more radical" in its relation to the Roma if the proposals were implemented. The proposal to ban stay in certain municipalities in reaction to misdemeanours has been made by deputy Ivana Rapkova (senior ruling Civic Democrats, ODS), former mayor of Chomutov, north Bohemia, that has a strong Roma minority. She said the fines that can now be imposed on perpetrators of misdemeanours are not sufficient and that town halls should have the opportunity to ban unadaptable inhabitants, as Roma are often referred to, from staying in a town or village for up to one year for breaching the peace and coexistence. Liana Janackova (Independents), mayor of the Marianske Hory neighbourhood of Ostrava, north Moravia, previously spoke about the introduction of the right of domicile.
The mayors of some 60 towns and villages have signed a statement demanding more powers for self-rule authorities in dealing with defaulters and unadaptable inhabitants. The statement was approved at a recent meeting of town and villages' representatives in Novy Bydzov, east Bohemia. Ruzicka wrote that the survivors of the Romani victims of Nazis and former internment camps' Romani prisoners follow "the worsening relationship of a bigger number of inhabitants as well as top politicians towards Roma" with fears. "The anti-Romani phobia afflicted mayors and other politicians" want to push through the ban on stay, says the letter. It points to similar measures taken by the first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-38) at the end of the 1920s. "Citizens, represented by their mayors, also forced lawmakers to pass a humiliating law that banned my parents and 40,000 other Roma from entering selected towns and villages," Ruzicka wrote. He wrote that the proposed changes would have a "tragic" impact on Roma and that this would tarnish the name of the Czech Republic in the EU.
Prague Monitor
The mayors of some 60 towns and villages have signed a statement demanding more powers for self-rule authorities in dealing with defaulters and unadaptable inhabitants. The statement was approved at a recent meeting of town and villages' representatives in Novy Bydzov, east Bohemia. Ruzicka wrote that the survivors of the Romani victims of Nazis and former internment camps' Romani prisoners follow "the worsening relationship of a bigger number of inhabitants as well as top politicians towards Roma" with fears. "The anti-Romani phobia afflicted mayors and other politicians" want to push through the ban on stay, says the letter. It points to similar measures taken by the first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-38) at the end of the 1920s. "Citizens, represented by their mayors, also forced lawmakers to pass a humiliating law that banned my parents and 40,000 other Roma from entering selected towns and villages," Ruzicka wrote. He wrote that the proposed changes would have a "tragic" impact on Roma and that this would tarnish the name of the Czech Republic in the EU.
Prague Monitor
Arizona bombing suspects' trial delayed (USA)
A Phoenix judge has agreed to delay the trial of two men accused of being white supremacists who are charged in a 2004 bombing that injured a black city official in Scottsdale, according to court documents obtained Wednesday.
Twin brothers Dennis and Daniel Mahon had been scheduled to go on trial starting March 9, but U.S. District Judge David Campbell last week ordered that the trial be postponed by nine months. It is now scheduled to begin on Jan. 10.
In his order, Campbell said that he was extending the trail date at the brothers' request and based on a "substantial" amount of information disclosed by the government in the case.
The brothers are charged in a bombing on Feb. 26, 2004, when a package detonated in the hands of Don Logan, Scottsdale's diversity director at the time. The explosion injured Logan's hand and arm and also hurt a secretary.
The brothers, who were arrested in June 2009 at their home in Davis Junction, Ill., are charged with conspiracy to damage buildings and property by means of explosive. Authorities found assault weapons, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and white supremacist material in the home.
They have pleaded not guilty. They remain in federal custody.
Their trial date has been postponed several times because of the amount of evidence in their case.
Logan has denied requests to speak about the case but spoke in court during a hearing for Daniel Mahon shortly after his arrest.
"This individual represents hate, and that hate is a danger to the community," Logan said as he repeatedly turned to look Mahon in the eye. "That someone would come to Arizona and launch an attack simply because my skin color is different from theirs, simply because of hate, ... is unconscionable."
In a letter filed as evidence in federal court, Dennis Mahon wrote that he led the White Knights of the KKK from 1987 to 1991, and that brother Daniel was never a member of the group, only a "small money supporter."
Dennis Mahon also is charged with malicious damage of a building by means of explosive and distribution of information related to explosives.
Sify.com
Twin brothers Dennis and Daniel Mahon had been scheduled to go on trial starting March 9, but U.S. District Judge David Campbell last week ordered that the trial be postponed by nine months. It is now scheduled to begin on Jan. 10.
In his order, Campbell said that he was extending the trail date at the brothers' request and based on a "substantial" amount of information disclosed by the government in the case.
The brothers are charged in a bombing on Feb. 26, 2004, when a package detonated in the hands of Don Logan, Scottsdale's diversity director at the time. The explosion injured Logan's hand and arm and also hurt a secretary.
The brothers, who were arrested in June 2009 at their home in Davis Junction, Ill., are charged with conspiracy to damage buildings and property by means of explosive. Authorities found assault weapons, hundreds of rounds of ammunition and white supremacist material in the home.
They have pleaded not guilty. They remain in federal custody.
Their trial date has been postponed several times because of the amount of evidence in their case.
Logan has denied requests to speak about the case but spoke in court during a hearing for Daniel Mahon shortly after his arrest.
"This individual represents hate, and that hate is a danger to the community," Logan said as he repeatedly turned to look Mahon in the eye. "That someone would come to Arizona and launch an attack simply because my skin color is different from theirs, simply because of hate, ... is unconscionable."
In a letter filed as evidence in federal court, Dennis Mahon wrote that he led the White Knights of the KKK from 1987 to 1991, and that brother Daniel was never a member of the group, only a "small money supporter."
Dennis Mahon also is charged with malicious damage of a building by means of explosive and distribution of information related to explosives.
Sify.com
Incompetence or design? A BNP article by Searchlight. (UK)
Admin comment. Please subscribe to Searchlight, one of the UK's best sources for anti-BNP/anti-fascist news.
Does the British National Party’s leader have a death wish? Nick Griffin has widely been accused of being incompetent or distracted by his role as an MEP, but increasingly members are wondering whether he is destroying the party deliberately.
The party has suffered a run of very poor by-election results since last May, but it is Griffin’s damaging appointments to senior party positions that are causing hitherto loyal supporters finally to desert him and the party’s regional bases to disintegrate.
Just when the BNP’s Yorkshire region should have been throwing everything into the Barnsley Central by-election campaign on 3 March, members were left confused and disillusioned by Griffin’s imposition of Ian Kitchen as the Yorkshire regional organiser and Simon Goodricke, who served an 18-month prison sentence for perverting the course of justice by tipping off fraudsters while a West Midlands Police detective constable, as his deputy.
Inevitably, it did not take long for Kitchen’s wife Linda, who has stood as a BNP candidate and addresses party meetings, to attract the interest of the media – specifically the Sunday Sport – for her starring role in a hard-core porn film.
Nobody doubted that Griffin had been fully aware of her “outside interests” when he replaced the popular Chris Beverley with Mr Kitchen, who brings little organisational ability to the job. Even more embarrassing was that he appointed the couple to organise this summer’s Red, White and Blue so-called family festival this summer.
Even when the Sunday Sport turned the party into a laughing stock, Griffin stuck by the Kitchens and instead suspended the respected Yorkshire activist Nick Cass for committing the sin of inviting party members to a “special private meeting” to discuss Kitchen’s appointment and the party’s dire financial state. It took a full five days for the BNP to announce that the Kitchens had “laid down all their roles in the party with immediate effect”, leaving Adam Walker, the BNP’s national organiser, to assume charge of the Barnsley campaign.
According to Cass, party members in Yorkshire are “leaving in their droves” and “fed up of being treated like skivvies whilst the leadership offers no explanation for the party’s current financial mess and lack of meaningful leadership”.
Barnsley Central contains several wards in which the BNP has polled 20-31% in recent years and in Enis Dalton the party has a local candidate without any known skeletons in her cupboard. After the BNP’s disastrous showing in the Oldham by-election in January, Griffin tried desperately to concoct excuses and blame others. He now seems to be going all out to achieve a similar failure in Barnsley.
Another region where Griffin appears to be scuppering the BNP’s chances is Wales, which faces Welsh Assembly elections in May. In 2007 the BNP took almost 5% of the vote and nearly got a candidate elected in the regional list section of the election, which is fought under proportional representation.
The ‘liar’ and the thug
Differences between BNP members in Wales came to a head at the BNP’s annual organisers’ meeting in Stoke-on-Trent on 12 February. Kevin Edwards, a Llandybie community councillor and Pembrokeshire party organiser, had tendered his resignation from the party the previous Monday after being inundated with calls from “distraught ex and current members” angry at the conviction of a BNP member for a vicious assault at a working men’s club before Christmas.
The assault was not the first time that Roger Phillips had shown his thuggish nature. Last year he posted death threats against Baroness Uddin on Facebook and in December 2009 he made an expletive-filled telephone call threatening to kill a man who posted an anti-BNP video on YouTube. His Patriot Products business sold racist merchandise including golliwog badges with the names and colours of Premier League football clubs and his Facebook photos included one of a cornflakes box with an open-mouthed black minstrel and the doctored logo “Coon flakes”.
Edwards drew all this to Griffin’s attention, describing Phillips as “unstable” and “a ticking bomb”, who has set the BNP back years in Wales. Griffin replied: “He’s got to go. I’m shocked that this was not dealt with in South Wales ages ago”. Relieved, Edwards withdrew his resignation.
Yet when Edwards turned up at the organisers’ meeting Brian Mahoney, the Wales regional organiser and Griffin loyalist, informed him that the party’s Advisory Council had met the previous night and decided that nothing was to be done about Phillips. If the press broke the story a few days before polling day, “then let them do it”, said Mahoney.
This “shattered” Edwards’s belief in Griffin’s “integrity and honesty”. Resigning again, Edwards explained: “Nick is either a blatant liar, politically naïve or just listens to some very bad advise [sic]”.
Edwards is not the only key activist to leave recently. In the North West region, where Griffin sits as an MEP, James Clayton, one of the party’s new younger activists, resigned as Blackpool organiser and West Lancashire coordinator, saying he no longer wished “to hold a position of responsibility in the charade and financial Bermuda Triangle that is the BNP”.
Paul Morris, the Eastern regional organiser, also resigned apparently unable to cope with the job. According to Eddy Butler, who was expelled from the BNP last year after challenging Griffin for the leadership, no BNP meetings or activities have taken place since the general election in Epping Forest, Morris’s own area, where the BNP once had six councillors now down to one. In the entire region there are “only a couple of functioning units now”, says Butler, compared to about 25 before the general election.
Admittedly Morris suffered under the handicap of sharing the same name as a prolific Welsh blogger who posts under the name “Green Arrow”. That Paul Morris has also become disillusioned with the BNP after a long period of sycophantic belief that the party could do no wrong. His hero-worship of Griffin was mostly not reciprocated – Griffin regarded him with contempt – though on one occasion, desperate for all the support he could get, Griffin invited him to speak at a Red, White and Blue festival and was filmed shaking his hand.
Edwards’s resignation and the Kitchen porn scandal resulted in Morris withdrawing his website’s unconditional support for the BNP, though not his belief that there is no better person than Griffin to lead the party, it is only Griffin’s incompetent advisers who are the problem.
Chronic waste and chaos
But Griffin has gone out of his way to appoint unsuitable people to senior party positions. The moronic Clive Jefferson was in quick succession given the jobs of north west regional organiser, national elections officer, national organiser, national nominating officer and party treasurer, as well as retaining his job on Griffin’s constituency staff paid for by the European Parliament. Even the most capable person could not have done all those jobs properly.
Jefferson in effect controls the BNP together with Patrick Harrington, who is not a BNP member but a leader of a rival party. He appears to have performed little better than Jefferson. According to Paul Golding, who resigned as the BNP’s communications officer last autumn but remains a BNP councillor, six months after Harrington’s appointment as party manager, “we still have chronic wastage, staff chaos, inefficiency, no contracts (a legal requirement), no staff training and wages not paid and several NEW employment-related court cases looming. Several staff are even complaining that they are employed but haven’t got any work to do.”
Golding also castigated the party’s failure to make any effort at fighting by-elections. Instead, explains Golding, Griffin has been “completely taken in by the promises and fantasies” of Jefferson, who promoted the “grand dream” of catching up with the mainstream parties’ “amazing online electioneering databases”. That was why Griffin told Golding he was not bothered to fight elections until the new system, named Alfred, came online to solve all the party’s electoral problems.
Griffin has said that would take two years, and no doubt several fundraising appeals, while providing a ready excuse for numerous electoral failures. But, according to Golding, instead of turning to reputable experts to develop a suitable elections database, the BNP “hired an amateur IT guy who downloaded a free piece of software off Google and began to bodge/edit it”.
Golding reveals that “the IT projects manager brought in to make Alfred work has walked away stating it will never work (and hasn’t been paid his wages in the process), so Alfred has been quietly shelved”, leaving the BNP with no election capability at all.
Griffin has said his main aim is to get re-elected as an MEP, yet he has also spoken of turning the BNP into a “civil rights” movement and abandoning elections. The next European election is in 2014 and Griffin may just be using it as an excuse to do nothing much for the next three years, by which time little will remain of his party. Either that or Griffin believes incredibly that people really will vote for him because of his participation in a parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg about which voters know and care little and BNP activists even less.
Searchlight
Does the British National Party’s leader have a death wish? Nick Griffin has widely been accused of being incompetent or distracted by his role as an MEP, but increasingly members are wondering whether he is destroying the party deliberately.
The party has suffered a run of very poor by-election results since last May, but it is Griffin’s damaging appointments to senior party positions that are causing hitherto loyal supporters finally to desert him and the party’s regional bases to disintegrate.
Just when the BNP’s Yorkshire region should have been throwing everything into the Barnsley Central by-election campaign on 3 March, members were left confused and disillusioned by Griffin’s imposition of Ian Kitchen as the Yorkshire regional organiser and Simon Goodricke, who served an 18-month prison sentence for perverting the course of justice by tipping off fraudsters while a West Midlands Police detective constable, as his deputy.
Inevitably, it did not take long for Kitchen’s wife Linda, who has stood as a BNP candidate and addresses party meetings, to attract the interest of the media – specifically the Sunday Sport – for her starring role in a hard-core porn film.
Nobody doubted that Griffin had been fully aware of her “outside interests” when he replaced the popular Chris Beverley with Mr Kitchen, who brings little organisational ability to the job. Even more embarrassing was that he appointed the couple to organise this summer’s Red, White and Blue so-called family festival this summer.
Even when the Sunday Sport turned the party into a laughing stock, Griffin stuck by the Kitchens and instead suspended the respected Yorkshire activist Nick Cass for committing the sin of inviting party members to a “special private meeting” to discuss Kitchen’s appointment and the party’s dire financial state. It took a full five days for the BNP to announce that the Kitchens had “laid down all their roles in the party with immediate effect”, leaving Adam Walker, the BNP’s national organiser, to assume charge of the Barnsley campaign.
According to Cass, party members in Yorkshire are “leaving in their droves” and “fed up of being treated like skivvies whilst the leadership offers no explanation for the party’s current financial mess and lack of meaningful leadership”.
Barnsley Central contains several wards in which the BNP has polled 20-31% in recent years and in Enis Dalton the party has a local candidate without any known skeletons in her cupboard. After the BNP’s disastrous showing in the Oldham by-election in January, Griffin tried desperately to concoct excuses and blame others. He now seems to be going all out to achieve a similar failure in Barnsley.
Another region where Griffin appears to be scuppering the BNP’s chances is Wales, which faces Welsh Assembly elections in May. In 2007 the BNP took almost 5% of the vote and nearly got a candidate elected in the regional list section of the election, which is fought under proportional representation.
The ‘liar’ and the thug
Differences between BNP members in Wales came to a head at the BNP’s annual organisers’ meeting in Stoke-on-Trent on 12 February. Kevin Edwards, a Llandybie community councillor and Pembrokeshire party organiser, had tendered his resignation from the party the previous Monday after being inundated with calls from “distraught ex and current members” angry at the conviction of a BNP member for a vicious assault at a working men’s club before Christmas.
The assault was not the first time that Roger Phillips had shown his thuggish nature. Last year he posted death threats against Baroness Uddin on Facebook and in December 2009 he made an expletive-filled telephone call threatening to kill a man who posted an anti-BNP video on YouTube. His Patriot Products business sold racist merchandise including golliwog badges with the names and colours of Premier League football clubs and his Facebook photos included one of a cornflakes box with an open-mouthed black minstrel and the doctored logo “Coon flakes”.
Edwards drew all this to Griffin’s attention, describing Phillips as “unstable” and “a ticking bomb”, who has set the BNP back years in Wales. Griffin replied: “He’s got to go. I’m shocked that this was not dealt with in South Wales ages ago”. Relieved, Edwards withdrew his resignation.
Yet when Edwards turned up at the organisers’ meeting Brian Mahoney, the Wales regional organiser and Griffin loyalist, informed him that the party’s Advisory Council had met the previous night and decided that nothing was to be done about Phillips. If the press broke the story a few days before polling day, “then let them do it”, said Mahoney.
This “shattered” Edwards’s belief in Griffin’s “integrity and honesty”. Resigning again, Edwards explained: “Nick is either a blatant liar, politically naïve or just listens to some very bad advise [sic]”.
Edwards is not the only key activist to leave recently. In the North West region, where Griffin sits as an MEP, James Clayton, one of the party’s new younger activists, resigned as Blackpool organiser and West Lancashire coordinator, saying he no longer wished “to hold a position of responsibility in the charade and financial Bermuda Triangle that is the BNP”.
Paul Morris, the Eastern regional organiser, also resigned apparently unable to cope with the job. According to Eddy Butler, who was expelled from the BNP last year after challenging Griffin for the leadership, no BNP meetings or activities have taken place since the general election in Epping Forest, Morris’s own area, where the BNP once had six councillors now down to one. In the entire region there are “only a couple of functioning units now”, says Butler, compared to about 25 before the general election.
Admittedly Morris suffered under the handicap of sharing the same name as a prolific Welsh blogger who posts under the name “Green Arrow”. That Paul Morris has also become disillusioned with the BNP after a long period of sycophantic belief that the party could do no wrong. His hero-worship of Griffin was mostly not reciprocated – Griffin regarded him with contempt – though on one occasion, desperate for all the support he could get, Griffin invited him to speak at a Red, White and Blue festival and was filmed shaking his hand.
Edwards’s resignation and the Kitchen porn scandal resulted in Morris withdrawing his website’s unconditional support for the BNP, though not his belief that there is no better person than Griffin to lead the party, it is only Griffin’s incompetent advisers who are the problem.
Chronic waste and chaos
But Griffin has gone out of his way to appoint unsuitable people to senior party positions. The moronic Clive Jefferson was in quick succession given the jobs of north west regional organiser, national elections officer, national organiser, national nominating officer and party treasurer, as well as retaining his job on Griffin’s constituency staff paid for by the European Parliament. Even the most capable person could not have done all those jobs properly.
Jefferson in effect controls the BNP together with Patrick Harrington, who is not a BNP member but a leader of a rival party. He appears to have performed little better than Jefferson. According to Paul Golding, who resigned as the BNP’s communications officer last autumn but remains a BNP councillor, six months after Harrington’s appointment as party manager, “we still have chronic wastage, staff chaos, inefficiency, no contracts (a legal requirement), no staff training and wages not paid and several NEW employment-related court cases looming. Several staff are even complaining that they are employed but haven’t got any work to do.”
Golding also castigated the party’s failure to make any effort at fighting by-elections. Instead, explains Golding, Griffin has been “completely taken in by the promises and fantasies” of Jefferson, who promoted the “grand dream” of catching up with the mainstream parties’ “amazing online electioneering databases”. That was why Griffin told Golding he was not bothered to fight elections until the new system, named Alfred, came online to solve all the party’s electoral problems.
Griffin has said that would take two years, and no doubt several fundraising appeals, while providing a ready excuse for numerous electoral failures. But, according to Golding, instead of turning to reputable experts to develop a suitable elections database, the BNP “hired an amateur IT guy who downloaded a free piece of software off Google and began to bodge/edit it”.
Golding reveals that “the IT projects manager brought in to make Alfred work has walked away stating it will never work (and hasn’t been paid his wages in the process), so Alfred has been quietly shelved”, leaving the BNP with no election capability at all.
Griffin has said his main aim is to get re-elected as an MEP, yet he has also spoken of turning the BNP into a “civil rights” movement and abandoning elections. The next European election is in 2014 and Griffin may just be using it as an excuse to do nothing much for the next three years, by which time little will remain of his party. Either that or Griffin believes incredibly that people really will vote for him because of his participation in a parliament in Brussels and Strasbourg about which voters know and care little and BNP activists even less.
Searchlight
BNP leader expected to visit Swansea ahead of Assembly elections (UK)
Admin comment: Apparently Griffin will be speaking at the Globe Inn in Landore on Saturday in Swansea.
The leader of the British National Party is expected to come to Swansea this weekend, to speak about the party's hopes of producing an upset at the forthcoming Assembly elections.
The visit of Nick Griffin is part of two "national days of action" by the far right party, to take place on March 5 and 12, with events planned over both North and South Wales, the Evening Post understands.
The BNP is keeping the venue for their leader's visit under wraps, with details being sent to group organisers to inform members, in a bid to keep away "lefty rent-a-mobs", according to party officials.
BNP spokesman Simon Darby said: "Unfortunately, if we announced the venue, there would be a problem with extreme left wingers, aligned to the Labour Party, turning out to put pressure on. We have prime minister David Cameron talking about freedom of speech in Libya, but we have a problem with it much closer to home".
Nick Griffin, who is a Member of the European Parliament for north west England, lives near Welshpool in Powys, and was a BNP candidate in the 2007 Welsh Assembly elections, for the South Wales West region.
The party received 8,993 votes, 5.5 per cent of those cast, behind the Labour party's 58,347 votes 35.8 per cent. The party, which Mr Griffin has led since 1999, believes it has a chance of upsetting the odds at the next Assembly elections on May 5.
Mr Darby added: "With the Assembly elections looming, it will soon reveal we are in the frame, and will upset some of our political opponents.
"The BNP reflects the sentiments of the people of Wales, and not the phoney alternatives of Plaid Cymru and Labour."
The BNP says it wants an immediate halt to all further immigration, the immediate deportation of criminal and illegal immigrants, and the introduction of a "system of voluntary resettlement" for legal immigrants.
In a special appeal to activists via the party's website, regional organiser Brian Mahoney said it was "time for all good men to come to the aid of the party.
"The Welsh Assembly election uses the d'Hondt formula of proportional representation for regional list seats. This is the same system which saw the British National Party gain its first seat in the London Assembly.
"Based on recent voting figures, the British National Party in Wales is in a position to seriously challenge for at least one, if not three, regional list seats in the Welsh Assembly in May."
This is South Wales
The visit of Nick Griffin is part of two "national days of action" by the far right party, to take place on March 5 and 12, with events planned over both North and South Wales, the Evening Post understands.
The BNP is keeping the venue for their leader's visit under wraps, with details being sent to group organisers to inform members, in a bid to keep away "lefty rent-a-mobs", according to party officials.
BNP spokesman Simon Darby said: "Unfortunately, if we announced the venue, there would be a problem with extreme left wingers, aligned to the Labour Party, turning out to put pressure on. We have prime minister David Cameron talking about freedom of speech in Libya, but we have a problem with it much closer to home".
Nick Griffin, who is a Member of the European Parliament for north west England, lives near Welshpool in Powys, and was a BNP candidate in the 2007 Welsh Assembly elections, for the South Wales West region.
The party received 8,993 votes, 5.5 per cent of those cast, behind the Labour party's 58,347 votes 35.8 per cent. The party, which Mr Griffin has led since 1999, believes it has a chance of upsetting the odds at the next Assembly elections on May 5.
Mr Darby added: "With the Assembly elections looming, it will soon reveal we are in the frame, and will upset some of our political opponents.
"The BNP reflects the sentiments of the people of Wales, and not the phoney alternatives of Plaid Cymru and Labour."
The BNP says it wants an immediate halt to all further immigration, the immediate deportation of criminal and illegal immigrants, and the introduction of a "system of voluntary resettlement" for legal immigrants.
In a special appeal to activists via the party's website, regional organiser Brian Mahoney said it was "time for all good men to come to the aid of the party.
"The Welsh Assembly election uses the d'Hondt formula of proportional representation for regional list seats. This is the same system which saw the British National Party gain its first seat in the London Assembly.
"Based on recent voting figures, the British National Party in Wales is in a position to seriously challenge for at least one, if not three, regional list seats in the Welsh Assembly in May."
This is South Wales
ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACKS DROPPED 50 PERCENT IN 2010 (France)
The number of anti-Semitic attacks in France dropped by half in 2010, French Ambassador Christophe Bigot announced on Wednesday. According to official data presented by Bigot, 466 anti- Semitic incidents were recorded in France in 2010, in comparison to 832 in 2009. “[The cause for the decrease is] the police, the work of justice, the work of high-school education and the vigilance of the media,” Bigot said. “It’s not only due to the relative calm in the region. There was the flotilla incident that could have provoked more attacks, but still we’ve seen a decrease,” said Bigot referring to Israel’s raid on a Gazabound ship that left nine activists dead and dozens wounded in May last year.
According to French statistics from 2010, the number of anti-Semitic incidents included one attempted murder of a Jewish individual, 56 violent attacks, eight arson attempts, 66 cases of sabotage or vandalism and 366 threats made against Jewish institutions or individuals. Bigot said no official data exists on the personal backgrounds of the people behind anti-Semitic attacks in France or their motivations, but he rejected suspicions that a disproportionate number of perpetrators might be French Muslims. “I am not sure there are more anti-Semitic attacks from this community,” he said, referring to French Muslims.
Attacks on Jewish institutions and individuals in France peaked in 2009 in a large part due to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The 2010 numbers represent a return to the figures from 2008 when 474 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded. Since 2004, the French government has allocated 15 million euros to increase security surrounding 349 synagogues and schools that serve the country’s estimated 600,000 Jews, the world’s second largest Jewish community outside of Israel. In addition, since December 2009, a specially appointed French government official has been coordinating efforts to battle anti-Semitism.
Bigot said at the press conference that France’s policy on fighting anti-Semitism has won praise from many Jewish leaders, including Anti- Defamation League head Abraham Foxman. He said his government would not tolerate any hate crimes and continue to try and reduce the number of anti-Semitic incidents in 2011. “There is still a high-level of anti-Semitism in Europe,” Bigot said, “and not only should we not deny this, but we need to recognize it so we can fight it.”
Jerusalem Post
According to French statistics from 2010, the number of anti-Semitic incidents included one attempted murder of a Jewish individual, 56 violent attacks, eight arson attempts, 66 cases of sabotage or vandalism and 366 threats made against Jewish institutions or individuals. Bigot said no official data exists on the personal backgrounds of the people behind anti-Semitic attacks in France or their motivations, but he rejected suspicions that a disproportionate number of perpetrators might be French Muslims. “I am not sure there are more anti-Semitic attacks from this community,” he said, referring to French Muslims.
Attacks on Jewish institutions and individuals in France peaked in 2009 in a large part due to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The 2010 numbers represent a return to the figures from 2008 when 474 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded. Since 2004, the French government has allocated 15 million euros to increase security surrounding 349 synagogues and schools that serve the country’s estimated 600,000 Jews, the world’s second largest Jewish community outside of Israel. In addition, since December 2009, a specially appointed French government official has been coordinating efforts to battle anti-Semitism.
Bigot said at the press conference that France’s policy on fighting anti-Semitism has won praise from many Jewish leaders, including Anti- Defamation League head Abraham Foxman. He said his government would not tolerate any hate crimes and continue to try and reduce the number of anti-Semitic incidents in 2011. “There is still a high-level of anti-Semitism in Europe,” Bigot said, “and not only should we not deny this, but we need to recognize it so we can fight it.”
Jerusalem Post
Drunken welder directed racist abuse at passenger.
A welder directed a racist remark at a train passenger before launching into a tirade within her earshot, a court heard.
Stephen Larkin told Darlington Magistrates' Court he had been drinking all day and could not remember using racist language towards the woman, who had asked him to vacate her reserved seat when she boarded the train at Potters Bar.
Derek Walton, prosecuting, said Larkin, who was travelling from London King's Cross, had started making racist remarks as he got off the train at Darlington.
"At this point he turned to a female passenger and said, 'Are you a white n*****?', to which the female passenger made no reply, " Mr Walton told the court.
Larkin then repeated the same remark to the woman, who again ignored him, said Mr Walton.
Both the defendant and the woman then got on a train going to Saltburn, the court heard.
MrWalton said Larkin then initiated a conversation with a female conductor on the train and started making racist remarks, near to where the female passenger was sitting.
"He then said, 'This place is full of Indian bastards', " Mr Walton added.
The 56-year-old pleaded guilty to racial harassment, which happened last month.
Leanne Galbraith, mitigating, said although Larkin was unable to remember his actions, he fully accepted the accounts of the female passenger and the conductor.
She said an outburst of this type was completely out of character and he was extremely remorseful about his actions.
She said he had been down to London several times to close a business deal, which had fallen through. She said he had started drinking at King's Cross and had continued throughout the journey.
Chairwoman of the Bench Margaret Cunningham told Larkin: "It was in a public place and likely to make ladies very uncomfortable and other passengers, and children, uncomfortable."
Larkin, of West Dyke Road, Redcar, was fined £100, and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £15 costs.
The Northern Echo
Stephen Larkin told Darlington Magistrates' Court he had been drinking all day and could not remember using racist language towards the woman, who had asked him to vacate her reserved seat when she boarded the train at Potters Bar.
Derek Walton, prosecuting, said Larkin, who was travelling from London King's Cross, had started making racist remarks as he got off the train at Darlington.
"At this point he turned to a female passenger and said, 'Are you a white n*****?', to which the female passenger made no reply, " Mr Walton told the court.
Larkin then repeated the same remark to the woman, who again ignored him, said Mr Walton.
Both the defendant and the woman then got on a train going to Saltburn, the court heard.
MrWalton said Larkin then initiated a conversation with a female conductor on the train and started making racist remarks, near to where the female passenger was sitting.
"He then said, 'This place is full of Indian bastards', " Mr Walton added.
The 56-year-old pleaded guilty to racial harassment, which happened last month.
Leanne Galbraith, mitigating, said although Larkin was unable to remember his actions, he fully accepted the accounts of the female passenger and the conductor.
She said an outburst of this type was completely out of character and he was extremely remorseful about his actions.
She said he had been down to London several times to close a business deal, which had fallen through. She said he had started drinking at King's Cross and had continued throughout the journey.
Chairwoman of the Bench Margaret Cunningham told Larkin: "It was in a public place and likely to make ladies very uncomfortable and other passengers, and children, uncomfortable."
Larkin, of West Dyke Road, Redcar, was fined £100, and ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge and £15 costs.
The Northern Echo
Pupils' race hate on Facebook explodes at Hoxton Park High School (Australia)
It had been simmering for months, say students, and this is the moment school racism reached boiling point.
A brawl that erupted between a student's relatives and police was the culmination of an R-rated slanging match on Facebook between "Leb" and "Aussie" students.
While education officials denied yesterday there was any ongoing violence at Hoxton Park High School in Hinchinbrook, south west Sydney, parents and students said tensions between students had escalated in the past few years.
A 14-year-old student said that she was "jumped" on Wednesday afternoon by "10 Australian girls" who punched, kicked, scratched and spat at her.
"They were saying, 'f ... Arabs', 'you bitch', 'you slut' - everything. They said all Muslim mums with scarves can hang themselves with it," the student said.
"I was very upset and very angry. [Other Muslim children] at school were very angry, too."
The girl said she didn't know why she was singled out by her attackers.
Posts on social networking site Facebook claimed the attack on this girl was in response to a fight between her friends and the group who "jumped" her two weeks ago.
The girl said she called her relatives for help and by 3pm a large crowd of her family and friends had gathered at the front of the school.
They allegedly clashed with police who used capsicum spray to subdue the crowd and arrested six men and women, aged between 26 and 50, who were later charged with offences including affray, intimidation, assaulting police, resisting arrest and offensive language.
Witness Zahra Elasmar, whose two children attend the school, said Wednesday's fight was a spillover from the racist slurs made on students' Facebook pages.
Facebook images obtained by The Daily Telegraph show derogatory comments made about other students including "lebs are rats!" .
Mrs Elasmar said she wrote to the Department of Education and Training about racism at the school and, with other parents, met with DET representatives, school staff and police liaison last month.
She said she collected 50 signatures on a petition sent to officials, but that it had fallen on deaf ears.
"The principal doesn't know how to deal with this," she said.
"What we witnessed today is not right in a multicultural country. We don't want another Cronulla [riot] at Hoxton Park."
A Department of Education and Training spokesman said the School Education Director will meet with Mrs Elasmar "soon" and that students who engage in racist or other anti-social behaviour are "disciplined".
Another parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said his son was attacked last year by "Leb students".
"He can protect himself, but I was worried," he said.
It was this brawl which caused the subsequent near-riot at the Green Valley Police Station.
While a police media release claimed only 40 supporters of the six people arrested over the school fight congregated outside the station, a police incident report obtained by The Daily Telegraph shows worried officers called in backup from units from across the South-Western Sydney command.
The report said police estimated "between 80 to 100" people - predominately young men - surrounded the police station.
When a breakaway group tried to storm the station, police found themselves "faced with a real danger and the possibility of a volatile and violent confrontation resulting in the urgent call for assistance".
Police with the assistance of surrounding local area commands, the dog squad and highway patrol officers took two hours to bring the large and angry group under control.
News.com.AU
A brawl that erupted between a student's relatives and police was the culmination of an R-rated slanging match on Facebook between "Leb" and "Aussie" students.
While education officials denied yesterday there was any ongoing violence at Hoxton Park High School in Hinchinbrook, south west Sydney, parents and students said tensions between students had escalated in the past few years.
A 14-year-old student said that she was "jumped" on Wednesday afternoon by "10 Australian girls" who punched, kicked, scratched and spat at her.
"They were saying, 'f ... Arabs', 'you bitch', 'you slut' - everything. They said all Muslim mums with scarves can hang themselves with it," the student said.
"I was very upset and very angry. [Other Muslim children] at school were very angry, too."
The girl said she didn't know why she was singled out by her attackers.
Posts on social networking site Facebook claimed the attack on this girl was in response to a fight between her friends and the group who "jumped" her two weeks ago.
The girl said she called her relatives for help and by 3pm a large crowd of her family and friends had gathered at the front of the school.
They allegedly clashed with police who used capsicum spray to subdue the crowd and arrested six men and women, aged between 26 and 50, who were later charged with offences including affray, intimidation, assaulting police, resisting arrest and offensive language.
Witness Zahra Elasmar, whose two children attend the school, said Wednesday's fight was a spillover from the racist slurs made on students' Facebook pages.
Facebook images obtained by The Daily Telegraph show derogatory comments made about other students including "lebs are rats!" .
Mrs Elasmar said she wrote to the Department of Education and Training about racism at the school and, with other parents, met with DET representatives, school staff and police liaison last month.
She said she collected 50 signatures on a petition sent to officials, but that it had fallen on deaf ears.
"The principal doesn't know how to deal with this," she said.
"What we witnessed today is not right in a multicultural country. We don't want another Cronulla [riot] at Hoxton Park."
A Department of Education and Training spokesman said the School Education Director will meet with Mrs Elasmar "soon" and that students who engage in racist or other anti-social behaviour are "disciplined".
Another parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said his son was attacked last year by "Leb students".
"He can protect himself, but I was worried," he said.
It was this brawl which caused the subsequent near-riot at the Green Valley Police Station.
While a police media release claimed only 40 supporters of the six people arrested over the school fight congregated outside the station, a police incident report obtained by The Daily Telegraph shows worried officers called in backup from units from across the South-Western Sydney command.
The report said police estimated "between 80 to 100" people - predominately young men - surrounded the police station.
When a breakaway group tried to storm the station, police found themselves "faced with a real danger and the possibility of a volatile and violent confrontation resulting in the urgent call for assistance".
Police with the assistance of surrounding local area commands, the dog squad and highway patrol officers took two hours to bring the large and angry group under control.
News.com.AU
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