A new poll in France puts far-right leader Marine Le Pen (pictured) ahead of President Sarkozy in next year’s presidential race, reviving fears of a repeat of the shocking 2002 election results which saw the far right come second.
Exactly nine years ago far-right's Jean-Marie Le Pen shocked the French establishment by coming in second in the 2002 presidential elections. Now his daughter is on track to repeat history, according to a new French poll.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigration National Front (FN), is projected to win enough votes to knock out President Nicolas Sarkozy from the second round of next year’s all important 2012 presidential election, the French daily Le Parisien's revealed on Thursday.
French presidential elections are organised into two rounds, with the two top vote winners of the first round advancing to a runoff.
Marine Le Pen, who took over the far-right party from her father in January, is ahead of all other potential candidates with the exception of French Socialist and International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
The poll, conducted by the French polling agency Harris Interactive, spells bad news for Sarkozy. The president would only advance to the second round if the candidate representing the main opposition Socialist Party were Segolene Royal, a former presidential candidate.
The famed “April 21” date still haunts many in France. It was on that day in 2002, that the National Front’s firebrand leader Jean-Marie Le Pen knocked out the Socialist candidate from the presidential race, setting up a runoff against former president Jacques Chirac.
Jean-Marie Le Pen eventually lost to Chirac and the FN’s popularity floundered in the following years, but the far right party has experienced a resurgence under Marine Le Pen, who is seen as more modern and less divisive than her father.
Premature polls
The poll confirmed a previous Le Parisien survey conducted in early March that gave Le Pen a considerable head start over Sarkozy, and even a small edge on IMF boss Strauss-Kahn. The March survey said Le Pen would gather 24% of French votes, beating Strauss-Kahn’s 23% and Sarkozy’s 20%.
In Thursday’s survey Strauss-Kahn climbed to 30% and Le Pen dipped down to 21%. Either way, the figures makes Le Pen a credible candidate in the 2012 race.
However, according to Jean-Yves Camus, political scientist at French Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), the poll is a poor indicator of the final results. The figures could change drastically once - and if - Strauss-Kahn and Sarkozy dive headfirst into the elections, Camus said.
While Strauss-Kahn’s candidature has been gathering momentum among opponents of Sarkozy, Strauss-Kahn himself has remained tight-lipped about his intention to run. The Socialists will not know who their candidate is until after their candidates square off in the much-anticipated, and potentially bruising, primaries in October.
President Sarkozy has also not officially announced his candidature. He is nonetheless expected to seek a second term and to mount a characteristically aggressive campaign to win back his core conservative constituency and avoid splintering the centre-right vote.
While all eyes are on Le Pen and the new-found confidence among France’s far right, her bid for next year’s election has not been insured either. Under French law she needs the signature of at least 150 mayors before she can present herself as a candidate.
IRIS’ Camus thinks she will succeed in attaining the endorsements, but still faces an uphill struggle to keep her poll numbers up. “She was the first candidate to start campaigning,” Camus explains. “But she will need to stay in the news and find something new to say everyday for the next 13 months, and that is not easy.”
France 24
Friday, 22 April 2011
Suspect in MLK Day bomb plot charged with hate crimes (USA)
A reputed neo-Nazi accused of planting a backpack bomb along the parade route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration was newly charged on Thursday with committing federal hate crimes.
The latest charges against Kevin Harpham, 36, were added to a federal indictment originally returned last month in an alleged bombing attempt in Spokane, Washington, on January 17, a national holiday celebrating the birth of the slain civil rights leader.
The three-page superseding indictment charges that Harpham tried to use the backpack bomb to injure individuals attending the parade because of their "actual or perceived race, color and national origin."
It also accuses him of seeking to use a destructive device in the furtherance of a hate crime.
Harpham faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.
He was arrested at his home in Colville, Washington, on March 9, about seven weeks after the bomb was discovered along the parade route. The device was neutralized by bomb technicians after it was found, and no one was hurt.
About 1,500 people attended the parade, which was rerouted when the bomb was discovered.
Harpham pleaded not guilty in March to charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and possessing an improvised explosive device.
Officials from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights group, said Harpham was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance in 2004.
U.S. officials have said little about the findings of the investigation that led to Harpham's arrest.
His lawyer, Roger Peven, a federal public defender, was not immediately available for comment on the latest charges.
Reuters
The latest charges against Kevin Harpham, 36, were added to a federal indictment originally returned last month in an alleged bombing attempt in Spokane, Washington, on January 17, a national holiday celebrating the birth of the slain civil rights leader.
The three-page superseding indictment charges that Harpham tried to use the backpack bomb to injure individuals attending the parade because of their "actual or perceived race, color and national origin."
It also accuses him of seeking to use a destructive device in the furtherance of a hate crime.
Harpham faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.
He was arrested at his home in Colville, Washington, on March 9, about seven weeks after the bomb was discovered along the parade route. The device was neutralized by bomb technicians after it was found, and no one was hurt.
About 1,500 people attended the parade, which was rerouted when the bomb was discovered.
Harpham pleaded not guilty in March to charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and possessing an improvised explosive device.
Officials from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights group, said Harpham was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance in 2004.
U.S. officials have said little about the findings of the investigation that led to Harpham's arrest.
His lawyer, Roger Peven, a federal public defender, was not immediately available for comment on the latest charges.
Reuters
Racism whistleblower faces 'negro slave' taunt (Sweden)
The man who reported two Lund University student groups over a party featuring guests dressed as "slaves" to be sold at auction has since been subjected to racial slurs at his workplace.
Jallow Momodou of the National Afro-Swedish Association (Afrosvenskarnas riksförbund) reported Halland and Helsingkrona student associations for failing to take action when guests who arrived at "jungle parties" showed up with blackened faces and ropes around their necks.
Following news of his complaint, Momodou arrived at his office at Malmö University on Wednesday morning to find posters on the library bulletin board featuring his face superimposed on the image of a naked man in chains.
"Our negro slave has run away," read the text on the posters.
Momodou, who had been alerted the night before that the posters may be circulating at the university, consulted the attending librarian.
He was told that a student had handed over a stock of similar posters on Tuesday night, which had apparently been printed out from the library computers.
"It felt awful…really, really bad," Momodou told The Local.
While he was also angered by the posters Momodou said he isn't surprised.
"For me it's proof that racism really exists in Sweden and is on a level comparable to the southern United States in the 1970s," he said.
Momodou has since reported the incident to the police.
And his supervisors and other high ranking officials at Malmö University all expressed their concern about the incident and promised to do what they could to ensure similar incidents didn't occur in the future.
In an interview published later on Wednesday by Lund University's student newspaper, Lundagård, controversial artist Dan Park, claimed responsibility for the posters.
"I want to make fun of the fact that people get upset about something like this," he told the newspaper.
At the time, Park was putting up copies of the poster in Lund.
He believes reaction to the "slave auction" has been blown out of proportion.
"Certain people are always offended. They have no sense of humour," he said.
Park was arrested while putting up the posters and is suspected of doing so without a permit. However, prosecutors will also look into whether he may be charged with racial agitation, the Expressen newspaper reports.
Now that the creator of the posters has been identified, however, Momodou hopes that the promises of action to address the incident will be realised.
"I'm really hoping and expecting that the university and police will take responsibility and show that such actions will not be tolerated," he said.
Momodou also lamented that no politicians had publicly condemned the "slave auction" incident, calling the lack of response "tragic".
"I'm a Swedish citizen and there are lots of Afro-Swedes who feel attacked by this," he said.
Momodou emphasised, however, that he wouldn't back down in the face of racism.
"I will not be intimidated," he said.
"If anything, this encourages me to keep fighting for my rights."
The Local Sweden
Jallow Momodou of the National Afro-Swedish Association (Afrosvenskarnas riksförbund) reported Halland and Helsingkrona student associations for failing to take action when guests who arrived at "jungle parties" showed up with blackened faces and ropes around their necks.
Following news of his complaint, Momodou arrived at his office at Malmö University on Wednesday morning to find posters on the library bulletin board featuring his face superimposed on the image of a naked man in chains.
"Our negro slave has run away," read the text on the posters.
Momodou, who had been alerted the night before that the posters may be circulating at the university, consulted the attending librarian.
He was told that a student had handed over a stock of similar posters on Tuesday night, which had apparently been printed out from the library computers.
"It felt awful…really, really bad," Momodou told The Local.
While he was also angered by the posters Momodou said he isn't surprised.
"For me it's proof that racism really exists in Sweden and is on a level comparable to the southern United States in the 1970s," he said.
Momodou has since reported the incident to the police.
And his supervisors and other high ranking officials at Malmö University all expressed their concern about the incident and promised to do what they could to ensure similar incidents didn't occur in the future.
In an interview published later on Wednesday by Lund University's student newspaper, Lundagård, controversial artist Dan Park, claimed responsibility for the posters.
"I want to make fun of the fact that people get upset about something like this," he told the newspaper.
At the time, Park was putting up copies of the poster in Lund.
He believes reaction to the "slave auction" has been blown out of proportion.
"Certain people are always offended. They have no sense of humour," he said.
Park was arrested while putting up the posters and is suspected of doing so without a permit. However, prosecutors will also look into whether he may be charged with racial agitation, the Expressen newspaper reports.
Now that the creator of the posters has been identified, however, Momodou hopes that the promises of action to address the incident will be realised.
"I'm really hoping and expecting that the university and police will take responsibility and show that such actions will not be tolerated," he said.
Momodou also lamented that no politicians had publicly condemned the "slave auction" incident, calling the lack of response "tragic".
"I'm a Swedish citizen and there are lots of Afro-Swedes who feel attacked by this," he said.
Momodou emphasised, however, that he wouldn't back down in the face of racism.
"I will not be intimidated," he said.
"If anything, this encourages me to keep fighting for my rights."
The Local Sweden
Thursday, 21 April 2011
More and more Czech celebrities supporting blockade of neo-Nazi march in Brno on 1 May
The brutal interventions recently committed by the Czech Police and Czech Interior Ministry officials against the nonviolent, peaceful blockades of neo-Nazi marches in the towns of Nový Bydžov and Krupka have not scared off those opposed to neo-Nazism. On the contrary, more and more celebrities from public life are starting to join their efforts.
The BRNO BLOCKS Initiative (BRNO BLOKUJE) is preparing a nonviolent blockade of the neo-Nazi march on 1 May 2011 in Brno and is calling on people to join them in Cejl street. "Neo-Nazi sympathizers want to march through the streets of Brno and have intentionally chosen a route that leads through Cejl street, a place where a large number of people from various minority groups, particularly Roma people, now live," reads the BRNO BLOCKS invitation received by news server Romea.cz. The exact place and time of this blockade will be specified later and news server Romea.cz will report those developments.
More and more celebrities are expressing support for this nonviolent blockade. People are standing up for the jeopardized residents of the quarter and drawing attention to the fact that the dissemination of fear and hatred cannot be ignored.
Those celebrities include singer Iva Bittová, fashion designer Liběna Rochová, clergyman and college instructor Tomáš Halík, author Ivan Klíma, the bands Midi Lidi and Čoko Voko, the actor and television host Jan Kraus, political scientist Jiří Pehe, philosopher Erazim Kohák, Brno-based actors Jiří Kniha and Jiří Vyorálek, actress Simona Babčáková, theologian Ivan Štampach, and the World Champion in Thai Boxing, Jan Müller. All of them supported the nonviolent blockade of the 1 May neo-Nazi march through Brno just days after it was publicized.
Fashion designer Liběna Rochová: "We do not want anyone to have to experience violence, fear, demonstrations of force, terror, or the feeling of powerlessness. Any form of violence is incompatible with a dignified life."
Clergyman and college instructor Tomáš Halík: "I express my sincere moral support to all who stand against the neo-Nazi extremist provocation in Brno in an unequivocally nonviolent but brave and full-hearted way."
Actor and television host Jan Kraus: "Like every other normal, slightly educated person I know that racism is the basis of the worst human behavior. History has proven that beyond the shadow of a doubt. The more of us who show we are prepared to protect our own freedom and our innocent fellow-citizens, the less risk there will be that the Nazis do something. Thank you for your Initiative, which I fully support. I am with you in spirit."
Jiří Pehe, political scientist and director of New York University in Prague: "I definitely support the activities of this initiative, which is doing its best to prevent the rise of extremist and neo-Nazi tendencies in Czech society. That is why I wish the 'BRNO BLOCKS Initiative much success and I thank the initiators for their civic courage."
Actress Simona Babčáková: "I support the BRNO BLOCKS Initiative because I believe it is necessary to show that certain aggressive, radically dogmatic approaches cannot be tolerated by society."
Jan Müller, World Super-Heavyweight Champion in Thai Boxing: "I believe that every person who realizes what these hateful ideologies can lead to is obliged to clearly, forcefully reject all manifestations of racism and xenophobia, whatever guise they take. A nonviolent blockade of this march is, in my opinion, a legitimate expression of our rejection of the promotion of racist and xenophobic ideas and I intend to support it."
Philosopher Erazim Kohák: "In an age of fear and hatred, solidarity is our only refuge. When the freedom and human dignity of any single person is jeopardized, it is not only a threat to all of us, but to this country as a place for coexisting in freedom, good will, and respect. I thank Brno for its blockade."
BRNO BLOCKS (BRNO BLOKUJE) considers a neo-Nazi march through a quarter where Roma families live to be a symbol of the fact that, 66 years after the end of the Second World War, and two years after neo-Nazis attempted to burn a Roma family alive in Vítkov, Czech society is not able to address the danger of the continued spread of fear, hatred and violence. "If these people are allowed to march undisturbed while chanting their racist slogans through the streets of Brno along the route of Koliště - Cejl - Milady Horákové streets, they will not only feel the streets are theirs, they will have the self-confidence to commit further attacks," Initiative representatives say.
In this situation, the Initiative considers a nonviolent civil blockade to be a legitimate response to the inability or unwillingness of the police to effectively take on these hate marches: "In other countries such a march would prompt an immediate reaction from the general public and thousands of people would stand in its way. On Sunday, 1 May 2011 we will try to do that in Brno. Support us. We will be glad if you can come directly to the blockade. More detailed information will be updated on our web page. You can also support us in other ways. Spread the word about this action to those you know and through social networking sites, or print out and distribute the fliers or posters for it."
Romea
The BRNO BLOCKS Initiative (BRNO BLOKUJE) is preparing a nonviolent blockade of the neo-Nazi march on 1 May 2011 in Brno and is calling on people to join them in Cejl street. "Neo-Nazi sympathizers want to march through the streets of Brno and have intentionally chosen a route that leads through Cejl street, a place where a large number of people from various minority groups, particularly Roma people, now live," reads the BRNO BLOCKS invitation received by news server Romea.cz. The exact place and time of this blockade will be specified later and news server Romea.cz will report those developments.
More and more celebrities are expressing support for this nonviolent blockade. People are standing up for the jeopardized residents of the quarter and drawing attention to the fact that the dissemination of fear and hatred cannot be ignored.
Those celebrities include singer Iva Bittová, fashion designer Liběna Rochová, clergyman and college instructor Tomáš Halík, author Ivan Klíma, the bands Midi Lidi and Čoko Voko, the actor and television host Jan Kraus, political scientist Jiří Pehe, philosopher Erazim Kohák, Brno-based actors Jiří Kniha and Jiří Vyorálek, actress Simona Babčáková, theologian Ivan Štampach, and the World Champion in Thai Boxing, Jan Müller. All of them supported the nonviolent blockade of the 1 May neo-Nazi march through Brno just days after it was publicized.
Fashion designer Liběna Rochová: "We do not want anyone to have to experience violence, fear, demonstrations of force, terror, or the feeling of powerlessness. Any form of violence is incompatible with a dignified life."
Clergyman and college instructor Tomáš Halík: "I express my sincere moral support to all who stand against the neo-Nazi extremist provocation in Brno in an unequivocally nonviolent but brave and full-hearted way."
Actor and television host Jan Kraus: "Like every other normal, slightly educated person I know that racism is the basis of the worst human behavior. History has proven that beyond the shadow of a doubt. The more of us who show we are prepared to protect our own freedom and our innocent fellow-citizens, the less risk there will be that the Nazis do something. Thank you for your Initiative, which I fully support. I am with you in spirit."
Jiří Pehe, political scientist and director of New York University in Prague: "I definitely support the activities of this initiative, which is doing its best to prevent the rise of extremist and neo-Nazi tendencies in Czech society. That is why I wish the 'BRNO BLOCKS Initiative much success and I thank the initiators for their civic courage."
Actress Simona Babčáková: "I support the BRNO BLOCKS Initiative because I believe it is necessary to show that certain aggressive, radically dogmatic approaches cannot be tolerated by society."
Jan Müller, World Super-Heavyweight Champion in Thai Boxing: "I believe that every person who realizes what these hateful ideologies can lead to is obliged to clearly, forcefully reject all manifestations of racism and xenophobia, whatever guise they take. A nonviolent blockade of this march is, in my opinion, a legitimate expression of our rejection of the promotion of racist and xenophobic ideas and I intend to support it."
Philosopher Erazim Kohák: "In an age of fear and hatred, solidarity is our only refuge. When the freedom and human dignity of any single person is jeopardized, it is not only a threat to all of us, but to this country as a place for coexisting in freedom, good will, and respect. I thank Brno for its blockade."
BRNO BLOCKS (BRNO BLOKUJE) considers a neo-Nazi march through a quarter where Roma families live to be a symbol of the fact that, 66 years after the end of the Second World War, and two years after neo-Nazis attempted to burn a Roma family alive in Vítkov, Czech society is not able to address the danger of the continued spread of fear, hatred and violence. "If these people are allowed to march undisturbed while chanting their racist slogans through the streets of Brno along the route of Koliště - Cejl - Milady Horákové streets, they will not only feel the streets are theirs, they will have the self-confidence to commit further attacks," Initiative representatives say.
In this situation, the Initiative considers a nonviolent civil blockade to be a legitimate response to the inability or unwillingness of the police to effectively take on these hate marches: "In other countries such a march would prompt an immediate reaction from the general public and thousands of people would stand in its way. On Sunday, 1 May 2011 we will try to do that in Brno. Support us. We will be glad if you can come directly to the blockade. More detailed information will be updated on our web page. You can also support us in other ways. Spread the word about this action to those you know and through social networking sites, or print out and distribute the fliers or posters for it."
Romea
Neo-Nazi website reappears on Hitler’s birthday (Austria)
The neo-Nazi website "alpen donau" reappeared today (Weds) on the occasion of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s birthday. He was born on 20 April 1889.
The website featured a change, however, from the former alpen.donau.info to alpen.donau.net. The former site disappeared from the net at the end of March after US authorities had taken action against the US server responsible for it.
The new site was registered on 16 April at Wild West Domains in Arizona.
The new website criticised today the 11 April arrest of Austrian neo-Nazi Gottfried Küssel and claimed that "no one can stop us. We are ready to make a counter-blow."
Küssel has been accused of cooperating with people behind "Alpe-Donau." Austrian officials had been forced to watch as anonymous neo-Nazis posted hate messages against foreigners in German on the homepage. "Alpe-Donau" also made headlines for revealing the home addresses and private phone numbers of several journalists and left-wing politicians.
Küssel’s arrest came around half a year after investigators had confiscated data storage devices and documents at dozens of apartments and offices in Vienna. Around a dozen of users of "Alpe-Donau" – which promoted events held by Küssel in cooperation with Czech neo-Nazis – have been identified in the meantime.
Officials said that, apart from Küssel, another suspect had been taken into custody. They added that various objects depicting Nazi era logos and slogans – which are banned under Austrian law – had been seized as six flats were searched on the evening of 11 April.
Investigators think that some of the suspects may also have links with the Freedom Party (FPÖ), the third-strongest political force in the federal parliament, according to reports. FPÖ boss Heinz-Christian Strache has pointed out many times over the past months that he and his party wanted to disassociate themselves from the disputed online forum.
Strache was pressed to speak out on the issue after participators in discussions on the website praised his party for its current policies. The FPÖ has sparked outcry among most political competitors for campaigning against members of the Islamic community in Austria who are unwilling to integrate into society. Strache has warned of the creation of "parallel societies" in several speeches on the campaign trail in recent years. Surveys show that the right-wing party could come in first if there was a general election this month.
Organisers of "Alpe-Donau" and people engaging in discussions in the website’s forum face several years in prison if prosecutors press charges under Austrian anti-Nazi propaganda law and regulations.
Vienna Times
The website featured a change, however, from the former alpen.donau.info to alpen.donau.net. The former site disappeared from the net at the end of March after US authorities had taken action against the US server responsible for it.
The new site was registered on 16 April at Wild West Domains in Arizona.
The new website criticised today the 11 April arrest of Austrian neo-Nazi Gottfried Küssel and claimed that "no one can stop us. We are ready to make a counter-blow."
Küssel has been accused of cooperating with people behind "Alpe-Donau." Austrian officials had been forced to watch as anonymous neo-Nazis posted hate messages against foreigners in German on the homepage. "Alpe-Donau" also made headlines for revealing the home addresses and private phone numbers of several journalists and left-wing politicians.
Küssel’s arrest came around half a year after investigators had confiscated data storage devices and documents at dozens of apartments and offices in Vienna. Around a dozen of users of "Alpe-Donau" – which promoted events held by Küssel in cooperation with Czech neo-Nazis – have been identified in the meantime.
Officials said that, apart from Küssel, another suspect had been taken into custody. They added that various objects depicting Nazi era logos and slogans – which are banned under Austrian law – had been seized as six flats were searched on the evening of 11 April.
Investigators think that some of the suspects may also have links with the Freedom Party (FPÖ), the third-strongest political force in the federal parliament, according to reports. FPÖ boss Heinz-Christian Strache has pointed out many times over the past months that he and his party wanted to disassociate themselves from the disputed online forum.
Strache was pressed to speak out on the issue after participators in discussions on the website praised his party for its current policies. The FPÖ has sparked outcry among most political competitors for campaigning against members of the Islamic community in Austria who are unwilling to integrate into society. Strache has warned of the creation of "parallel societies" in several speeches on the campaign trail in recent years. Surveys show that the right-wing party could come in first if there was a general election this month.
Organisers of "Alpe-Donau" and people engaging in discussions in the website’s forum face several years in prison if prosecutors press charges under Austrian anti-Nazi propaganda law and regulations.
Vienna Times
Bill White freed, going to Maryland for now (USA)
Free after more than two years in prison, William A. White will not be coming home to Roanoke, where he built a real estate business and a neo-Nazi organization before falling victim to his own hateful words.
White plans to live with his parents in Maryland -- at least for the time being, his attorney said Wednesday.
After a judge's decision to throw out a jury verdict that would have subjected him to more prison time, White was released about 11 a.m. Wednesday from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.
The leader of a now-defunct hate group, White has spent two and a half years locked up on charges of threatening, intimidating and encouraging violence against blacks, Jews and others he believed worthy of a white supremacist's wrath.
White seems to have little to return to in Roanoke.
The American National Socialist Workers Party, a neo-Nazi group he founded, is no more, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups. And the rental home business that White ran in the West End neighborhood has fallen victim to bankruptcy.
Still, White will have to come to Roanoke at least temporarily to visit probation officers as part of his three years of supervised release after his incarceration.
"At some point, he will be arriving in Roanoke, it appears," said Mike Price, a senior probation officer who is responsible for supervising the 33-year-old.
It's possible that White could ask that his probation be transferred to Maryland, where he will be living with his parents in their suburban Montgomery County home. Price declined to say if such a request has been made.
Nishay Sanan, a Chicago lawyer who represented White on his most recent charges, said his client already is making plans to meet with probation officials in Maryland.
White -- once described as one of the loudest and most obnoxious neo-Nazi leaders in America by the Southern Poverty Law Center -- walked free Wednesday on the orders of U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman.
His mother and wife were waiting to take him back to Maryland, Sanan said.
The previous day, Adelman ruled that a Chicago jury was wrong when it convicted White in January of using his website to encourage violence against the foreman of a jury that convicted a fellow white supremacist years ago.
White's behavior in that case mirrored his actions in many others: He publicized his target's home address and telephone numbers, injected some inflammatory rhetoric meant to appeal to his racist website's followers, but never made a direct threat against the juror.
In fighting the Chicago charge and seven similar ones in Roanoke, White sought protection from the First Amendment. More often than not, his defense worked.
But in the end, White's organization fell apart after he was sent to prison on the three charges for which a Roanoke jury ruled his actions crossed the line between free speech and criminal activity.
Now that he's out, White must refrain from using one of his favorite weapons.
As a condition of his probation, White is forbidden from participating in "any Internet related business or hobby involving a website, and the posting of any information on any website."
Brenda Hale, who White once deemed "a n----- in need of lynching" for her vigilance against him as president of the Roanoke chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said she expects White to eventually go back to his old ways.
Yet in a letter to The Roanoke Times, written while he was in prison, White said he planned to withdraw from the white supremacy movement and keep his website dark upon his release.
"I do not intend to recant my views," he wrote, "even if I will quiet them."
Roanoke.com
White plans to live with his parents in Maryland -- at least for the time being, his attorney said Wednesday.
After a judge's decision to throw out a jury verdict that would have subjected him to more prison time, White was released about 11 a.m. Wednesday from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.
The leader of a now-defunct hate group, White has spent two and a half years locked up on charges of threatening, intimidating and encouraging violence against blacks, Jews and others he believed worthy of a white supremacist's wrath.
White seems to have little to return to in Roanoke.
The American National Socialist Workers Party, a neo-Nazi group he founded, is no more, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate groups. And the rental home business that White ran in the West End neighborhood has fallen victim to bankruptcy.
Still, White will have to come to Roanoke at least temporarily to visit probation officers as part of his three years of supervised release after his incarceration.
"At some point, he will be arriving in Roanoke, it appears," said Mike Price, a senior probation officer who is responsible for supervising the 33-year-old.
It's possible that White could ask that his probation be transferred to Maryland, where he will be living with his parents in their suburban Montgomery County home. Price declined to say if such a request has been made.
Nishay Sanan, a Chicago lawyer who represented White on his most recent charges, said his client already is making plans to meet with probation officials in Maryland.
White -- once described as one of the loudest and most obnoxious neo-Nazi leaders in America by the Southern Poverty Law Center -- walked free Wednesday on the orders of U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman.
His mother and wife were waiting to take him back to Maryland, Sanan said.
The previous day, Adelman ruled that a Chicago jury was wrong when it convicted White in January of using his website to encourage violence against the foreman of a jury that convicted a fellow white supremacist years ago.
White's behavior in that case mirrored his actions in many others: He publicized his target's home address and telephone numbers, injected some inflammatory rhetoric meant to appeal to his racist website's followers, but never made a direct threat against the juror.
In fighting the Chicago charge and seven similar ones in Roanoke, White sought protection from the First Amendment. More often than not, his defense worked.
But in the end, White's organization fell apart after he was sent to prison on the three charges for which a Roanoke jury ruled his actions crossed the line between free speech and criminal activity.
Now that he's out, White must refrain from using one of his favorite weapons.
As a condition of his probation, White is forbidden from participating in "any Internet related business or hobby involving a website, and the posting of any information on any website."
Brenda Hale, who White once deemed "a n----- in need of lynching" for her vigilance against him as president of the Roanoke chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said she expects White to eventually go back to his old ways.
Yet in a letter to The Roanoke Times, written while he was in prison, White said he planned to withdraw from the white supremacy movement and keep his website dark upon his release.
"I do not intend to recant my views," he wrote, "even if I will quiet them."
Roanoke.com
BNP activist slams police over his arrest at protest (UK)
A former teacher and British National Party member has accused police of wasting taxpayers’ money after he was arrested for protesting.
Adam Walker, from Spennymoor, County Durham, was arrested by West Yorkshire Police in Wakefield, on Tuesday.
He was part of a ten-man BNP protest group supporting Wakefield and District Housing electrician Colin Atkinson.
Mr Atkinson faces a disciplinary hearing by the housing group for refusing to move an 8in palm cross on his work’s vehicle dashboard.
Mr Walker, an ex-technology teacher at Houghton Kepier Sports College, Houghtonle- Spring, near Sunderland, pledged his support.
He and the BNP group handed a letter to the bosses of the housing group, supporting Mr Atkinson.
He said: “We were there to protect the rights of a Christian who has been persecuted for his beliefs.
“We handed in the letter at 1pm and then 15 officers arrived on the scene.
“I was parked in a private car park and they said I was parked over a path and told me I had to move. I agreed to move and they tried to give me a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt in a private car park.
“I refused to give them my name because I felt I’d done nothing wrong. I have a solicitor looking into it now.
“They stuck the ticket on my windscreen without my name on it and it was thrown on the floor.
“They opened the car door and took my keys and then the police dragged me from the car and handcuffed me.
“They took my belongings from me as they walked me to their van and they took me to the police station, but didn’t charge me.
“They expect me to pay the £60 fine for the ticket, but it won’t be paid.
“I was exercising my right to peaceful protest and the police action was another big waste of taxpayers’ money.”
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “We can confirm one man was arrested in relation to unrelated matters.
“He was given a fixed penalty ticket in relation to minor motoring offences.”
Northern Echo
Adam Walker, from Spennymoor, County Durham, was arrested by West Yorkshire Police in Wakefield, on Tuesday.
He was part of a ten-man BNP protest group supporting Wakefield and District Housing electrician Colin Atkinson.
Mr Atkinson faces a disciplinary hearing by the housing group for refusing to move an 8in palm cross on his work’s vehicle dashboard.
Mr Walker, an ex-technology teacher at Houghton Kepier Sports College, Houghtonle- Spring, near Sunderland, pledged his support.
He and the BNP group handed a letter to the bosses of the housing group, supporting Mr Atkinson.
He said: “We were there to protect the rights of a Christian who has been persecuted for his beliefs.
“We handed in the letter at 1pm and then 15 officers arrived on the scene.
“I was parked in a private car park and they said I was parked over a path and told me I had to move. I agreed to move and they tried to give me a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt in a private car park.
“I refused to give them my name because I felt I’d done nothing wrong. I have a solicitor looking into it now.
“They stuck the ticket on my windscreen without my name on it and it was thrown on the floor.
“They opened the car door and took my keys and then the police dragged me from the car and handcuffed me.
“They took my belongings from me as they walked me to their van and they took me to the police station, but didn’t charge me.
“They expect me to pay the £60 fine for the ticket, but it won’t be paid.
“I was exercising my right to peaceful protest and the police action was another big waste of taxpayers’ money.”
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “We can confirm one man was arrested in relation to unrelated matters.
“He was given a fixed penalty ticket in relation to minor motoring offences.”
Northern Echo
EDL member jailed for Liverpool Street football brawl (UK)
An English Defence League member has been jailed for nine months after taking part in a pre-arranged brawl between football supporters in London.
Joel Titus, 19, took part in the "pitched battle" between supporters of Brentford and Leyton Orient outside Liverpool Street station in May 2010.
Titus, of Pinner, north-west London, and five other men admitted affray.
The brawl, during which people punched, kicked and threw bottles, was by "prior arrangement", the Old Bailey heard.
Dean Wells, 22, of Isleworth, west London, was jailed for 12 months, David Mitchell, 19, of Littlehampton, West Sussex, was sentenced to seven months and Andrew Hudson, 26, of Hornchurch, Essex, was given an eight-month jail term.
Steven Donovan, 20, of Hayes, west London, and Thomas Armstrong, 24, of Woodford Green, Essex, were each given suspended six-month sentences.
'Frightening spectacle'
Judge Timothy Pontius said all six had taken part in a "disgraceful display of violence" that terrified ordinary people using a busy railway station as bottles were thrown across the street during the fight.
The "pitched battle" must have been a "frightening spectacle", he said, which required a "firm deterrent message".
Titus, an A-level student, was previously been convicted of threatening behaviour for swearing at a police officer who was trying to break up a fight. He will be sentenced in May.
The incident took place while he was on bail following the football brawl, the Old Bailey heard.
He also has a previous caution for battery after hitting a journalist during a right-wing demonstration in December 2009.
Henrietta Paget, for the prosecution, said Brentford-supporting hooligans had travelled to the scene after a game against Hartlepool, to meet rival Leyton Orient supporters, who were on their way back from a match at Colchester in Essex.
The court heard Hudson told police that there was "history" between the clubs dating back to the 1980s.
Titus said he went to the scene after hearing some commotion, but denied any knowledge of the brawl being prearranged.
All six were given football banning orders.
BBC News
Joel Titus, 19, took part in the "pitched battle" between supporters of Brentford and Leyton Orient outside Liverpool Street station in May 2010.
Titus, of Pinner, north-west London, and five other men admitted affray.
The brawl, during which people punched, kicked and threw bottles, was by "prior arrangement", the Old Bailey heard.
Dean Wells, 22, of Isleworth, west London, was jailed for 12 months, David Mitchell, 19, of Littlehampton, West Sussex, was sentenced to seven months and Andrew Hudson, 26, of Hornchurch, Essex, was given an eight-month jail term.
Steven Donovan, 20, of Hayes, west London, and Thomas Armstrong, 24, of Woodford Green, Essex, were each given suspended six-month sentences.
'Frightening spectacle'
Judge Timothy Pontius said all six had taken part in a "disgraceful display of violence" that terrified ordinary people using a busy railway station as bottles were thrown across the street during the fight.
The "pitched battle" must have been a "frightening spectacle", he said, which required a "firm deterrent message".
Titus, an A-level student, was previously been convicted of threatening behaviour for swearing at a police officer who was trying to break up a fight. He will be sentenced in May.
The incident took place while he was on bail following the football brawl, the Old Bailey heard.
He also has a previous caution for battery after hitting a journalist during a right-wing demonstration in December 2009.
Henrietta Paget, for the prosecution, said Brentford-supporting hooligans had travelled to the scene after a game against Hartlepool, to meet rival Leyton Orient supporters, who were on their way back from a match at Colchester in Essex.
The court heard Hudson told police that there was "history" between the clubs dating back to the 1980s.
Titus said he went to the scene after hearing some commotion, but denied any knowledge of the brawl being prearranged.
All six were given football banning orders.
BBC News
Rugby League star Ben Cockayne faces probe over alleged racist comments on Facebook (UK)
A big money rugby league star was being investigated last night after racist comments appeared on his and a mate’s Facebook pages.
Super League ace Ben Cockayne, 27, allegedly posted “p*** c***” on the site earlier this week.
It is thought the Hull KR fullback wrote on a pal’s profile page: “u owe me a quid an the p*** c*** that has got my wallet in his car owes me about 100”. It is believed Cockayne was referring to a wallet which he had lost in a taxi.
But 53 minutes later Cockayne, who was given a 12-month suspended sentence in 2009 for an assault, wrote on Facebook: “Found it :) thank f***”.
Last night Cockayne’s Facebook profile was removed within hours of the Mirror contacting his club and the Rugby Football League. A Hull KR spokesman said: “The club will be carrying out a full internal investigation into comments allegedly made on a website by Ben Cockayne. Nobody will be commenting further until that has concluded.”
The Rugby Football League, which has a Kick Racism Into Touch campaign, said: “We will be speaking to Hull KR about a potential social media matter.”
The Mirror
Super League ace Ben Cockayne, 27, allegedly posted “p*** c***” on the site earlier this week.
It is thought the Hull KR fullback wrote on a pal’s profile page: “u owe me a quid an the p*** c*** that has got my wallet in his car owes me about 100”. It is believed Cockayne was referring to a wallet which he had lost in a taxi.
But 53 minutes later Cockayne, who was given a 12-month suspended sentence in 2009 for an assault, wrote on Facebook: “Found it :) thank f***”.
Last night Cockayne’s Facebook profile was removed within hours of the Mirror contacting his club and the Rugby Football League. A Hull KR spokesman said: “The club will be carrying out a full internal investigation into comments allegedly made on a website by Ben Cockayne. Nobody will be commenting further until that has concluded.”
The Rugby Football League, which has a Kick Racism Into Touch campaign, said: “We will be speaking to Hull KR about a potential social media matter.”
The Mirror
Russian migration official fired in racism row
The spokesman for Russia's main migration agency was fired Wednesday after saying in an interview the "survival of the white race was at stake" in Russia.
Konstantin Poltoranin, the Federal Migration Service's chief spokesman since 2005, said he did not understand why Europe fostered immigration from Africa and the Middle East.
Russia must be more cautious about "mixing bloods," he said in an interview with the BBC Russian Service just hours before his sacking.
"The survival of the white race is at stake and this is very palpable in Russia," Poltoranin said.
The head of the Federal Migration Service, Konstantin Romadanovsky, called the comments "unacceptable" and confirmed they had cost the spokesman his job, the state-run Itar-tass news agency reported.
The Kremlin added Poltoranin's interview had raised a red flag at the presidential administration and his sacking was a "logical and necessary step," a spokesman said.
In a subsequent interview, Poltoranin denied his comments were "racist," but stressed Russia should give priority to migrants who "know Russia, know our faith and accept our customs and laws."
The Russian Orthodox Church is the dominant faith, but about one-fifth of Russia's 143 million people are Muslims.
With its combustible mix of disenchanted ethnic Russian youth and labour migrants from the mostly Muslim North Caucasus and ex-Soviet Central Asia, Moscow has become a focal point of racial tensions.
In December, Moscow saw the worst nationalist riots in its post-Soviet history, with police unable to stop some 7,000 youths rallying near the Kremlin from attacking people of non-Slavic appearance in what President Dmitry Medvedev called "pogroms."
SOVA, a non-government group that tracks ethnic violence, said at least at least two people were killed and 68 injured in hate crimes last December, compared to three killed and 22 wounded for the same month in 2009.
At least 37 people were killed in hate crimes in Russia last year, it said.
Reuters
Konstantin Poltoranin, the Federal Migration Service's chief spokesman since 2005, said he did not understand why Europe fostered immigration from Africa and the Middle East.
Russia must be more cautious about "mixing bloods," he said in an interview with the BBC Russian Service just hours before his sacking.
"The survival of the white race is at stake and this is very palpable in Russia," Poltoranin said.
The head of the Federal Migration Service, Konstantin Romadanovsky, called the comments "unacceptable" and confirmed they had cost the spokesman his job, the state-run Itar-tass news agency reported.
The Kremlin added Poltoranin's interview had raised a red flag at the presidential administration and his sacking was a "logical and necessary step," a spokesman said.
In a subsequent interview, Poltoranin denied his comments were "racist," but stressed Russia should give priority to migrants who "know Russia, know our faith and accept our customs and laws."
The Russian Orthodox Church is the dominant faith, but about one-fifth of Russia's 143 million people are Muslims.
With its combustible mix of disenchanted ethnic Russian youth and labour migrants from the mostly Muslim North Caucasus and ex-Soviet Central Asia, Moscow has become a focal point of racial tensions.
In December, Moscow saw the worst nationalist riots in its post-Soviet history, with police unable to stop some 7,000 youths rallying near the Kremlin from attacking people of non-Slavic appearance in what President Dmitry Medvedev called "pogroms."
SOVA, a non-government group that tracks ethnic violence, said at least at least two people were killed and 68 injured in hate crimes last December, compared to three killed and 22 wounded for the same month in 2009.
At least 37 people were killed in hate crimes in Russia last year, it said.
Reuters
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
Moscow to see 'anti-fascist patrols' on Hitler's birthday (Russia)
Youth activists will patrol Moscow on Wednesday in a bid to prevent attacks by neo-Nazi groups celebrating the 122nd anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth, officials said.
Rosmolodezh - Russian Federal Agency of Youth Affairs - said that some 750 people from the country's "Volunteer Brigade" - an organization with close links to law enforcement bodies - and representatives of ethnic minority groups would "take under special control" squares, train stations and other public places.
April 20 has traditionally seen an increase attacks on ethnic minorities in Moscow and other Russian cities.
Ethnic tensions exploded in Moscow late last year after the killing of a football fan by a native of the country's mainly Muslim North Caucasus. Some 5,000 football hooligans and nationalists subsequently rioted near Red Square and clashes between ethnic Russians and internal migrants were reported across the country.
RiaNovosti
Rosmolodezh - Russian Federal Agency of Youth Affairs - said that some 750 people from the country's "Volunteer Brigade" - an organization with close links to law enforcement bodies - and representatives of ethnic minority groups would "take under special control" squares, train stations and other public places.
April 20 has traditionally seen an increase attacks on ethnic minorities in Moscow and other Russian cities.
Ethnic tensions exploded in Moscow late last year after the killing of a football fan by a native of the country's mainly Muslim North Caucasus. Some 5,000 football hooligans and nationalists subsequently rioted near Red Square and clashes between ethnic Russians and internal migrants were reported across the country.
RiaNovosti
Roanoke neo-Nazi Bill White may win freedom on free speech appeal (USA)
Neo-Nazi activist William A. White, who for the past three years has waged a First Amendment battle with the federal government, has won another round.
A U.S. District Court judge ruled today that a Chicago jury was wrong when it convicted White in January of using his website to solicit violence.
The decision means that White, who has been jailed almost continuously since October 2008, may soon be released.
It was not immediately clear if White intends to return to Roanoke, where he formed the American National Socialist Workers Party, a white supremacy movement that gained national attention.
In a decision today, Judge Lynn Adelman reversed a conviction that White -— angry at the conviction of a fellow white supremacist for trying to have a judge killed years ago -— used his website to solicit violence against the foreman of the jury.
White publicized the juror’s name and contact information, but made no direct threats against him. Prosecutors argued, and the jury agreed, that the posting should be taken in context with a campaign of intimidation and thinly-veiled threats that White maintained on his website, overthrow.com.
In reversing the jury’s verdict, Adelman ruled that White’s actions did not amount to a solicitation, and that they were protected by his free-speech rights.
"The First Amendment protects vehement, scathing and offensive criticism of others, including individuals involved in the criminal justice system," such as the juror, Adelman wrote.
White has been held in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, awaiting a decision from the judge. Because he has already completed a 2½ year prison term from previous convictions in Roanoke, While could be released as soon as today, said his Chicago attorney Nishay Sanan.
Federal prosecutors are expected to ask that White be sent back to jail pending an appeal, Sanan said.
Today’s decision is the latest in a back-and-forth conflict between the rights of a neo-Nazi to make hateful statements and the fears he struck in some of his targets.
Since 2008, federal authorities have filed eight charges against White, alleging in one form or another that he crossed the line between free speech and criminal activity. White was convicted of five charges in Roanoke and Chicago, although two of them -- including the one today -- were later reversed by judges.
"I think justice was done," Sanan said. "The First Amendment has been upheld."
"The government can’t just go around charging people who make unpopular speech."
Roanoke.com
A U.S. District Court judge ruled today that a Chicago jury was wrong when it convicted White in January of using his website to solicit violence.
The decision means that White, who has been jailed almost continuously since October 2008, may soon be released.
It was not immediately clear if White intends to return to Roanoke, where he formed the American National Socialist Workers Party, a white supremacy movement that gained national attention.
In a decision today, Judge Lynn Adelman reversed a conviction that White -— angry at the conviction of a fellow white supremacist for trying to have a judge killed years ago -— used his website to solicit violence against the foreman of the jury.
White publicized the juror’s name and contact information, but made no direct threats against him. Prosecutors argued, and the jury agreed, that the posting should be taken in context with a campaign of intimidation and thinly-veiled threats that White maintained on his website, overthrow.com.
In reversing the jury’s verdict, Adelman ruled that White’s actions did not amount to a solicitation, and that they were protected by his free-speech rights.
"The First Amendment protects vehement, scathing and offensive criticism of others, including individuals involved in the criminal justice system," such as the juror, Adelman wrote.
White has been held in Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, awaiting a decision from the judge. Because he has already completed a 2½ year prison term from previous convictions in Roanoke, While could be released as soon as today, said his Chicago attorney Nishay Sanan.
Federal prosecutors are expected to ask that White be sent back to jail pending an appeal, Sanan said.
Today’s decision is the latest in a back-and-forth conflict between the rights of a neo-Nazi to make hateful statements and the fears he struck in some of his targets.
Since 2008, federal authorities have filed eight charges against White, alleging in one form or another that he crossed the line between free speech and criminal activity. White was convicted of five charges in Roanoke and Chicago, although two of them -- including the one today -- were later reversed by judges.
"I think justice was done," Sanan said. "The First Amendment has been upheld."
"The government can’t just go around charging people who make unpopular speech."
Roanoke.com
Royal wedding to be ‘protected by EDL ring of steel’
The leader of the English Defence League says the organisation’s members will risk prosecution in a bid to protect next week’s royal wedding from Islamic extremists.
EDL leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, said ‘50 to 100’ members would be at each train station near Westminster Abbey to prevent extremist Muslims from reaching the ceremony.
Muslims Against Crusades announced this week that it planned to demonstrate outside the April 29 ceremony, but its bid was blocked yesterday by the Metropolitan Police.
The group was behind the burning of a poppies on Armistice Day last year.
In an announcement on its website, Muslims Against Crusades said it hoped “the day which the nation has been dreaming of for so long will become a nightmare”.
Mr Yaxley-Lennon, who runs a tanning salon in Hastings Street, Luton, said EDL members planned to physically stop Muslim extremists getting to Westminster Abbey.
“The police will let them have their protest but we’ll be at each train station to make sure they don’t come,” he said.
“It’s going to be a public order offence – there will be mass disorder. We will form a ring of steel around that wedding.
“It will be ordinary members of the public going in to prevent a crime because the police won’t stop it. “We will be issued with Section 14 orders because we would cause a breach of the peace.”
In its statement yesterday, Muslims Against Crusades said Prince William should “withdraw from the crusader British military and give up all affiliation to the tyrannical British Empire”.
They said the demonstration was justified to highlight Britain’s “quest to occupy Muslim land and wage war against the religion of God”.
Mr Yaxley-Lennon said ordinary Muslims heading to Westminster Abbey would have nothing to fear from the English Defence League.
“Muslims Against Crusades will be carrying black flags and will be in uniform so we will know who they are,” he said. “As soon as they come out of any station there’s going to be chaos.”
Asked whether he was concerned that the EDL’s presence would only cause further disruption, he said: “It can’t get any worse than if Muslims Against Crusades turn up. You have freedom of speech but this is ordinary members of the British public who are angry about this, which is what happened when they tried to disrupt the Poachers’ parade in Luton.”
Mr Yaxley-Lennon said he would not be in London himself on April 29 as he will be away on holiday.
Luton Today
EDL leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, said ‘50 to 100’ members would be at each train station near Westminster Abbey to prevent extremist Muslims from reaching the ceremony.
Muslims Against Crusades announced this week that it planned to demonstrate outside the April 29 ceremony, but its bid was blocked yesterday by the Metropolitan Police.
The group was behind the burning of a poppies on Armistice Day last year.
In an announcement on its website, Muslims Against Crusades said it hoped “the day which the nation has been dreaming of for so long will become a nightmare”.
Mr Yaxley-Lennon, who runs a tanning salon in Hastings Street, Luton, said EDL members planned to physically stop Muslim extremists getting to Westminster Abbey.
“The police will let them have their protest but we’ll be at each train station to make sure they don’t come,” he said.
“It’s going to be a public order offence – there will be mass disorder. We will form a ring of steel around that wedding.
“It will be ordinary members of the public going in to prevent a crime because the police won’t stop it. “We will be issued with Section 14 orders because we would cause a breach of the peace.”
In its statement yesterday, Muslims Against Crusades said Prince William should “withdraw from the crusader British military and give up all affiliation to the tyrannical British Empire”.
They said the demonstration was justified to highlight Britain’s “quest to occupy Muslim land and wage war against the religion of God”.
Mr Yaxley-Lennon said ordinary Muslims heading to Westminster Abbey would have nothing to fear from the English Defence League.
“Muslims Against Crusades will be carrying black flags and will be in uniform so we will know who they are,” he said. “As soon as they come out of any station there’s going to be chaos.”
Asked whether he was concerned that the EDL’s presence would only cause further disruption, he said: “It can’t get any worse than if Muslims Against Crusades turn up. You have freedom of speech but this is ordinary members of the British public who are angry about this, which is what happened when they tried to disrupt the Poachers’ parade in Luton.”
Mr Yaxley-Lennon said he would not be in London himself on April 29 as he will be away on holiday.
Luton Today
English Defence League youth facing jail over mass brawl (UK)
 |
| Joel Titus centre |
Joel Titus, 18, took part in the bloody brawl between Brentford and Leyton Orient supporters outside Liverpool Street station in central London in May last year.
The A-level student was captured on CCTV hurling objects at rivals and fighting over a wooden pole with another thug.
Titus had previously been cautioned for battery after punching a journalist at a right-wing demonstration against the "Islamification of Europe" in December 2009, the Old Bailey heard.
Earlier this year he was found guilty of threatening behaviour after snarling "f*** off" at a police officer who tried to break up a fight.
He is reported to be a youth organiser for the EDL and has appeared on the BBC Newsnight programme talking about his role in protests.
Titus, of North View, Pinner, north-west London, appeared in court alongside five other men, all of whom admitted a charge of affray at earlier hearings.
They are: Dean Wells, 24, of Isleworth, west London; Steven Donovan, 20, of Hayes, Middlesex; Andrew Hudson, 26, of Hornchurch, Essex; David Mitchell, 19, of Littlehampton, West Sussex; and Thomas Armstrong, 24, of Woodford Green, Essex.
All six were remanded in custody to be sentenced tomorrow.
The court heard that the mass brawl, which involved people punching and kicking and the use of weapons, as well as bottles being thrown, appeared to take place "by prior arrangement".
Henrietta Paget, prosecuting, said Brentford hooligans had travelled to the scene after their home match against Hartlepool, to meet Leyton Orient thugs on their way back from an away match at Colchester.
By early evening the Orient group, including Armstrong and Hudson, were drinking at Dirty Dicks bar in Bishopsgate while the other four defendants were among those at the Railway Tavern in Liverpool Street.
CCTV footage showed the two sets of hooligans coming together in a violent confrontation before being dispersed by the arrival of a police car.
One of the thugs, Hudson, later told police that there was "history" between supporters of the two clubs dating back to the 1980s.
Titus was captured on camera, wearing a khaki jacket with a hood up, fighting alongside fellow hooligans.
He later told police he was an Arsenal fan who occasionally went to watch Brentford and had been out that night celebrating the end of the football season.
Titus said he was at the scene of the violence after he heard shouting and jogged down to see what it was about, but denied knowing what the fight was about or that it was planned.
The court heard that he was wearing a glove on one hand, which was specially designed to protect him from glass.
In December last year, while on bail over the affray, he threatened a police officer who tried to break up a fight.
"Mr Titus, with a half-full pint glass of beer, said 'f*** off, you aren't wanted here' and moved aggressively towards him," said Miss Paget.
He was convicted of threatening behaviour and is due to be sentenced at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court in May.
There was also a conviction for knife possession in 2006.
In December 2009 he received a caution for battery following a "far-right demonstration" at Harrow civic centre to "stop the Islamification of Europe", during which he punched a journalist.
Veronica Ramsden, for Titus, said he had "done well academically".
She said he was studying for A-levels including media studies, hoping for an A-grade, and that he planned to go on to Birmingham University to pursue a degree.
Miss Ramsden said he was "heartily sorry" to have been involved in the violence.
24Dash
Research documents racism in Poland
Over 400 racist incidents have been catalogued by campaigners against xenophobia in a so-called Brown Book 2009-2010, released this week.
Physical attacks on non-white men and women are amongst the crimes included in the document, as well as the racist rhetoric of football fans and the vandalism of sacred sites.
The research was carried out by the anti-fascist magazine Nigdy Wiecej (Never Again), and the Monitoring Centre on Racism in Eastern Europe.
“The Brown Book proves how big a problem racism, neo-fascism and anti-Semitism still are in Poland, ” claims Nigdy Wiecej editor-in-chief Marcin Kornak.
As it is, a considerable portion of the crimes described in the book were carried out by neo-fascist and extreme right factions but some were on the spur of the moment incidents, says the report.
“Nigger [czarnuch] get out of Poland,” a citizen from Ghana was told in January 2009, as he was beaten up by a 27-year-old Pole in Wroclaw, reports the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
Likewise, in March 2009, a dark-skinned Swedish woman was hit in the face by three men in a shopping mall in Bialystok. According to reports, security from a Media Markt branch adjacent to the crime scene failed to come to the aid of the Swedish medicine student.
Graffiti in Jewish cemeteries, including inscriptions such as “Jews in the oven because that's where your place is,” are still common in Poland, claims the research.
Radio Maryja
Anti-Semitic remarks have also been recorded on the far-right Radio Marya, station, says the report, echoing old stereotypes that the Jews are collectively responsible for imposing communism on Poland. One listener in a phone-in programme apparently described a former MP from the Civic Platform party as a “Jewish-Communist Platform clown”, to which the presenter replied, “you use strong words, but they are justified.”
Besides incidents relating to Jews and blacks, the book also highlights some incidences of anti-German and anti-Ukrainian abuse.
But the problem is not just with the usual suspects of anti-Semites and the far-right in general. In Poland, throw-away racists quips can also be heard on mainstream media.
Last month, popular chat show host Kuba Wojewodzki made a series of jokes about a Nigerian contestant on his show on the private TVN station, remarking that the guest had “eaten a white woman”.
The ‘joke’ echoes a remark Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski made shortly after the election of Barack Obama as US president. Right wing MEP Ryszard Czarnecki, quoted on his blog back in 2008 the foreign minister as saying: "Have you heard that Obama may have a Polish connection? His grandfather ate a Polish missionary."
A spokesman for the Polish foreign office said that Sikorski was merely giving examples of the sort of remarks that can be heard about the new US president.
"Mr Sikorski did not tell a racist joke," ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski said at the time. "He was only giving an example of the unpalatable and racist 'jokes' that surround President Obama."
The News Pl
Physical attacks on non-white men and women are amongst the crimes included in the document, as well as the racist rhetoric of football fans and the vandalism of sacred sites.
The research was carried out by the anti-fascist magazine Nigdy Wiecej (Never Again), and the Monitoring Centre on Racism in Eastern Europe.
“The Brown Book proves how big a problem racism, neo-fascism and anti-Semitism still are in Poland, ” claims Nigdy Wiecej editor-in-chief Marcin Kornak.
As it is, a considerable portion of the crimes described in the book were carried out by neo-fascist and extreme right factions but some were on the spur of the moment incidents, says the report.
“Nigger [czarnuch] get out of Poland,” a citizen from Ghana was told in January 2009, as he was beaten up by a 27-year-old Pole in Wroclaw, reports the Gazeta Wyborcza daily.
Likewise, in March 2009, a dark-skinned Swedish woman was hit in the face by three men in a shopping mall in Bialystok. According to reports, security from a Media Markt branch adjacent to the crime scene failed to come to the aid of the Swedish medicine student.
Graffiti in Jewish cemeteries, including inscriptions such as “Jews in the oven because that's where your place is,” are still common in Poland, claims the research.
Radio Maryja
Anti-Semitic remarks have also been recorded on the far-right Radio Marya, station, says the report, echoing old stereotypes that the Jews are collectively responsible for imposing communism on Poland. One listener in a phone-in programme apparently described a former MP from the Civic Platform party as a “Jewish-Communist Platform clown”, to which the presenter replied, “you use strong words, but they are justified.”
Besides incidents relating to Jews and blacks, the book also highlights some incidences of anti-German and anti-Ukrainian abuse.
But the problem is not just with the usual suspects of anti-Semites and the far-right in general. In Poland, throw-away racists quips can also be heard on mainstream media.
Last month, popular chat show host Kuba Wojewodzki made a series of jokes about a Nigerian contestant on his show on the private TVN station, remarking that the guest had “eaten a white woman”.
The ‘joke’ echoes a remark Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski made shortly after the election of Barack Obama as US president. Right wing MEP Ryszard Czarnecki, quoted on his blog back in 2008 the foreign minister as saying: "Have you heard that Obama may have a Polish connection? His grandfather ate a Polish missionary."
A spokesman for the Polish foreign office said that Sikorski was merely giving examples of the sort of remarks that can be heard about the new US president.
"Mr Sikorski did not tell a racist joke," ministry spokesman Piotr Paszkowski said at the time. "He was only giving an example of the unpalatable and racist 'jokes' that surround President Obama."
The News Pl
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Smoke bomb ends Hitler birthday party (USA)
Lyons police are investigating a smoke bomb explosion that abruptly ended a birthday party celebration for Adolf Hitler at a Lyons banquet hall, a party complete with decorated cakes and Nazi banners.
The suspect, a man with a backpack, had ordered a grilled cheese sandwich before he went into a restroom and set off the smoke bomb, authorities said Monday.
"The description we have to work off of is very vague," police Chief Harley Schinker said of the person responsible for the damage Saturday night to P.J. Klem's Restaurant & Banquet Hall.
Art Jones, chairman of the America First Committee, said he organized the party and that about 60 people attended. In addition to celebrating the 122nd anniversary of Hitler's birth, which is Wednesday, Jones said the group marked the April 12, 1861, start of the Civil War.
The party included two cakes, Jones said. One was decorated with the words, "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler." The other bore the phrase, "The South Was Right. White Men Fight," Jones said.
Officers arrived at the restaurant and banquet hall about 6:15 p.m. Saturday after receiving a call about smoke, according to a release from Lyons police.
The smoke bomb caused no serious damage or injuries, but police evacuated and closed the restaurant to allow the Cook County sheriff's police bomb squad to search the building, Lyons police said.
Pete Klemetzos, general manager of Klem's, said he was unaware of the party's specific purpose when it was scheduled several weeks ago.
The same group has rented the banquet hall in previous years and was holding a peaceful gathering, he added.
"There was no 'Heil Hitler' or anything like that," Klemetzos said, although banners bearing swastikas were displayed.
"They didn't wear uniforms. There were no outside demonstrations. A group came in and said they wanted me to cook for them — chicken, beef, sausage — and I didn't ask them who they were."
Chicago Tribune
The suspect, a man with a backpack, had ordered a grilled cheese sandwich before he went into a restroom and set off the smoke bomb, authorities said Monday.
"The description we have to work off of is very vague," police Chief Harley Schinker said of the person responsible for the damage Saturday night to P.J. Klem's Restaurant & Banquet Hall.
Art Jones, chairman of the America First Committee, said he organized the party and that about 60 people attended. In addition to celebrating the 122nd anniversary of Hitler's birth, which is Wednesday, Jones said the group marked the April 12, 1861, start of the Civil War.
The party included two cakes, Jones said. One was decorated with the words, "Happy Birthday Adolf Hitler." The other bore the phrase, "The South Was Right. White Men Fight," Jones said.
Officers arrived at the restaurant and banquet hall about 6:15 p.m. Saturday after receiving a call about smoke, according to a release from Lyons police.
The smoke bomb caused no serious damage or injuries, but police evacuated and closed the restaurant to allow the Cook County sheriff's police bomb squad to search the building, Lyons police said.
Pete Klemetzos, general manager of Klem's, said he was unaware of the party's specific purpose when it was scheduled several weeks ago.
The same group has rented the banquet hall in previous years and was holding a peaceful gathering, he added.
"There was no 'Heil Hitler' or anything like that," Klemetzos said, although banners bearing swastikas were displayed.
"They didn't wear uniforms. There were no outside demonstrations. A group came in and said they wanted me to cook for them — chicken, beef, sausage — and I didn't ask them who they were."
Chicago Tribune
The Turner Diaries and the BNP.
 |
| David Copeland |
Copeland who had acted as a steward at various BNP meetings and was photographed with John Tyndall the BNP’s founder was well known by the BNP leadership.
At the time of his arrest Copeland stated this to the police as to the motivation for his actions.
"My main intent was to spread fear, resentment and hatred throughout this country, it was to cause a racial war."
He said: "If you've read The Turner Diaries, you know the year 2000 there'll be the uprising and all that, racial violence on the streets. My aim was political. It was to cause a racial war in this country.
There'd be a backlash from the ethnic minorities, then all the white people will go out and vote BNP."
Today marks the 16th Anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing which was another terrorist attack that was also inspired by The Turner Diaries book.
 |
| Timothy McVeigh |
The attack that occurred on the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 was carried out by the former U.S. Army member Timothy James McVeigh.
McVeigh who had sought revenge against the governments for its handling of the Waco siege where 77 members of the Branch Davidians died, had been inspired to his actions by this white supremacist literature.
“McVeigh frequently quoted and alluded to the white supremacist novel The Turner Diaries. It described acts of terrorism similar to the one he carried out.”
Wikipedia
Photocopies of pages sixty-one and sixty-two of The Turner Diaries were found in an envelope inside McVeigh's car.
Wikipedia
A Timothy McVeigh quote
“If people say The Turner Diaries was my Bible, Unintended Consequences would be my New Testament. I think Unintended Consequences is a better book. It might have changed my whole plan of operation if I'd read that one first.”
Wikipedia
The book tells the story of Earl Turner a member of a white supremacist guerrilla army trying to overthrow the American government in a future Aryan race war. It also contains a detailed description of the mass hangings of “Race Traitors” in Los Angeles and the ethnic cleansing of a city.
It’s full of anti-Semitic conspiracy theory government control bile, mixed in with white racial superiority, paranoia and xenophobia.
Here’s a section from the book.
“If the White nations of the world had not allowed themselves to become subject to the Jew, to Jewish ideas, to the Jewish spirit, this war would not be necessary. We can hardly consider ourselves blameless. We can hardly say we had no choice, no chance to avoid the Jew's snare. We can hardly say we were not warned....
The people had finally had their fill of the Jews and their tricks....If the Organization survives this contest, no Jew will -- anywhere. We'll go to the Uttermost ends of the earth to hunt down the last of Satan's spawn.”
Obviously due to its narrative it ticks all the white supremacist extremists’ boxes and is often called the “Bible of the Right Wing”.
So who wrote The Turner Diaries?
Unsurprisingly the author was a well known American Neo-Nazi called William Luther Pierce, writing under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald.Pierce was the founder of the American neo-Nazi white supremacist organisation the “National Alliance” and creator of the religion “Cosmotheism”.
A religion based on the principles of white racialism, pantheism, eugenics and National Socialism (Nazism).
Obviously William Pierce was a hardcore white supremacist and Neo-Nazi.
Yet this didn’t discourage the British National Party inviting him over to speak at one of their rallies in 1995. And in 1999 Pierce spoke at an American Friends of the British National Party meeting in Arlington, Virginia.
When William Pierce died in 2002, the BNP website carried an official obituary for the man.
Although today the BNP seldom officially make references to William Pierce, their members still hold the man in admiration.
In 2009 Nick Cass the BNP’s leafleting poster boy was spotted on a Television interview with an National Alliance tattoo.
 |
| Birmingham Nationalist |
And this BNP Non-Official, "cough” Blog is yet again promoting Pierce’s racial agenda and paranoia.
In the video of Pierce that this BNP blog has posted, he once again re-enforces the racist white supremacist anti-Semitic dogma that is blatant in The Turner Diaries.
Yesterday we reminded you of the Ex-BNP member David Copeland and his terror campaign in London.
Today we remind you of Timothy McVeigh and his terror campaign in Oklahoma City.
Today we have also have pointed out the not so distant link between these two events and the British National Party.
A link that should not be forgotten.
Especially as tomorrow is the anniversary of Adolph Hitler's birthday.
An event that is often celibrated by Neo-Nazi's around the world.
.
Wilders trial: police complaint about perjury (Netherlands)
PVV leader Geert Wilders is to make a formal complaint to the police of perjury against one of the witnesses at his inciting hatred trial.
On Monday, a special court panel refused to honour the Wilders’ camp call for new judges, because they refused to investigate statements made by Middle East expert Bertus Hendriks.
Wilders and his lawyer Bram Moszkowicz claim Hendriks lied in court about the motives for inviting another witness, Arab languages expert Hans Jansen, to dinner last May.
During that dinner, Moszkowicz claims a third witness tried to pressure Jansen about his evidence.
Following Monday’s decision, the case against Wilders can now continue.
‘The circus will go on,’ Wilders told the Telegraaf in a reaction.
Dutch News
On Monday, a special court panel refused to honour the Wilders’ camp call for new judges, because they refused to investigate statements made by Middle East expert Bertus Hendriks.
Wilders and his lawyer Bram Moszkowicz claim Hendriks lied in court about the motives for inviting another witness, Arab languages expert Hans Jansen, to dinner last May.
During that dinner, Moszkowicz claims a third witness tried to pressure Jansen about his evidence.
Following Monday’s decision, the case against Wilders can now continue.
‘The circus will go on,’ Wilders told the Telegraaf in a reaction.
Dutch News
Green blasts FPÖ for alleged neo-Nazi contacts (Austria)
He called on FPÖ leader Heinz-Christian Strache to do so. Öllinger charged that individuals in the FPÖ’s entourage had sent emails to alleged neo-Nazi websites "unzensuriert.at" and "alpen-donau.info" and that one had called for a military coup in Austria, "a scandal" in Öllinger’s words.
In response, FPÖ General Secretary Herbert Kickl said that "Öllinger’s assertions do not become any more truthful through repetition. Nazis have no place with us."
Claiming that the FPÖ had been trying to investigate the operator of the website alpen-donau.info, Kickl added efforts had been made to make it "an instrument of provocation against the FPÖ" that "Green ideological fanatics and their stooges" could exploit.
The recent apprehension of an infamous fascist by police may have triggered Öllinger’s charge.
Gottfried Küssel was arrested on 11 April. The outspoken neo-Nazi is accused of cooperating with the people behind "alpen-donau.info", a controversial discussion platform of neo-Nazis on the internet. The site was taken offline last month after state prosecutors in Vienna asked their counterparts in the United States for support.
Austrian officials were forced to watch on as anonymous neo-Nazis posted hate messages against foreigners in German on the homepage. "Alpe-Donau" also made headlines for revealing the home addresses and private phone numbers of several journalists and left-wing politicians.
US officials vowed to cooperate with Austria in the matter. Viennese prosecutors failed to find a way to take action against "Alpe-Donau" for months after it became clear that the platform was being managed via a server located in the USA.
Küssel’s arrest came around half a year after investigators had confiscated data storage devices and documents at dozens of apartments and offices in Vienna. Around a dozen users of "Alpe-Donau" – which promoted events held by Küssel in cooperation with Czech neo-Nazis – have been identified in the meantime.
Investigators think that some of the suspected neo-Nazis may also have links to the FPÖ, the third-strongest political force in the federal parliament, according to recent reports. Strache has said many times over the past months that his party and he wanted to disassociate themselves from the disputed online forum.
Strache was pressed to speak out on the issue after participators of discussions on the website praised his party for its current policies. The FPÖ sparked outcry among most political competitors for campaigning against members of the Islamic community in Austria who are unwilling to integrate into society. Strache has warned of the creation of "parallel societies" in several speeches on the campaign trail in recent years. Surveys show that the right-wing party might come in first were Austrians asked to go to the polls in general elections this month.
Organisers of "Alpe-Donau" and people engaging in discussions in the website’s forum face several years in jail if prosecutors press charges under Austrian anti-Nazi propaganda regulations.
Austrian Times
Cash-strapped BNP 'turns to racist hardcore' (UK)
The anti-BNP campaign group Hope not Hate said it had compiled a dossier of extremist postings of candidates standing on 5 May, either in council elections or those to the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. Among the postings the group collected from Facebook pages were:
* One BNP candidate in the North of England who posted on his Facebook page a mock advert for the gas Zyklon B – used in the Nazi extermination chambers of the Second World War – captioned, "Try Zyklon B. It's a gas!"
* One candidate urges his followers to "Stamp out diseases today. Spray pakis and poofs with hydrochloric acid".
* An activist in Wales, who has a photograph of his endorsement by BNP leader Nick Griffin on his Facebook page. Underneath it reads: "My grandfather was killed in Auschwitz. Apparently he got pissed and fell out of the watchtower!"
The candidate also posted, "Just popped round to see my Muslim neighbour's new baby. She asked me if I wanted to wind it but that seemed a bit extreme so I gave it a dead leg instead."
* A woman, describing herself as a "a big supporter of the BNP leader Nick Griffin", responded to a protest by Muslims Against The Crusades by saying: "They should all be burned."
* Another candidate posting about his arrest for "an out of date bus ticket", says: "They [police] have just made me hate them even more. From now on I will be celebrating the death of serving police officers when they are announced on the news. May sound a bit extreme but I hate them that much." He also posted that Labour's newly elected MP for Barnsley Central, Dan Jarvis, a former officer in the Parachute Regiment, "should have been shot from behind while facing the enemy".
Overall the BNP will be fielding just over 200 candidates in next month's elections – nearly 500 fewer than the in 2007. It said it "was having to cut its cloth" because of the amount of money it had had to spend defending a legal action against the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).
Hope not Hate said: "As his party crumbles, Nick Griffin has been forced to turn to what even by BNP standards, is a hard core of neo-Nazis and racists. These are not just activists, but people Griffin is putting forward as candidates for elected public office. They are literally the best the BNP now has to offer."
Hope not Hate, which is funded by the trades union movement, said the party had become hopelessly split – with many members defecting to the English Democrats and the breakaway party British Freedom Party.
The BNP has been engaged in a long-running court battle with the EHRC over its policy of restricting membership to "indigenous British people". It scrapped the rule but the Commission accused Mr Griffin of failing to comply with an order to remove potentially racist clauses from his party's constitution. In December Mr Griffin fought off an attempt to have him declared guilty of contempt of court at the High Court – which rejected the EHRC's attempt to seize the party's assets. Costs were awarded to the BNP but deputy leader Simon Darby said the battle had affected its ability to recruit members and had cost a huge amount in legal fees which had yet to be reimbursed.
Mr Darby said: "Unlike the Labour Party we cannot afford to be £19m in debt and we have had to cut our cloth accordingly." He said the unsavoury postings could be fakes to discredit the party.
'BNP postings' on facebook
* "7/7 – keep trying ya raghead bastards. This is our country our England our rules. Time2 packup and get the fuck out of dodge."
* "Fly your flag! no excuses. We stock them. £5 to piss off your Muslim neigbours off big style. What a fucking bargain."
* "Going to the polling station was aday out for the lazy African population as they don't work."
* "Unless we stand up and are counted then it's bye bye England."
The Independant
The Oklahoma City bombing - 16 years on
Today marks the 16th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, which claimed 168 lives and injured more than 680 people, making it the most deadly act of terrorism in America until 9/11.
On 19 April 1995, 27-year-old Timothy McVeigh detonated a fuel and fertilizer truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Motivated by his anger at the FBI's handling of the Ruby Ridge incident 1992 and Waco Seige 1993, in which religious extremists were shot dead, McVeigh decided to bomb a federal building in response.
Within 90 minutes of the explosion McVeigh was stopped by police for driving without a licence plate and arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon. Forensic evidence quickly linked McVeigh and his accomplice, Terry Nichols, to the bombing.
The men, who met in 1988 at Fort Benning during basic training for the U.S Army and bonded over their interest in the militia movement, were charged within days.
The 4,800-pound fertilizer truck bomb, which killed 19 children under the age of six as well as eight federal agents, is estimated to have caused $652 million worth of damage. The official investigation, known as "OKBOMB", was the largest criminal investigation case in American history.
McVeigh was convicted two years later of first-degree murder charges, and found guilty of 11 counts of dealing with the bombing. He was executed by lethal injection on 11 June 2001. Nichols was sentenced to life in prison.
The Independant
On 19 April 1995, 27-year-old Timothy McVeigh detonated a fuel and fertilizer truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
Motivated by his anger at the FBI's handling of the Ruby Ridge incident 1992 and Waco Seige 1993, in which religious extremists were shot dead, McVeigh decided to bomb a federal building in response.
Within 90 minutes of the explosion McVeigh was stopped by police for driving without a licence plate and arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon. Forensic evidence quickly linked McVeigh and his accomplice, Terry Nichols, to the bombing.
The men, who met in 1988 at Fort Benning during basic training for the U.S Army and bonded over their interest in the militia movement, were charged within days.
The 4,800-pound fertilizer truck bomb, which killed 19 children under the age of six as well as eight federal agents, is estimated to have caused $652 million worth of damage. The official investigation, known as "OKBOMB", was the largest criminal investigation case in American history.
McVeigh was convicted two years later of first-degree murder charges, and found guilty of 11 counts of dealing with the bombing. He was executed by lethal injection on 11 June 2001. Nichols was sentenced to life in prison.
The Independant
Monday, 18 April 2011
Violent neo-Nazi activity on the rise in Germany, official says
Extreme and violent German neo-Nazi groups have seen a recent rise in membership, a government official told a German daily on Monday, indicating that extremists in Germany were deserting traditional far-right parties in favour of more violent groups.
Speaking to the Neuen Osnabrücker Zeitung, Heinz Fromm, head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, an organization responsible for gathering intelligence on extremist groups in Germany, warned of a rise in neo-Nazi activity, saying "violent neo-Nazi scene has become stronger."
While Fromm indicated that the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) saw a decrease in membership in 2010, the extremist and often violent Autonomous Nationalists have seen a rise in activity.
"The Autonomous nationalists, who repeatedly make their presence felt through violence during demonstrations, show similar trends," Fromm said. "Among this group, a rise in the past year from 800 to 1,000 people was observed."
In contrast to the NPD, the Autonomous Nationalists reject participation in a political system they view as illegitimate, seeking to implement their political agenda outside of elections.
Haaretz
Ex-soldier jailed for burning Koran in Carlisle (UK)
Andrew Ryan had previously admitted religiously aggravated harassment and theft of a Koran from a library.
The 32-year-old, of Summerhill, said he had been "shocked" watching a Muslim burning a poppy on Remembrance Day.
Shoppers and schoolchildren witnessed the burning, outside the old Town Hall, on 19 January.
Sitting at Carlisle Magistrates' Court, District Judge Gerald Chalk described it as a case of "theatrical bigotry".
'My country'
He said: "It was pre-planned by you as you stole the book deliberately.
"You went out to cause maximum publicity and to cause distress."
Ryan struggled with security guards in court after the sentence was passed.
While being handcuffed he shouted: "What about my country? What about burning poppies?"
About 10 people were in court to support Ryan, and as they left the court they shouted "do you call this justice?".
After sentencing, Insp Paul Marshall, of Cumbria Police, said: "This incident was highly unusual for Cumbria as we have such low levels of hate crime in the county."
BBC News
David Copeland Terrorist and BNP Member (UK)
Yesterday marks the start of the 12th anniversary of the white supremacist terrorist bombing campaign carried out by the ex-BNP member David Copeland in Soho, London.
Following the Admiral Duncan pub bombing by former BNP member David Copeland, Griffin stated "The TV footage of dozens of 'gay' demonstrators flaunting their perversion in front of the world's journalists showed just why so many ordinary people find these creatures so repulsive." Wikipedia.org
Here's a video about it.
Please support the videos uploader bnpinfo and his channel.
Following the Admiral Duncan pub bombing by former BNP member David Copeland, Griffin stated "The TV footage of dozens of 'gay' demonstrators flaunting their perversion in front of the world's journalists showed just why so many ordinary people find these creatures so repulsive." Wikipedia.org
Here's a video about it.
Please support the videos uploader bnpinfo and his channel.
Cloak-and-dagger day with the BNP – a party in crisis (UK)
With three volunteers holding up modest Union flag backdrops to ensure they did not blow over during the speech by the deputy leader Simon Darby, and press interviews held in the corner of a giant retail centre car park, the event was notably different from last year's general election campaign launch. Then, a man dressed as St George appeared with the leader Nick Griffin in Stoke to begin the party's ill-fated push for a Westminster seat. Mr Griffin was unable to attend this time due to poor health, leaving the floor – or rather pavement – for Mr Darby to address his small gaggle of followers.
He called the Labour Party leader Ed Miliband an "alien", a "reptile" and a thoroughly "odd-looking bloke", and accused Labour of gerrymandering the council ward boundaries to reduce the BNP's presence.
Michael Coleman, one of five BNP councillors in Stoke, said its nine-page policy document was intended to stop an "invasion and occupation by a foreign body of people", lauding it as "exciting, positive and uplifting".
All members present denied they were racist, but anti-Islamic rhetoric dominated the short affair, with Mr Coleman claiming white folk will flee the area because they are intimidated by the building of a mosque. "They've got no right to be in this country and everybody knows it," he said.
Mr Darby portrayed the BNP as the underdogs and claimed some of its supporters faced prison for their beliefs. He professed his delight to be out campaigning on a "sunny English day", but it appeared yesterday that the BNP's moment in the sun could be coming to an end.
It is expected to field about 200 candidates in next month's elections, compared with more than 700 in the comparable campaign in 2007, and faces losing all the seats that it is defending. Following its relatively poor general election showing, the BNP has been riven by internal strife, including a failed challenge to Mr Griffin's leadership. Some disaffected former BNP members have defected to the English Democrats, while others have set up a breakaway party, British Freedom.
Matthew Goodwin, of Nottingham University, an analyst of far-right politics said "Their situation is very grave. Even in their core areas, the BNP are struggling to find candidates."
Independant
Scotland and the veil: ‘I was attacked by a racist gang … It was because of what I was wearing’ (UK)
WHEN a gang of youths launched a terrifying attack on a young Scottish Muslim family in broad daylight, the victims were left in no doubt about why they were targeted: the veil.
Glasgow-born Samina Ansari and her loved ones were assaulted because she was wearing a traditional Islamic hijab, which covers the hair, but not the face.
It happened last year, when Ansari, her husband and their baby were driving along a main road. The gang, armed with bricks and chains and accompanied by a snarling dog, surrounded the car, shouting “get the Paki bastards” and “go back to your own country”, before attempting to smash the car windows.
Samina locked the doors while her husband frantically dialled 999, fearing for the safety of the baby in the back seat. One man brought the chain down on to the windscreen, while another tried to smash in through the passenger window.
Luckily, the young Muslim mother was able to speed off when the men moved away from the front of the car.
“It was racist,” she said. “But it was also Islamophobic. It only lasted a minute-and-a-half, but the trauma lingered for months. I felt too scared to go out walking with my baby in a pram. It was horrible.”
The trauma of the attack pushed Samina into launching a campaign to educate the Scottish public about the veil and Muslim women’s decision to wear it.
Read the complete item at The Herald Scotland
Glasgow-born Samina Ansari and her loved ones were assaulted because she was wearing a traditional Islamic hijab, which covers the hair, but not the face.
It happened last year, when Ansari, her husband and their baby were driving along a main road. The gang, armed with bricks and chains and accompanied by a snarling dog, surrounded the car, shouting “get the Paki bastards” and “go back to your own country”, before attempting to smash the car windows.
Samina locked the doors while her husband frantically dialled 999, fearing for the safety of the baby in the back seat. One man brought the chain down on to the windscreen, while another tried to smash in through the passenger window.
Luckily, the young Muslim mother was able to speed off when the men moved away from the front of the car.
“It was racist,” she said. “But it was also Islamophobic. It only lasted a minute-and-a-half, but the trauma lingered for months. I felt too scared to go out walking with my baby in a pram. It was horrible.”
The trauma of the attack pushed Samina into launching a campaign to educate the Scottish public about the veil and Muslim women’s decision to wear it.
Read the complete item at The Herald Scotland
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Neo-Nazi rally in front of Statehouse ends early (USA)
The approximately 50 members of the National Socialist Movement group were shouted down at times by 300 counterprotesters. The scheduled four-hour rally ended after only 90 minutes.
State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said one of arrests was made after a tire iron was used to break a window at a Bank of America.
Jones said troopers also charged two others with fireworks possession and failure to follow an officer's instructions. Trenton police also made an arrest on an outstanding warrant.
There was a strong police presence, with protesters and counterprotesters kept far apart from each other. Jones said there were "hundreds" of officers equipped with riot gear from state, federal, municipal and county law enforcement agencies.
The State Police incurred no overtime because schedules were flexed to include rally security into regular workweeks, Jones said.
National Socialist Movement members made speeches criticizing various government policies, focusing mostly on immigration and foreign affairs. Core beliefs include "defending the rights of white people," according to the group's website.
Counterprotesters focused on what they say is the National Socialist Movement's hate message.
Some returned the message. Daryle Lamont Jenkins, head of One People's Project, which monitors activity of alleged racist groups, shredded a Nazi flag and stomped on the remains.
"This group, generally speaking, is irrelevant," said Jenkins, a former Somerset County resident who now lives in Philadelphia. "Hating black people and hating society is the least of their problems, because when you really get at it, you find they hate themselves."
The event was held in chilly temperatures with increasing rain showers. Trenton resident Bryan Williams held a sign that said it was raining because "God don't like Nazis."
Daily Record
DETECTIVES PROBE NAZI WAR CRIMES (UK)
Scotland Yard has launched an investigation into new allegations that a Nazi war criminal is living in Britain.
Detectives are looking into claims about an elderly suspect. If they find enough evidence, the alleged war criminal will be arrested and interviewed despite his advancing years.
Many of the SS officers responsible for atrocities at death camps in Germany and Poland during the Second World War have now died or are in their 90s.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Inquiries are ongoing in relation to allegations of offences committed in Europe during the war.
“At this stage we have not identified specific offences and as no one has been arrested we are not prepared to discuss the identity of the individual involved or where they live.”
The Express
Detectives are looking into claims about an elderly suspect. If they find enough evidence, the alleged war criminal will be arrested and interviewed despite his advancing years.
Many of the SS officers responsible for atrocities at death camps in Germany and Poland during the Second World War have now died or are in their 90s.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “Inquiries are ongoing in relation to allegations of offences committed in Europe during the war.
“At this stage we have not identified specific offences and as no one has been arrested we are not prepared to discuss the identity of the individual involved or where they live.”
The Express
Mosque attack angers Montreal Muslim group (Canada)
The Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM) is calling for harsher penalties and zero tolerance for hate crimes in the wake of an attack last week on a Dorval mosque.
“It is indeed distressing that in a pluralistic and multicultural society such as ours, we have religious institutions being targeted again and again in crimes of hate and violence,” Salam Elmenyawi, president of MCM, said on Saturday. “These attacks go against the very Canadian values and principles that we are all committed to and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
Elmenyawi’s comments follow an overnight break-in last Monday at a mosque at the corner of Neptune Blvd. and Nightingale Ave. in Dorval.
The intruders broke in through a fire exit door and stole a computer and fired steel bolts through a couple of windows.
In 2009, the mosque was vandalized four times, usually with graffiti painted on walls. The last time it was vandalized was in September 2009.
The mosque has about 2,000 members and has been operating since 1994.
Montreal Gazette
“It is indeed distressing that in a pluralistic and multicultural society such as ours, we have religious institutions being targeted again and again in crimes of hate and violence,” Salam Elmenyawi, president of MCM, said on Saturday. “These attacks go against the very Canadian values and principles that we are all committed to and must be condemned in the strongest terms.”
Elmenyawi’s comments follow an overnight break-in last Monday at a mosque at the corner of Neptune Blvd. and Nightingale Ave. in Dorval.
The intruders broke in through a fire exit door and stole a computer and fired steel bolts through a couple of windows.
In 2009, the mosque was vandalized four times, usually with graffiti painted on walls. The last time it was vandalized was in September 2009.
The mosque has about 2,000 members and has been operating since 1994.
Montreal Gazette
Arrests follow Halifax opposing protests (UK)
Fourteen people have been arrested following two rival demonstrations in a West Yorkshire town centre.
Officers said the protests in Halifax by the English Defence League (EDL) and the Muslim Defence League mostly passed peacefully with minimal disruption.
Police said the arrests were made for minor public order offences.
About 150 people gathered in the Bull Green area for the EDL protest while about 50 took part in the other demonstration in Park Ward.
West Yorkshire Police said about 200 officers were deployed to the events.
A spokesman said that during the EDL demonstration one man was taken ill and refused to be taken to hospital by ambulance. It was thought he had recovered and left the area without giving any details to officers.
Acting Supt Martin Lister said: "Our officers enjoyed a tremendous response to today's operation from the local public which ensured that today's demonstrations could both pass peacefully without disorder, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank residents and businesses of Halifax for this."
BBC News
Officers said the protests in Halifax by the English Defence League (EDL) and the Muslim Defence League mostly passed peacefully with minimal disruption.
Police said the arrests were made for minor public order offences.
About 150 people gathered in the Bull Green area for the EDL protest while about 50 took part in the other demonstration in Park Ward.
West Yorkshire Police said about 200 officers were deployed to the events.
A spokesman said that during the EDL demonstration one man was taken ill and refused to be taken to hospital by ambulance. It was thought he had recovered and left the area without giving any details to officers.
Acting Supt Martin Lister said: "Our officers enjoyed a tremendous response to today's operation from the local public which ensured that today's demonstrations could both pass peacefully without disorder, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank residents and businesses of Halifax for this."
BBC News
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Soho pub shuts its doors hours before gay kissing protest (UK)
A pub at the centre of a dispute over a gay kiss shut its doors last night as hundreds of demonstrators converged on it to hold a kiss-in.
James Bull, 23, and Jonathan Williams, 26, were enjoying their first date on Wednesday evening when they said they were forcibly removed from the John Snow pub in Soho, central London, by management who described their behaviour as "obscene".
Word of the ejection caused a storm on social networking sites and a protest was quickly organised on Facebook for demonstrators to fill the John Snow and start a kiss-in. But after learning of the event, the pub management decided to close for the evening
Continued at The Independant
James Bull, 23, and Jonathan Williams, 26, were enjoying their first date on Wednesday evening when they said they were forcibly removed from the John Snow pub in Soho, central London, by management who described their behaviour as "obscene".
Word of the ejection caused a storm on social networking sites and a protest was quickly organised on Facebook for demonstrators to fill the John Snow and start a kiss-in. But after learning of the event, the pub management decided to close for the evening
Continued at The Independant
TRUE FINNS' NATIONALISM COLOURS FINLAND ELECTION
An anti-immigration party in Finland - the True Finns - has surged in popularity and could produce a surprise in Sunday's general election, opinion polls suggest. Jan Sundberg, Professor of Political Science at Helsinki University, looks at the True Finns phenomenon and the party's chances of joining the next coalition government.
The True Finns saw political potential among the neglected people in society. Their political message is two-fold: social-democratic welfare combined with nationalism and xenophobia. They have targeted dissatisfied Finns who have suffered from the previous governments' economic policies. The last time Finland faced a similar situation was in 1970, when the True Finns' predecessor, the Rural Party, surged from almost nothing to 18 seats in the 200-seat parliament. Later the Rural Party split, but it made a successful comeback in the 1983 election.
'Embraced to death'
Finnish politics has been stable for years because ruling coalitions have integrated and then diluted the radical parties of left and right. That was the fate of the Communists and, later, the Rural Party. Novelist Leif Salmen wrote that the Communists were "embraced to death". The True Finns emerged from the Rural Party in the 1990s when that party failed to keep its election promises. Finland is officially bilingual, but the True Finns' nationalism has no room for Swedish. It excludes Swedish as something unfamiliar to Finnish culture. Polls suggest that most Finns share that view and want to stop the teaching of Swedish in Finnish schools. There is also a widespread view that immigration is damaging Finland and Finnish culture. Parties tend to follow popular trends among the electorate, even if they have an authoritarian streak. That is a general weakness of democracy. The right-wing populist Danish People's Party is not a strong actor in Danish politics, but its xenophobia has spread to the major parties. The Sweden Democrats, on the other hand, are kept isolated by all parties in the Swedish parliament. In contrast to Sweden, parties in Finland have adopted - to differing degrees - the nationalist stance of the True Finns. That is certainly true of the Christian Democrats and Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi's Centre Party.
Nationalist message
The True Finns' manifesto indicates they have much in common with right-wing populist parties elsewhere in Europe. They believe that a low birth rate is not solved by immigration, as that results in problems and foreigners are do not fit into Finnish culture. Instead, young women should study less and spend more time giving birth to pure Finnish children. That is like a faint echo of Nazi ideology. If the True Finns do as well as expected the rival parties may opt for the traditional strategy of integration, but this time it is likely to backfire, because the economic climate has changed. Finland suffered when the Soviet economy collapsed, because the USSR was a major export market for Finnish goods. But in 1995 Finland joined the EU and Nokia developed into a globally successful mobile phone manufacturer. Finland joined the eurozone wholeheartedly in 2002. But for many Finns today EU membership is no longer sexy - not when it involves bailing out countries like Greece, the Republic of Ireland and Portugal. Other companies have caught up with Nokia and even the traditional "green gold" of Finland - timber - has lost its lustre. One paper and pulp mill after another has closed and many workers have been fired. If the True Finns join the next coalition Finland will turn in some degree towards stronger nationalism and protectionism.
BBC News
The True Finns saw political potential among the neglected people in society. Their political message is two-fold: social-democratic welfare combined with nationalism and xenophobia. They have targeted dissatisfied Finns who have suffered from the previous governments' economic policies. The last time Finland faced a similar situation was in 1970, when the True Finns' predecessor, the Rural Party, surged from almost nothing to 18 seats in the 200-seat parliament. Later the Rural Party split, but it made a successful comeback in the 1983 election.
'Embraced to death'
Finnish politics has been stable for years because ruling coalitions have integrated and then diluted the radical parties of left and right. That was the fate of the Communists and, later, the Rural Party. Novelist Leif Salmen wrote that the Communists were "embraced to death". The True Finns emerged from the Rural Party in the 1990s when that party failed to keep its election promises. Finland is officially bilingual, but the True Finns' nationalism has no room for Swedish. It excludes Swedish as something unfamiliar to Finnish culture. Polls suggest that most Finns share that view and want to stop the teaching of Swedish in Finnish schools. There is also a widespread view that immigration is damaging Finland and Finnish culture. Parties tend to follow popular trends among the electorate, even if they have an authoritarian streak. That is a general weakness of democracy. The right-wing populist Danish People's Party is not a strong actor in Danish politics, but its xenophobia has spread to the major parties. The Sweden Democrats, on the other hand, are kept isolated by all parties in the Swedish parliament. In contrast to Sweden, parties in Finland have adopted - to differing degrees - the nationalist stance of the True Finns. That is certainly true of the Christian Democrats and Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi's Centre Party.
Nationalist message
The True Finns' manifesto indicates they have much in common with right-wing populist parties elsewhere in Europe. They believe that a low birth rate is not solved by immigration, as that results in problems and foreigners are do not fit into Finnish culture. Instead, young women should study less and spend more time giving birth to pure Finnish children. That is like a faint echo of Nazi ideology. If the True Finns do as well as expected the rival parties may opt for the traditional strategy of integration, but this time it is likely to backfire, because the economic climate has changed. Finland suffered when the Soviet economy collapsed, because the USSR was a major export market for Finnish goods. But in 1995 Finland joined the EU and Nokia developed into a globally successful mobile phone manufacturer. Finland joined the eurozone wholeheartedly in 2002. But for many Finns today EU membership is no longer sexy - not when it involves bailing out countries like Greece, the Republic of Ireland and Portugal. Other companies have caught up with Nokia and even the traditional "green gold" of Finland - timber - has lost its lustre. One paper and pulp mill after another has closed and many workers have been fired. If the True Finns join the next coalition Finland will turn in some degree towards stronger nationalism and protectionism.
BBC News
Racist leaflets delivered to residents (UK)
A leading anti-fascist campaigner has slammed a racist leaflet delivered to homes in Millom.
The leaflet, which was delivered to homes in the Newtown area of Millom, has been described as ‘a poor attempt at satire’.
Police believe the leaflets to have been made by an amateur but are treating the incident as ‘serious’.
Residents gave police the leaflets while they were investigating anti-social behaviour in the Market Street area.
They have also been delivered in Lord Street and Albert Street.
The leaflet refers to the Muslim burka, a veiled dress traditionally worn by women, as a ‘black crow like tent’ and describes the British Government as ‘treacherous’.
Paul Jenkins, chairman of Unite Against Fascism north west, said: “Whoever is getting this sort of thing out there is completely unacceptable.
“In the same way in the 1930s Hitler’s Nazis targeted Jews, now far right groups and others are trying to scapegoat Muslims.
“Muslims are not to blame for the cuts or other problems.
“Our communities are better united than divided.”
A number of residents have voiced their concern following the news.
One woman, who did not wish to be named, said: “I think there is a problem.
“I don’t think everyone is racist but if people start a foreign restaurant there is always a lot of trouble, a lot of people have left the town because of it.”
Arthur Ferguson served in Burma during the Second World War.
He said: “I am not a racist and I despise anyone that is, it is ignorant.
“I fought alongside a lot of Burmese people and Gurkhas, and dealt with Indian people all my life in business – they are just like anybody else.”
Harry Turner, of Devonshire Road, Millom, said: “It does surprise me.
“There are only a few different races in the town and nobody seems to bother.
“Everyone always speaks to you no matter what.”
Sergeant Ashley Bennett of Copeland Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “We have been made aware of several leaflets being posted through doors in the Millom area over the last week.
“They read like they have been written by a person of Islamic faith however upon closer examination they appear to be spoof in nature.
“They have clearly been done on somebody's word processor as they have not been professionally published and printed.
“That said we take all forms of racism very seriously and are investigating the matter.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0845 3300247
North West Evening Mail
The leaflet, which was delivered to homes in the Newtown area of Millom, has been described as ‘a poor attempt at satire’.
Police believe the leaflets to have been made by an amateur but are treating the incident as ‘serious’.
Residents gave police the leaflets while they were investigating anti-social behaviour in the Market Street area.
They have also been delivered in Lord Street and Albert Street.
The leaflet refers to the Muslim burka, a veiled dress traditionally worn by women, as a ‘black crow like tent’ and describes the British Government as ‘treacherous’.
Paul Jenkins, chairman of Unite Against Fascism north west, said: “Whoever is getting this sort of thing out there is completely unacceptable.
“In the same way in the 1930s Hitler’s Nazis targeted Jews, now far right groups and others are trying to scapegoat Muslims.
“Muslims are not to blame for the cuts or other problems.
“Our communities are better united than divided.”
A number of residents have voiced their concern following the news.
One woman, who did not wish to be named, said: “I think there is a problem.
“I don’t think everyone is racist but if people start a foreign restaurant there is always a lot of trouble, a lot of people have left the town because of it.”
Arthur Ferguson served in Burma during the Second World War.
He said: “I am not a racist and I despise anyone that is, it is ignorant.
“I fought alongside a lot of Burmese people and Gurkhas, and dealt with Indian people all my life in business – they are just like anybody else.”
Harry Turner, of Devonshire Road, Millom, said: “It does surprise me.
“There are only a few different races in the town and nobody seems to bother.
“Everyone always speaks to you no matter what.”
Sergeant Ashley Bennett of Copeland Neighbourhood Policing Team said: “We have been made aware of several leaflets being posted through doors in the Millom area over the last week.
“They read like they have been written by a person of Islamic faith however upon closer examination they appear to be spoof in nature.
“They have clearly been done on somebody's word processor as they have not been professionally published and printed.
“That said we take all forms of racism very seriously and are investigating the matter.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 0845 3300247
North West Evening Mail
Tribute page to slain teenager Negus McClean targeted by racists (UK)
More than 11,000 people have joined a Facebook site paying tribute to 15-year-old Negus McClean, who was murdered on Sunday evening in Westminster Road.
However, the site has been infiltrated by people posting racist remarks, offensive pictures, and twisted jokes.
Many of the offensive posts, including pornography and depictions of Hitler, have been removed by Facebook bosses but some have continued to appear today.
Friends of the teenager have called for the page to be shut down to stop the abuse, and for the perpetrators to be caught and prosecuted.
One person wrote: “Let's all just ignore the racist comments and insults now, responding is exactly what they want.
“There's no point arguing with them cos you can't argue with a mad person.”
New Facebook sites paying tribute to the Edmonton County pupil have been set up to try to dodge the abusive comments.
Negus was stabbed repeatedly in the thigh and chest by a gang of up to 13 teenagers on mountain bikes who had chased him and his younger brother Elijah along Bounces Road.
It is believed they were fleeing from the gang after a dispute over a mobile phone.
Two teenage boys, aged 14 and 16, were today arrested on suspicion of murder, and remain in police custody for questioning.
Four others, aged 14, 16, 18, and 20, were arrested earlier this week and have been released on bail pending further police enquiries.
Enfield Independent
Dutch anti-Islam MP seeks new judges for trial (Netherlands)
Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders wants the withdrawal of a new panel of judges chosen to try him for hate speech, his lawyer said Friday, claiming they were biased.
"Mr presiding judge, I will demand the recusal of your chamber," lawyer Bram Moszcowicz told judge Marcel van Oosten at a hearing in Amsterdam six months after Wilders succeeded in having a first panel of judges withdrawn.
Wilders and his lawyer question the new judges' partiality based on their refusal to open a perjury probe of a witness accused of lying to the court.
An independent chamber of judges has been assigned to rule on the latest application.
The trial of Wilders, who leads the Netherlands' third biggest political party, opened in October last year but was abruptly halted three weeks later when the judges trying him were ordered to step down by a panel of their peers who upheld the politician's claims of bias.
In March, the new judges ruled that the trial must go ahead, dismissing Wilders' claims that they had no jurisdiction in the case.
Wilders, 47, faces five counts of giving offence to Muslims and of inciting hatred against Muslims and people of non-Western immigrant origin, particularly Moroccans.
The allegations arise partly from the short film "Fitna", which catapulted Wilders to international notoriety in 2008 and in which he mixes Koranic verses with footage of extremist attacks.
In the film he likens the Koran to Hitler's "Mein Kampf".
The MP, whose Party for Freedom gives parliamentary support to a right-leaning coalition, faces up to a year in jail or a 7,600 euro (10,300 dollar) fine for comments made in his campaign to "stop the Islamisation of the Netherlands".
Prosecutors initially dismissed dozens of complaints against Wilders in June 2008 but were compelled by appeals judges to mount a case against him in 2010.
Expatica
"Mr presiding judge, I will demand the recusal of your chamber," lawyer Bram Moszcowicz told judge Marcel van Oosten at a hearing in Amsterdam six months after Wilders succeeded in having a first panel of judges withdrawn.
Wilders and his lawyer question the new judges' partiality based on their refusal to open a perjury probe of a witness accused of lying to the court.
An independent chamber of judges has been assigned to rule on the latest application.
The trial of Wilders, who leads the Netherlands' third biggest political party, opened in October last year but was abruptly halted three weeks later when the judges trying him were ordered to step down by a panel of their peers who upheld the politician's claims of bias.
In March, the new judges ruled that the trial must go ahead, dismissing Wilders' claims that they had no jurisdiction in the case.
Wilders, 47, faces five counts of giving offence to Muslims and of inciting hatred against Muslims and people of non-Western immigrant origin, particularly Moroccans.
The allegations arise partly from the short film "Fitna", which catapulted Wilders to international notoriety in 2008 and in which he mixes Koranic verses with footage of extremist attacks.
In the film he likens the Koran to Hitler's "Mein Kampf".
The MP, whose Party for Freedom gives parliamentary support to a right-leaning coalition, faces up to a year in jail or a 7,600 euro (10,300 dollar) fine for comments made in his campaign to "stop the Islamisation of the Netherlands".
Prosecutors initially dismissed dozens of complaints against Wilders in June 2008 but were compelled by appeals judges to mount a case against him in 2010.
Expatica
Italian far-right urges use of weapons against refugee 'invasion'
Two politicians from Italy's Northern League party want to control Italy's refugee problem by taking up weapons. The staunchly anti-immigration party is an increasingly strong voice in Silvio Berlusconi's government.
Two right-wing politicians from Italy's Northern League party have pushed for the ability to use weapons against the influx of migrants flocking to southern Italy.
More than 25,000 migrants, mostly Tunisian nationals, have arrived at the southern Italian island of Lampedusa since January, prompted by the conflict in the North Africa.
Speaking to an Italian broadcaster, Deputy Transport Minister Roberto Castelli said Italy needed to protect itself against the "invasion."
"This problem could become so unbelievably big that we must ask ourselves if we need to use weapons," he said. "There is a risk this invasion could grow to millions or tens of millions."
'Violating Italy'
His comments were echoed by his party colleague, Francesco Speroni ,who is a member of the justice committee in the European Parliament.
He said "all means" should be used to suppress the influx of people who are "violating Italy and her rules."
"That means weapons as a last resort," he added.
Both politicians argued that if resorting to force was admissible in Libya, then the same should be true of the situation in Lampedusa.
"Europe uses weapons in the same setting in Libya. I don't understand why in one case weapons can be used, and not in another," said Speroni.
League's political power
The Northern League is staunchly anti-immigration and is a partner in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's coalition government. They have several representatives in Berlusconi's cabinet, including Interior Minister Roberto Maroni.
At a meeting of EU interior ministers on Monday, Maroni questioned whether Italy should remain an EU member if other countries in the bloc did not offer to share the burden of the thousands of migrants.
The Northern League currently holds a great deal of power in Italian politics, as they are the glue keeping Berlusconi's crumbing coalition together.
In power since 1994, Berlusconi's ruling Freedom Party has suffered setbacks in recent months, as the prime minister became embroiled in fresh scandals.
Several members of Berlusconi's government resigned in November, forming a breakaway center-right political movement under the guidance of former Berlusconi-ally Gianfranco Fini.
Berlusconi now heavily relies on the Northern League to prop up the coalition, meaning he also has to make concessions to them in order to ensure their continued support.
Shortened trials
On Wednesday Italy's lower house of parliament approved a bill that would cut the length of some criminal trials. The measure was seen by opposition politicians as a bill tailor-made to end Berlusconi's trial for allegedly bribing his lawyer David Mills.
The measure passed by a narrow margin of 314 to 296, amid boos and shouts from the opposition.
If passed by the Senate - where Berlusconi has a strong majority - it would cut eight months from the Mills trial, effectively bringing it to an end this summer.
"The law on short trials is an amnesty in disguise, thought up to avoid having the prime minister face trial," said Piero Fassino, a deputy from the center-left Democratic Party.
Berlusconi denies accusations of paying Mills a $600,000 (414,400 euros) bribe to give false testimony about his business dealings.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the parliament building on Wednesday, accusing Berlusconi of amending the law in his own interest.
DW World
Two right-wing politicians from Italy's Northern League party have pushed for the ability to use weapons against the influx of migrants flocking to southern Italy.
More than 25,000 migrants, mostly Tunisian nationals, have arrived at the southern Italian island of Lampedusa since January, prompted by the conflict in the North Africa.
Speaking to an Italian broadcaster, Deputy Transport Minister Roberto Castelli said Italy needed to protect itself against the "invasion."
"This problem could become so unbelievably big that we must ask ourselves if we need to use weapons," he said. "There is a risk this invasion could grow to millions or tens of millions."
'Violating Italy'
His comments were echoed by his party colleague, Francesco Speroni ,who is a member of the justice committee in the European Parliament.
He said "all means" should be used to suppress the influx of people who are "violating Italy and her rules."
"That means weapons as a last resort," he added.
Both politicians argued that if resorting to force was admissible in Libya, then the same should be true of the situation in Lampedusa.
"Europe uses weapons in the same setting in Libya. I don't understand why in one case weapons can be used, and not in another," said Speroni.
League's political power
The Northern League is staunchly anti-immigration and is a partner in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's coalition government. They have several representatives in Berlusconi's cabinet, including Interior Minister Roberto Maroni.
At a meeting of EU interior ministers on Monday, Maroni questioned whether Italy should remain an EU member if other countries in the bloc did not offer to share the burden of the thousands of migrants.
The Northern League currently holds a great deal of power in Italian politics, as they are the glue keeping Berlusconi's crumbing coalition together.
In power since 1994, Berlusconi's ruling Freedom Party has suffered setbacks in recent months, as the prime minister became embroiled in fresh scandals.
Several members of Berlusconi's government resigned in November, forming a breakaway center-right political movement under the guidance of former Berlusconi-ally Gianfranco Fini.
Berlusconi now heavily relies on the Northern League to prop up the coalition, meaning he also has to make concessions to them in order to ensure their continued support.
Shortened trials
On Wednesday Italy's lower house of parliament approved a bill that would cut the length of some criminal trials. The measure was seen by opposition politicians as a bill tailor-made to end Berlusconi's trial for allegedly bribing his lawyer David Mills.
The measure passed by a narrow margin of 314 to 296, amid boos and shouts from the opposition.
If passed by the Senate - where Berlusconi has a strong majority - it would cut eight months from the Mills trial, effectively bringing it to an end this summer.
"The law on short trials is an amnesty in disguise, thought up to avoid having the prime minister face trial," said Piero Fassino, a deputy from the center-left Democratic Party.
Berlusconi denies accusations of paying Mills a $600,000 (414,400 euros) bribe to give false testimony about his business dealings.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the parliament building on Wednesday, accusing Berlusconi of amending the law in his own interest.
DW World
Interior minister says far-right group breaking law by patrolling eastern town (Hungary)
Interior Minister Sándor Pintér said yesterday that members of far right paramilitary group the Szebb Jövő Society had committed "misdemeanours" in Hajdúhadháza, Hajdú county. The police and authorities will handle the transgressions in proportion to their illegality, he added.
Some 200 Society members have since Tuesday been patrolling the town, which has a large Roma population. The area's Fidesz MP, the Socialist Party, the national federation of municipal councils and six NGOs have all asked the cabinet to take decisive action. However the group has remained in the town, despite Pinter's request.
Police stepped up checks on Wednesday night and on Thursday evening searched and checked the identification cards of ten guard members outside the local train station.
Politics.Hu
Some 200 Society members have since Tuesday been patrolling the town, which has a large Roma population. The area's Fidesz MP, the Socialist Party, the national federation of municipal councils and six NGOs have all asked the cabinet to take decisive action. However the group has remained in the town, despite Pinter's request.
Police stepped up checks on Wednesday night and on Thursday evening searched and checked the identification cards of ten guard members outside the local train station.
Politics.Hu
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)