To prevent new racist violence in Russia, the police have arrested more than 1,500 people. About 500 participants in a right-wing demonstration have been taken in custody in Moscow on Saturday, and a further 800 persons as a preventive measure, police said. In the last days have nationalists repeatedly attacked Russian citizens or immigrants from the Caucasus and other countries.
The police had prevented "unauthorized meetings" in Moscow and Moscow region, told Yevgenij Gildejov, spokesman for the regional police, to the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS. One of the preventive measures was the arrest of 808 people, he said. Gildejow did not tell how many nationalists and how people with Caucasian origin have been taken in the actions.
About 500 nationalists gathered on Saturday near the TV station Ostankino. They shouted slogans like "Russia for Russians". Hundreds of policemen were deployed there. Almost all participants in the demonstration were arrested, said Moscow police spokesman Viktor Birjukow. Most protesters were underage youth.
Also in southwestern Russia, nationalists were arrested. Russian media reported from Volgograd 150 arrests and 100 from the industrial city of Samara. Already on Wednesday, approximately one thousand people were arrested for fear of clashes between ultra-nationalists and immigrants.
In recent days, young Russian ultra-nationalists repeatedly took part in violent clashes with young pepole of Caucasian origin. The clashes were triggered by the death of a Russian football fan which was killed in a fight with a group of people from the Caucasus.
Last Sunday a man from a former Soviet Republic was murdered - investigators suspect three young Russian extremists, among them a 14-year-old boy. He has already confessed to having stabbed the victim, the news agency Interfax reports, citing sources within the security apparatus. According to media reports, in Moscow and Moscow region another man from a former Soviet Republic was stabbed on Saturday and a Vietnames citizen was brutally beaten.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin called the violence on Saturday on Russian television a "worrying sign" but stressed that the young ultra-nationalists were not a "lost generation." Putin said Thursday during a question program on television that authorities want to proceed "hard against any form of extremism". (Source: russland.RU - Internet Zeitung)
Russia Media RU
Monday, 20 December 2010
Church calls up ‘black St George’ to fight racism (UK)
Clergy at Manchester Cathedral believe the BNP and English Defence League have ‘hijacked’ the religious festival.
And they plan to fight back with a festival of puppets and poets on Sunday, May 8.
A Catalan-style procession will snake through the city, with jazz music and giant versions of George and the dragon, led by a puppet inspired by a painting in the cathedral by contemporary artist Mark Cazalet.
The altarpiece, created in 2001, depicts the saint as a young black man cutting free the restraints of a pitiful dragon.
The puppets are being built by homeless people who use the Booth Centre charity, linked to the cathedral.
The day will include a reading by Andrew Motion, the former Poet Laureate, of a specially-commissioned work.
The carnival is also inspired by epic Elizabethan poem The Faerie Queene, which re-tells St George’s legend.
Church leaders said the idea was to show English nationalism should be about ‘tolerance and opening up to people’ – and not stirring up racial division.
Canon Andrew Shanks, from the cathedral, said he and other churchmen wanted to help ‘rebrand’ St George’s Day.
He said: “I remember the BNP had a big rally in one of the squares in Manchester a couple of years ago.
“It felt very ugly. There were all these St George’s flags – and the same flag was on our tower.
“There is a war going on about the flag and the meaning of it and we are doing our damnedest to interpret it our way.”
Canon Shanks said the church’s ‘challenging’ painting of St George in a housing estate is about ‘unlocking passion for urban renewal’. He said: “We have taken that as inspiration.”
Anglican vicars face an unusual problem next year as St George’s Day – traditionally April 23 – will clash with Easter Saturday.
Many parishes are opting to mark St George’s Day in May instead.
An English hero with true global appeal
Despite being England’s patron saint, St George was actually born in Turkey and lived in Palestine.
Little is known for sure about his life, but according to myth he became a Roman soldier and was beheaded for his Christian beliefs in 303 AD.
Revered throughout the Christian church, he is also patron saint of Georgia, Malta and Portugal, as well as soldiers, farm workers, lepers and the modern Scout movement.
Although far-right English groups have attempted to adopt him as a symbol, it is thought he was black and of Middle Eastern descent.
The most famous myth about him - that he killed a dragon while riding a white horse - probably developed in the 14th Century.
Manchester Evening News
Graves vandal gets maximum prison term (USA)
A Nazi memorabilia collector was sentenced to seven years in prison for spray-painting anti-Semitic graffiti on headstones at a Jewish cemetery.
Polish national Mariusz Wdziekonski, 25, was given the maximum sentence in a Chicago court for desecrating 67 graves with swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti at a Jewish cemetery in Chicago in January 2008. He was convicted earlier this month.
"You wanted to inflict your hatred. You wanted to inflict your pain. You brought shame to your family," Cook County Circuit Judge Larry Axelrood said Dec. 17 before handing down the sentence.
Wdziekonski, who entered the United States in 2004 and has admitted to being a collector of Nazi memorabilia, has been imprisoned for three years and could be eligible for early release in a few months. He also could be deported, according to reports.
JTA News
Polish national Mariusz Wdziekonski, 25, was given the maximum sentence in a Chicago court for desecrating 67 graves with swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti at a Jewish cemetery in Chicago in January 2008. He was convicted earlier this month.
"You wanted to inflict your hatred. You wanted to inflict your pain. You brought shame to your family," Cook County Circuit Judge Larry Axelrood said Dec. 17 before handing down the sentence.
Wdziekonski, who entered the United States in 2004 and has admitted to being a collector of Nazi memorabilia, has been imprisoned for three years and could be eligible for early release in a few months. He also could be deported, according to reports.
JTA News
English Defence League donor details 'stolen' after database hacked (UK)
Supporters of the English Defence League (EDL) are facing potential embarrassment after a database containing their personal details was hacked into.
Police are believed to be investigating the security breach, which also included the far-Right groups’s payment system being illegally accessed.
Amid fears of violence toward members, the EDL said it will support vulnerable people. They also urged members to change their online shopping details after concerns were raised that they would be published on the internet.
Officials were forced to email supporters after the incident, which is understood to have occurred in recent days, apologising for the “attack”.
It remains unclear who was behind the hacking incident and whether it was a politically motivated attack or a party member with a grudge against the group. The EDL did not disclose to supporters which police force was investigating the breach.
In their email to supporters, officials confirmed that hackers had accessed their donor lists and the far right group’s payments systems, exposing customers who buy merchandise.
“As you may have become aware the English Defence League clothing site was recently attacked,” read the email, seen by The Daily Telegraph.
“This attack took two forms, firstly member’s names and addresses were stolen from the donation database (and) secondly the details of members purchasing items from the clothing site.
“The EDL would like to apologise for this security leak. The leadership is doing everything they can to understand how this occurred so it can never happen again.”
The email confirmed that officials had contacted police.
“If, as an affected member you are concerned for your safety, contact the police,” they said.
“With regards to the criminal action against the EDL, the leadership is working with the police and it is being taken extremely seriously.
“There is currently an on going investigation and evidence is being collected.”
The breach comes days after the party was embroiled in controversy after asking American preacher Pastor Terry Jones to attend a demonstration in Britain.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, had faced calls to bar Mr Jones from entering the country after he was reportedly invited to address the EDL at a rally in Luton in February.
The preacher sparked outrage when he announced plans by his Florida-based church to burn copies of the Koran to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America.
The preacher said he would fight moves to ban him from coming to Britain, insisting he would be bringing a ''positive message''.
But the EDL later claimed it had not invited Mr Jones to speak at the event but he had approached them and they agreed in principle.
The weekend’s incident is similar to a security breach involving the far-right BNP in 2008, where the names, addresses and contact details of some 10,000 of its members were published online.
The list, which included details of some members' jobs, was reported to include serving and former police officers as well as members of the armed forces.
A spokesman for the EDL did not respond to inquiries for comment.
The Telegraph
Police are believed to be investigating the security breach, which also included the far-Right groups’s payment system being illegally accessed.
Amid fears of violence toward members, the EDL said it will support vulnerable people. They also urged members to change their online shopping details after concerns were raised that they would be published on the internet.
Officials were forced to email supporters after the incident, which is understood to have occurred in recent days, apologising for the “attack”.
It remains unclear who was behind the hacking incident and whether it was a politically motivated attack or a party member with a grudge against the group. The EDL did not disclose to supporters which police force was investigating the breach.
In their email to supporters, officials confirmed that hackers had accessed their donor lists and the far right group’s payments systems, exposing customers who buy merchandise.
“As you may have become aware the English Defence League clothing site was recently attacked,” read the email, seen by The Daily Telegraph.
“This attack took two forms, firstly member’s names and addresses were stolen from the donation database (and) secondly the details of members purchasing items from the clothing site.
“The EDL would like to apologise for this security leak. The leadership is doing everything they can to understand how this occurred so it can never happen again.”
The email confirmed that officials had contacted police.
“If, as an affected member you are concerned for your safety, contact the police,” they said.
“With regards to the criminal action against the EDL, the leadership is working with the police and it is being taken extremely seriously.
“There is currently an on going investigation and evidence is being collected.”
The breach comes days after the party was embroiled in controversy after asking American preacher Pastor Terry Jones to attend a demonstration in Britain.
Theresa May, the Home Secretary, had faced calls to bar Mr Jones from entering the country after he was reportedly invited to address the EDL at a rally in Luton in February.
The preacher sparked outrage when he announced plans by his Florida-based church to burn copies of the Koran to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America.
The preacher said he would fight moves to ban him from coming to Britain, insisting he would be bringing a ''positive message''.
But the EDL later claimed it had not invited Mr Jones to speak at the event but he had approached them and they agreed in principle.
The weekend’s incident is similar to a security breach involving the far-right BNP in 2008, where the names, addresses and contact details of some 10,000 of its members were published online.
The list, which included details of some members' jobs, was reported to include serving and former police officers as well as members of the armed forces.
A spokesman for the EDL did not respond to inquiries for comment.
The Telegraph
Saturday, 18 December 2010
Two men fined after admitting offences at EDL protest (UK)
Two men have been fined £150 each after pleading guilty to offences committed at protests in Peterborough last Saturday.
Both men admitted the public order offences at Peterborough Magistrates' Court over violence at an English Defence League rally in the city.
Scot Whitehead, 32, from Peterborough, was also ordered to pay £95 costs.
James Black, 22, from Farnham, in Surrey, had to also pay £85 costs and a £15 surcharge.
BBC News
Both men admitted the public order offences at Peterborough Magistrates' Court over violence at an English Defence League rally in the city.
Scot Whitehead, 32, from Peterborough, was also ordered to pay £95 costs.
James Black, 22, from Farnham, in Surrey, had to also pay £85 costs and a £15 surcharge.
BBC News
Travel ban for English Defence League Birmingham men (UK)
Two English Defence League supporters have been banned from joining protests outside their home city for 10 years.
Richard Price, 41, and Collum Keyes, 23, were given Anti-social Behaviour Orders (Asbo) restricting their protests to Birmingham until 2020.
Police said it was the first time the ban had been applied to anyone linked to the group, which says it is against Islamic extremism and terrorism.
The pair previously pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct at a march in May.
They had also pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour during the protest in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and were sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday.
'Clear signal'
Judge Lord Parmoor sentenced Price to 12 weeks in prison and and fined Keyes £150.
He said both men travelled with the group to foment disorder and gave them a 10-year Asbo to stop them taking part in or controlling any protest more than 10 miles away from Birmingham city centre.
They have also been banned from distributing any material for the group or encouraging others to attend protests outside the city.
Det Con Andy Haworth, of the National Domestic Extremism Unit, said: "While the defence leagues are entitled to protest, violence has been a persistent feature of their demonstrations, and we hope the success of today's application will prevent that violence."
Pc Mike Ellis, of Thames Valley Police, said: "This is a clear signal to those who would use violence and disorder to further their extreme and racist views, to intimidate and create fear within minority communities."
BBC News
Richard Price, 41, and Collum Keyes, 23, were given Anti-social Behaviour Orders (Asbo) restricting their protests to Birmingham until 2020.
Police said it was the first time the ban had been applied to anyone linked to the group, which says it is against Islamic extremism and terrorism.
The pair previously pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct at a march in May.
They had also pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour during the protest in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and were sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday.
'Clear signal'
Judge Lord Parmoor sentenced Price to 12 weeks in prison and and fined Keyes £150.
He said both men travelled with the group to foment disorder and gave them a 10-year Asbo to stop them taking part in or controlling any protest more than 10 miles away from Birmingham city centre.
They have also been banned from distributing any material for the group or encouraging others to attend protests outside the city.
Det Con Andy Haworth, of the National Domestic Extremism Unit, said: "While the defence leagues are entitled to protest, violence has been a persistent feature of their demonstrations, and we hope the success of today's application will prevent that violence."
Pc Mike Ellis, of Thames Valley Police, said: "This is a clear signal to those who would use violence and disorder to further their extreme and racist views, to intimidate and create fear within minority communities."
BBC News
TOUGHER PUNISHMENTS PLANNED FOR HATE CRIMES (Finland)
A government bill proposes prison sentences of up to four years for hate crimes. The toughest sentences can be imposed on aggravated incitement against a sector of the population - such as urging people to commit murder or genocide. The government wants to add a separate category of aggravated hate crime to the criminal code. The proposal is part of a package of legislation that is going before Parliament on Friday, aimed at clamping down on crimes against ethnic groups, as well as other population groups, such as sexual minorities. In crimes of incitement, the hate crime category would include acts which are motivated by a victim’s ethnicity, religious or other conviction, sexual orientation, disability, as well as similar factors. The emphasis is that the punishments would apply to actual crimes motivated by hate, and not mere acts of racism. In addition to actual human beings, a “legal person”, such as an association or group, could also be held responsible for crimes of incitement against an ethnic group, illegal threats, or aggravated slander or libel.
Minister of Justice Tuija Brax (Green) emphasised on Thursday that the bill is not intended to restrict free speech on socially important issues. She said that it will continue to be legal to voice severe criticism of immigration or policy towards foreigners, and against those responsible for such policies. The bill is also not aimed at placing restrictions on research or science. What would be punishable would be making threats, slander, and vilification, either on paper or online. Punishable acts would include displaying or spreading messages that endorse violence or discrimination against a group. Criminal hate speech would also include comparing people with animals, or labelling entire groups as criminals or of lesser value. The new bill would add a mention of displaying illegal material as a crime itself. At present, the law mentions “distribution”. The change was prompted by the Internet. If the bill passes into law, it will no longer be possible to split hairs about who is actually responsible for what appears on a web page. Ministry official Mirja Salonen says that the clause would apply to someone who deliberately allows or urges another person to post hate messages on his or her website or Facebook page, for instance, and fails to remove them when called upon to do so.
http://www.hs.fi/english/
Minister of Justice Tuija Brax (Green) emphasised on Thursday that the bill is not intended to restrict free speech on socially important issues. She said that it will continue to be legal to voice severe criticism of immigration or policy towards foreigners, and against those responsible for such policies. The bill is also not aimed at placing restrictions on research or science. What would be punishable would be making threats, slander, and vilification, either on paper or online. Punishable acts would include displaying or spreading messages that endorse violence or discrimination against a group. Criminal hate speech would also include comparing people with animals, or labelling entire groups as criminals or of lesser value. The new bill would add a mention of displaying illegal material as a crime itself. At present, the law mentions “distribution”. The change was prompted by the Internet. If the bill passes into law, it will no longer be possible to split hairs about who is actually responsible for what appears on a web page. Ministry official Mirja Salonen says that the clause would apply to someone who deliberately allows or urges another person to post hate messages on his or her website or Facebook page, for instance, and fails to remove them when called upon to do so.
http://www.hs.fi/english/
Russian police arrest suspected racist killer, riot ringleader
Ilya Kubrakov is believed to be a ringleader of last Saturday's riots on Manezh Square next to the Kremlin and could face life in prison over the stabbing to death of a man from Kyrgyzstan in southern Moscow. His body was found on Sunday.
Court spokesman Oleg Shassayev said all four detainees could be kept in pretrial detention until February 12, adding that if the probe into their crimes is not completed by that time, investigators could ask for their detention to be extended.
In Moscow, a 5,000-strong crowd of nationalists and football hooligans clashed with police at central Manezh Square on Saturday. The fans were protesting police negligence over the death of Yegor Sviridov, 28, who was killed in a brawl with migrants from Russia's North Caucasus region earlier in November.
The clash was followed on Wednesday by further disturbances as ethnic Russians and internal migrants gathered for a confrontation near a major train terminus in Moscow. Race-hate riots also occurred in St. Petersburg and other Russian cities.
President Dmitry Medvedev blamed the outbreak of race-hate violence on investigators who released suspects in the death of Sviridov. He called on Russia's police and prosecutors to take measures to punish all those responsible for the crime.
A spate of race-hate attacks since the weekend and reports of more clashes to come have left the Russian capital on edge.
RiaNovosti
FAR-RIGHT GROUP ELAM APPLIES TO BECOME POLITICAL PARTY (Cyprus)
The nationalist movement ELAM (National People’s Front) is seeking to establish itself as a political party with a view to running in elections – perhaps even the coming parliamentary elections next May. As reported by Politis yesterday, ELAM has filed an application with the Interior Ministry so that its property and assets are deemed tax-free – an exemption which political parties are entitled to. The application was filed in late November. Lazaros Savvides, permanent secretary of the Interior Ministry, said a decision on the application should be made by next week. “If it satisfies all the criteria, there is no reason why it should not be accepted,” Savvides told the Mail. The above application is a formality and is separate from registering as a political party, for which other requirements apply – such as having an office in all the major towns or conducting operations in the various districts. The application was filed on ELAM’s behalf by European Party MP Rikkos Erotokritou in his capacity as a lawyer.
Politis yesterday attributed to Erotokritou suspicious motives, and in a double-entendre wondered how a member of one party could be promoting the establishment of a potentially rival political grouping. Later yesterday, the deputy released a statement through his law firm, stating he had no political relation whatsoever to ELAM and that his involvement in no way indicated that he shared the group’s views. Hitting back, he claimed the paper was distorting facts and urged the publication to set the record straight. Erotokritou attached to the statement a copy of an agreement with the Kurdistan Limassol District Office. The MP said his business association with Kurdish immigrants was proof enough that he did not see eye to eye with ELAM. Regardless of whether the application is approved or not, ELAM can still declare itself a party and run as such in elections – which is precisely what the movement plans to do. “We aim to run as a party in the upcoming parliamentary elections,” said Michalis Drakos, a member of ELAM’s Central Committee.
To win a seat in parliament, a candidate must garner 1/56 – or around 1.8 per cent – of the popular vote. ELAM actually ran in the last European elections, winning 663 votes, or 0.22 per cent. The self-professed nationalists, whose members don black T-shirts in demonstrations, deny they are a racist or chauvinist movement. They say they are against illegal immigrants, including asylum seekers living here on benefits paid for by taxpayers – but insist they have nothing against legal aliens. Besides advocating a ‘Greek Cyprus’, the outfit wants all illegal immigrants (“many of whom pose as asylum seekers”) on the island to be summarily deported. “Yes, we are worried about the demographics of our country. Today, there are currently some 200,000 foreigners living here,” Drakos said, temporarily blurring the distinction between legally and illegally residing foreigners. “We have nothing against people who reside here legally. They will stay here, and when their residency expires, they will be on their way back to their countries,” he noted.
ELAM are against a federation-based solution to the Cyprus problem, and want the crossing points with the north shut. Their bid to break into the mainstream of politics is linked to a desire to shed their image as a fringe extremist outfit. “We are here to stay…not just to emerge whenever there are elections,” said Drakos, explaining ELAM’s intended transformation into a fully-fledged party. “Our goal is to acquire a political role, and to provide a platform to people who disagree with conventional ideas – such as a federal solution for Cyprus – but who have nowhere to turn to now. “We want to be taken seriously,” added Drakos. Established in July 2008, the group currently counts some 800 registered members, and has offices in all the major towns, as well as an associated student organisation in Athens. In the municipal elections in Greece last November, the ultra-nationalist Greek group known as ‘Chrysi Avgi’ got a member elected to the Athens municipality.
According to the charter of ‘Chrysi Avgi’, “only Aryans by blood and Greeks by descent can be candidate members.” The charter also puts the leader in total control of the party, and formalises the use of the Roman salute for party members. Their emblem’s colour and design is eerily reminiscent of the Nazi swastika. ELAM member Petros Georgiou said their outfit has “friendly relations” with a number of nationalist parties in other countries, including ‘Chrysi Avgi’ in Greece and Italy’s Forza Nuova, as well as similar groups in Germany and Russia. Most of their members come from low-income groups, but ELAM’s ranks include people from all walks of life, including doctors and lawyers. And funding comes “from our own pockets,” Georgiou said.
Cyprus Mail
Politis yesterday attributed to Erotokritou suspicious motives, and in a double-entendre wondered how a member of one party could be promoting the establishment of a potentially rival political grouping. Later yesterday, the deputy released a statement through his law firm, stating he had no political relation whatsoever to ELAM and that his involvement in no way indicated that he shared the group’s views. Hitting back, he claimed the paper was distorting facts and urged the publication to set the record straight. Erotokritou attached to the statement a copy of an agreement with the Kurdistan Limassol District Office. The MP said his business association with Kurdish immigrants was proof enough that he did not see eye to eye with ELAM. Regardless of whether the application is approved or not, ELAM can still declare itself a party and run as such in elections – which is precisely what the movement plans to do. “We aim to run as a party in the upcoming parliamentary elections,” said Michalis Drakos, a member of ELAM’s Central Committee.
To win a seat in parliament, a candidate must garner 1/56 – or around 1.8 per cent – of the popular vote. ELAM actually ran in the last European elections, winning 663 votes, or 0.22 per cent. The self-professed nationalists, whose members don black T-shirts in demonstrations, deny they are a racist or chauvinist movement. They say they are against illegal immigrants, including asylum seekers living here on benefits paid for by taxpayers – but insist they have nothing against legal aliens. Besides advocating a ‘Greek Cyprus’, the outfit wants all illegal immigrants (“many of whom pose as asylum seekers”) on the island to be summarily deported. “Yes, we are worried about the demographics of our country. Today, there are currently some 200,000 foreigners living here,” Drakos said, temporarily blurring the distinction between legally and illegally residing foreigners. “We have nothing against people who reside here legally. They will stay here, and when their residency expires, they will be on their way back to their countries,” he noted.
ELAM are against a federation-based solution to the Cyprus problem, and want the crossing points with the north shut. Their bid to break into the mainstream of politics is linked to a desire to shed their image as a fringe extremist outfit. “We are here to stay…not just to emerge whenever there are elections,” said Drakos, explaining ELAM’s intended transformation into a fully-fledged party. “Our goal is to acquire a political role, and to provide a platform to people who disagree with conventional ideas – such as a federal solution for Cyprus – but who have nowhere to turn to now. “We want to be taken seriously,” added Drakos. Established in July 2008, the group currently counts some 800 registered members, and has offices in all the major towns, as well as an associated student organisation in Athens. In the municipal elections in Greece last November, the ultra-nationalist Greek group known as ‘Chrysi Avgi’ got a member elected to the Athens municipality.
According to the charter of ‘Chrysi Avgi’, “only Aryans by blood and Greeks by descent can be candidate members.” The charter also puts the leader in total control of the party, and formalises the use of the Roman salute for party members. Their emblem’s colour and design is eerily reminiscent of the Nazi swastika. ELAM member Petros Georgiou said their outfit has “friendly relations” with a number of nationalist parties in other countries, including ‘Chrysi Avgi’ in Greece and Italy’s Forza Nuova, as well as similar groups in Germany and Russia. Most of their members come from low-income groups, but ELAM’s ranks include people from all walks of life, including doctors and lawyers. And funding comes “from our own pockets,” Georgiou said.
Cyprus Mail
Friday, 17 December 2010
Cities still stripping Hitler of honorary citizenship (Germany)
After two previous attempts failed, the Dülmen city council plans to remove Hitler, the town’s fifth honorary citizen, from the list posthumously – a move historians say is long overdue.
On April 6, 1933 city officials voted unanimously to honour the Nazi leader.
Centre-left Social Democratic council group leader Waltraud Bednarz wrote in her September proposal to remove Hitler from the list that the action was not necessary, but “more that appropriate.”
Honorary citizens lose their title at death, but Bednarz argued that the names of other former recipients of the title should not be tarnished by association.
“We don’t want to put the others in a row with Hitler and want to finally remove this honorary citizenship,” she said.
The town is not alone in expunging the embarrassing detail from their records.
Historians estimate that Hitler was named an honorary citizen of about 4,000 German communities before his death, but there are no official figures on how many towns and cities have actually rescinded the title.
This is due to the fact that many official records were destroyed during World War II, said historian Thomas Schaarschmidt from the Potsdam centre for historic research (ZZF).
But even in the cities where records survived, it took decades for them to countermand the honour, he said.
Hitler wasn’t taken off Düsseldorf’s list until 2000. And in Bad Doberan, where the 2007 G8 summit was held at Heiligendamm, officials didn’t get around it until shortly before the event began. The city of Gladbeck near Münster just took care of it last week.
“Most of the cancellations go back to the 1990s,” Schaarschmidt explained, though some cities, such as Emmerich, did have war criminals removed as early as 1946.
“But there were decisions to leave Hitler on the lists for historical reasons,” Schaarschmidt added, explaining that some cities wanted a record of how they had been mired in Nazi politics.
But Dülmen’s move is long overdue, he said, calling it an important “symbolic act.”
The Local Germany
POLAND SWEARS IN NIGERIAN GODSON AS FIRST BLACK MP
John Abraham Godson, a Polish citizen born and raised in Nigeria, has been sworn in as the first black member of Poland's parliament. Mr Godson had served as a councillor in the city of Lodz before taking up a parliamentary seat, vacated by a party colleague after local elections. His entry into parliament has created a media stir in the mainly white country. He came to Poland in the 1990s, opening an English-language school and working as a pastor in a Protestant church. He has since married a Polish woman and the couple have four children.
Beaten up twice
A member of the centre-right Civic Platform party, he was appointed to the seat vacated by party colleague Hanna Zdanowskaafter after she became mayor of Lodz. It is still quite rare to see black people even in the Polish capital Warsaw, Poland's most cosmopolitan city, the BBC's Adam Easton reports. Racism is still a problem in Poland, where it is not uncommon for well-educated people to make racist jokes, our correspondent says. Mr Godson was beaten up twice in the early 1990s but he says attitudes to black people in Poland are changing for the better, particularly since the country joined the EU six years ago. Speaking earlier to Polish radio, Mr Godson said: "I am from Lodz, I will live here, I want to die here and I want to be buried here."
BBC News
Beaten up twice
A member of the centre-right Civic Platform party, he was appointed to the seat vacated by party colleague Hanna Zdanowskaafter after she became mayor of Lodz. It is still quite rare to see black people even in the Polish capital Warsaw, Poland's most cosmopolitan city, the BBC's Adam Easton reports. Racism is still a problem in Poland, where it is not uncommon for well-educated people to make racist jokes, our correspondent says. Mr Godson was beaten up twice in the early 1990s but he says attitudes to black people in Poland are changing for the better, particularly since the country joined the EU six years ago. Speaking earlier to Polish radio, Mr Godson said: "I am from Lodz, I will live here, I want to die here and I want to be buried here."
BBC News
Neo-Nazi spared death penalty in 2006 murder (USA)
He dressed in black and refused to allow the application of makeup to cover his offensive tattoos, something that was done each day during his trial.
"I wanted the jury to see me ," he said.
Despite seeing the swastika and the expletive tattooed on Ditullio's neck, the panel of six men and six women deliberated for only about 30 minutes before sparing him a death sentence.
Instead, they recommended he serve life in prison for the 2006 murder of 17-year-old Kristofer King. Pasco Circuit Judge Michael Andrews accepted the sentence, adding a concurrent 15 years behind bars for the attempted murder of Patricia Wells.
King and Wells were attacked inside Wells' Teak Street mobile home. Wells was severely cut on her hands, arms and face but escaped. King, a friend of Wells' son, died of stab wounds to his head.
Assistant State Attorney Mike Halkitis contended the crime was motivated by Ditullio's white supremacist beliefs and his association with a neo-Nazi group that congregated at a mobile home next door to Wells.
Halkitis said Wells was attacked because she was friends with a black man and King because he was gay.
The eight-day retrial ended Wednesday with the jury finding Ditullio guilty of first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. Ditullio's first trial a year ago ended in a hung jury, with the panel leaning 10-2 toward acquittal.
Ditullio, 24, didn't seem all that bent on avoiding a death penalty. Aside from revealing his tattoos, he didn't allow his attorneys to present evidence of his tough upbringing and mental illness, evidence typically used to help defendants avoid death sentences.
Ditullio also seemed to take a casual attitude when he addressed the jury.
"I'm not going to beg you people for my life or my death," he said. "Do what you do, OK? Life in Florida is death in Florida. But the people that just sat up here and testified that they love me and that they want to be part of my life, that's who I ask you to render your verdict on. Not me."
Ditullio's grandmother, Edith Ditullio, and sister, Cynthia Lewandowski, told the jury they loved him and would continue a relationship with him if he went to prison for life.
Morris Standifer and Adam Jones, convicted felons serving lengthy prison terms, testified Ditullio was their friend when they were in the Land O' Lakes Jail.
Their friendships came despite the fact they are black and Ditullio belonged to a neo-Nazi group.
"I've never heard no racial comments come out of his mouth, ever," Jones said.
Defense attorney Danny Hernandez said jurors should spare his client because he was only 20 at the time of the crime and had no prior felony convictions.
The attack happened just after midnight on March 23, 2006, when a man wearing a gas mask barged into Wells' trailer. He slashed Wells and stabbed King, who was there using a computer.
At trial, defense attorney Bjorn Brunvand argued that Shawn Plott, another member of the neo-Nazi group, committed the stabbings.
Brunvand pointed to Wells' description of her attacker as having blond hair: Plott has blond hair; Ditullio has dark brown hair.
Brunvand also argued that Wells varied on the attacker's height.
Wells' blood was found on the left boot Ditullio was wearing that night. The defense argued that blood taken from the boot should be disregarded because it became contaminated during testing.
But testimony indicated the sample that contained Wells' DNA was not contaminated.
King's mother, Charlene Bricken, wasn't swayed by the defense case. She addressed Ditullio before he was sentenced.
"You know, John, you talked so much about being young and how influenced you were," Bricken said. "But what about Kris, who was 17 years old and 20 days? What chance did he have? And why did you have the right to take his life, or anybody's?
Tampa Bay Online
Thursday, 16 December 2010
Commission fights ruling in white supremacist case (Canada)
The Canadian Human Rights Commission is appealing a Federal Court ruling that a white supremacist who posted hate propaganda on the Internet was not in contempt of the court.
The commission says the judge erred in determining that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal did not make it sufficiently clear that Terry Tremaine was ordered to remove hateful material from a website.
Federal Court Judge Sean Harrington's ruling on Nov. 29 noted that Tremaine has a particular hatred for blacks, First Nations people and Jews.
Tremaine argued that the tribunal failed to immediately notify him that a February 2007 order for him to stop communicating his racist views on the Internet had been registered with the court, and Harrington agreed.
The human rights commission did prove that Tremaine deliberately flaunted that order.
The former University of Saskatchewan math lecturer has been charged criminally in that province for disseminating hate propaganda.
CTV News
The commission says the judge erred in determining that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal did not make it sufficiently clear that Terry Tremaine was ordered to remove hateful material from a website.
Federal Court Judge Sean Harrington's ruling on Nov. 29 noted that Tremaine has a particular hatred for blacks, First Nations people and Jews.
Tremaine argued that the tribunal failed to immediately notify him that a February 2007 order for him to stop communicating his racist views on the Internet had been registered with the court, and Harrington agreed.
The human rights commission did prove that Tremaine deliberately flaunted that order.
The former University of Saskatchewan math lecturer has been charged criminally in that province for disseminating hate propaganda.
CTV News
Extremist Group Urges Boycott Of Thor Over Casting Of Idris Elba
The Missouri-based Council of Conservative Citizens, labeled as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, writes that Marvel has “[declared] war on North mythology” by giving the pantheon “an insulting multi-cultural make-over” in the form of Idris Elba, the English actor known for his roles in The Wire, The Losers and The Office.
“It’s not enough that Marvel attacks conservatives values,” the post states, “now mythological Gods must be re-invented with black skin.” It directs visitors to Boycott Thor, whose subhead reads, “Keep social engineering out of European mythology.” It’s unclear whether the Council of Conservative Citizens is actually involved with the site, or simply subscribes to the ideology.
“It well known that Marvel is a company that advocates for left-wing ideologies and causes,” the boycott site insists. “Marvel front man Stan ‘Lee’ Lieber boasts of being a major financier of left-wing political candidates. Marvel has viciously attacked the TEA Party movement, conservatives, and European heritage. Now they have taken it one further, casting a black man as a Norse deity in their new movie Thor. Marvel has now inserted social engineering into European mythology.”
In an apparent attempt to strengthen its case against Marvel, the site also points to the Black Panther, which it describes as “explicit pro-black and the comics are viciously anti-white.”
So far, 133 people have “liked” Boycott Thor on Facebook. The handful of comments on the site are pretty much what you’d expect, with one person calling Thor “whiteaphobic crap,” and another characterizing Elba’s casting as “Just another way to keep rapping the club over the heads of good white people, everywhere.”
Elba waved off early criticisms, telling TV Times back in April, “Hang about, Thor’s mythical, right? Thor has a hammer that flies to him when he clicks his fingers. That’s OK, but the color of my skin is wrong? I was cast in Thor and I’m cast as a Nordic god. If you know anything about the Nords, they don’t look like me but there you go. I think that’s a sign of the times for the future. I think we will see multi-level casting. I think we will see that, and I think that’s good.”
SpinOffOnline
GERMANY APPLIES ANTI-NAZI LAWS IN CRACKDOWN ON SALAFI ISLAMIC GROUPS
German authorities hardened a crackdown on Islamic groups yesterday, raiding homes and schools that reportedly belong to adherents of fundamentalist Salafi Islam. German officials said the preemptive raids, conducted under German anti-Nazi laws of association, were aimed at uncovering unconstitutional or separatist acts and not part of an international terror hunt. The raids targeted the Islamic Cultural Center of Bremen, on the North Sea, along with a group calling itself Invitation to Paradise in two small northwest German cities. Invitation to Paradise's leader has called for sharia, or Islamic law, to prevail one day but has specifically opposed using violence to impose it. While some experts say police overreacted in conducting the raids, German officials have come under great pressure from local media and citizen groups to respond to some Muslim organizations that appear to resist joining mainstream German society. “These groups are a problem for integration, even maybe for radicalization, though not necessarily for violent jihad. They are very orthodox and like to be separate but are not preaching but usually condemning violence,” says Alexander Ritzmann, a former Berlin member of parliament now with the European Foundation for Democracy in Brussels. “The problem is that some jihadis in Germany from before identified themselves as Salafi.”
Germany has been on high alert for possible terror attacks since mid-November. The Reichstag parliament building was partially closed to tourists for two weeks following a phone call from a disaffected South Asian jihadist who warned that Islamic militant groups were planning to attack high-profile targets in the nation. Authorities said yesterday's raids were unrelated to the phone warning. The German Interior Ministry said it was investigating efforts by radicals to overthrow the government on theological Islamic grounds. In a statement issued Tuesday, the ministry said that, “For a well-fortified democracy, it is necessary and demanded, without waiting for the jihad to occur in the form of armed struggle, to take action against anti-constitutional organizations.” A leader of Invitation to Paradise, Pierre Vogel, has been a lightening rod in Germany for some time now. He's a German convert to Islam who appears on numerous TV shows to defend the concept of sharia.
Mr. Ritzmann, the former German parliamentarian, argues that the zeal of the German police should be more in line with the goals of German intelligence, which may be uneasy with high-profile raids that are designed to placate political pressure. “The police may make some of the popular leaders into martyrs if the state is now going after them," he says. "It means inside the mosque that everything the Islamic leaders say to them about not being accepted in German society appears to be true.” After a car bomb in Stockholm carried out by a disaffected Islamist from Iraq named Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, several German politicians called for tighter visa restrictions. After yesterday’s raids, other officials called for a quick and total ban on radical Islamic groups. German police say the raids were unrelated to the Stockholm incident.
CSMonitor
Germany has been on high alert for possible terror attacks since mid-November. The Reichstag parliament building was partially closed to tourists for two weeks following a phone call from a disaffected South Asian jihadist who warned that Islamic militant groups were planning to attack high-profile targets in the nation. Authorities said yesterday's raids were unrelated to the phone warning. The German Interior Ministry said it was investigating efforts by radicals to overthrow the government on theological Islamic grounds. In a statement issued Tuesday, the ministry said that, “For a well-fortified democracy, it is necessary and demanded, without waiting for the jihad to occur in the form of armed struggle, to take action against anti-constitutional organizations.” A leader of Invitation to Paradise, Pierre Vogel, has been a lightening rod in Germany for some time now. He's a German convert to Islam who appears on numerous TV shows to defend the concept of sharia.
Mr. Ritzmann, the former German parliamentarian, argues that the zeal of the German police should be more in line with the goals of German intelligence, which may be uneasy with high-profile raids that are designed to placate political pressure. “The police may make some of the popular leaders into martyrs if the state is now going after them," he says. "It means inside the mosque that everything the Islamic leaders say to them about not being accepted in German society appears to be true.” After a car bomb in Stockholm carried out by a disaffected Islamist from Iraq named Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, several German politicians called for tighter visa restrictions. After yesterday’s raids, other officials called for a quick and total ban on radical Islamic groups. German police say the raids were unrelated to the Stockholm incident.
CSMonitor
Sweden's far-right seizes on terrorist attack
The botched terrorist bombing in central Stockholm last weekend is being seized upon by Sweden's extreme right as an example of the dangers that multiculturalism and open immigration can have on the country.
The attack, which caused little damage, leaving only the perpetrator dead and two others with minor injuries, is now serving as political fodder for right-wing groups already hostile toward immigration and foreign cultures. The right is pointing to the bomber as a clear example of why Sweden should stop accepting more immigrants and promoting a multicultural society.
The National Democrats, a small, far-right party with a handful of seats on local government councils, have planned a rally on Sunday in Stockholm against multiculturalism and terrorism. The party said it had warned of terrorists coming to Sweden in the past, only to have the warnings fall on deaf ears.
“The bombings in Stockholm were not a coincidence but part of a frightening development that will affect us all,” read a statement posted on the group’s website. “The biggest tragedy with this first terrorist attack in central Stockholm is that it’s an indication of what is about to happen to our once-safe Swedish nation.”
Though terrorist attacks are nothing new to Europe, Sweden has long prided itself on remaining free from such violence while fielding troops abroad and hosting a growing Muslim population at home.
Omar Mustafa, president of the Islamic League in Sweden, said he fears the Saturday evening attack could undo the years of progress made by Muslims living in Sweden.
“We will lose the most after this attack,” he said. “This will not help the level of Islamophobia.”
The far right has seized upon the suicide bomber’s Middle Eastern roots and calls for violent jihad. The man, identified as 28-year-old Iraqi-born Swede Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, directed his ire toward Sweden’s military presence in Afghanistan and Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who drew an image of the prophet Muhammad’s head on a dog’s body in 2007.
In an emailed audio messages sent to Sweden’s national news agency and recorded in Arabic, English and Swedish, al-Abdaly also called upon the “hidden mujahedeen in Europe and, especially, in Sweden” to carry out more attacks.
“It’s now the time to strike even if you only have a knife to strike with,” he said, “and I do know that you have more than that.”
A larger and more-established political party entered the fray when William Petzall, a parliamentarian for the populist, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats party, wrote on his Twitter account, “I hate to say it but what did we tell you?”
Petzall’s comments were echoed by Alexandra Brunell, secretary to the Sweden Democrats’ party leader Jimmie Akesson, who wrote Saturday night on her Twitter account, “Is it now that we can say we told you so?” She later backtracked, however, apologizing for the remark and its tone.
Speaking with the Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, Akesson made it clear the Sweden Democrats would take up the issue in parliament. The party has long demanded halting the country’s flow of immigrants.
“Now we see an opening to get a debate and start taking this threat seriously,” Akesson told the newspaper.
The Sweden Democrats stunned the political establishment in September when the party garnered enough votes to enter parliament for the first time. Since the election, the group’s popularity has even slightly increased, according to a Dec. 8 opinion poll by the country's main statistics office, Statistics Sweden.
Observers said it is unsurprising that the Sweden Democrats would utilize the bombing for political gains. Given its past objection to the rise of Islam in Sweden, the party can now use the attack as a rallying point for its faithful and as a means to possibly recruit more into the fold.
“It’s a process of scapegoating. You have one person that represents a very radical interpretation of Islam. Then what the Sweden Democrats are trying to do is extrapolate that to all of Islam," said Cristian Norocel, a researcher at Stockholm University and Finland's University of Helsinki. "This plays on their line of reasoning.”
As for whether or not the Swedish electorate will listen to the far right's arguments, Norocel said that remains to be seen. Sweden has a moderate political tradition, and the country's mainstream political parties called for calm following the explosions while Sweden's Muslim associations condemned the bomber's actions and beliefs.
"This moment of pondering can be easily hijacked by Sweden Democrats," Norocel said, adding that the media must also be careful not to overhype the incident with excessive coverage.
Mustafa, of the Islam association, said Sweden needed to promote an open dialogue rather than the recriminations offered by far-right parties in order to prevent future attacks.
“I think Swedes will not fall into this trap,” he said.
Global Post
The attack, which caused little damage, leaving only the perpetrator dead and two others with minor injuries, is now serving as political fodder for right-wing groups already hostile toward immigration and foreign cultures. The right is pointing to the bomber as a clear example of why Sweden should stop accepting more immigrants and promoting a multicultural society.
The National Democrats, a small, far-right party with a handful of seats on local government councils, have planned a rally on Sunday in Stockholm against multiculturalism and terrorism. The party said it had warned of terrorists coming to Sweden in the past, only to have the warnings fall on deaf ears.
“The bombings in Stockholm were not a coincidence but part of a frightening development that will affect us all,” read a statement posted on the group’s website. “The biggest tragedy with this first terrorist attack in central Stockholm is that it’s an indication of what is about to happen to our once-safe Swedish nation.”
Though terrorist attacks are nothing new to Europe, Sweden has long prided itself on remaining free from such violence while fielding troops abroad and hosting a growing Muslim population at home.
Omar Mustafa, president of the Islamic League in Sweden, said he fears the Saturday evening attack could undo the years of progress made by Muslims living in Sweden.
“We will lose the most after this attack,” he said. “This will not help the level of Islamophobia.”
The far right has seized upon the suicide bomber’s Middle Eastern roots and calls for violent jihad. The man, identified as 28-year-old Iraqi-born Swede Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, directed his ire toward Sweden’s military presence in Afghanistan and Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who drew an image of the prophet Muhammad’s head on a dog’s body in 2007.
In an emailed audio messages sent to Sweden’s national news agency and recorded in Arabic, English and Swedish, al-Abdaly also called upon the “hidden mujahedeen in Europe and, especially, in Sweden” to carry out more attacks.
“It’s now the time to strike even if you only have a knife to strike with,” he said, “and I do know that you have more than that.”
A larger and more-established political party entered the fray when William Petzall, a parliamentarian for the populist, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats party, wrote on his Twitter account, “I hate to say it but what did we tell you?”
Petzall’s comments were echoed by Alexandra Brunell, secretary to the Sweden Democrats’ party leader Jimmie Akesson, who wrote Saturday night on her Twitter account, “Is it now that we can say we told you so?” She later backtracked, however, apologizing for the remark and its tone.
Speaking with the Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, Akesson made it clear the Sweden Democrats would take up the issue in parliament. The party has long demanded halting the country’s flow of immigrants.
“Now we see an opening to get a debate and start taking this threat seriously,” Akesson told the newspaper.
The Sweden Democrats stunned the political establishment in September when the party garnered enough votes to enter parliament for the first time. Since the election, the group’s popularity has even slightly increased, according to a Dec. 8 opinion poll by the country's main statistics office, Statistics Sweden.
Observers said it is unsurprising that the Sweden Democrats would utilize the bombing for political gains. Given its past objection to the rise of Islam in Sweden, the party can now use the attack as a rallying point for its faithful and as a means to possibly recruit more into the fold.
“It’s a process of scapegoating. You have one person that represents a very radical interpretation of Islam. Then what the Sweden Democrats are trying to do is extrapolate that to all of Islam," said Cristian Norocel, a researcher at Stockholm University and Finland's University of Helsinki. "This plays on their line of reasoning.”
As for whether or not the Swedish electorate will listen to the far right's arguments, Norocel said that remains to be seen. Sweden has a moderate political tradition, and the country's mainstream political parties called for calm following the explosions while Sweden's Muslim associations condemned the bomber's actions and beliefs.
"This moment of pondering can be easily hijacked by Sweden Democrats," Norocel said, adding that the media must also be careful not to overhype the incident with excessive coverage.
Mustafa, of the Islam association, said Sweden needed to promote an open dialogue rather than the recriminations offered by far-right parties in order to prevent future attacks.
“I think Swedes will not fall into this trap,” he said.
Global Post
Wednesday, 15 December 2010
SECOND CASE OF ANTI-SEMITIC VANDALISM IN LATVIA IN A WEEK
Police in Latvia were investigating Monday after a second incident of anti-Semitic vandalism in less than a week. A memorial to Zanis Lipke, a Latvian credited with saving more than 50 Jews from death during World War II, was daubed with paint in the early hours of Monday morning, police said. The memorial was quickly cleaned up by municipal authorities.
The incident came just days after 89 tombstones in the Jewish Cemetery in Riga were daubed with swastikas by vandals. Latvian Foreign Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis was quick to condemn the latest incident, saying 'recurrent acts of vandalism' were unacceptable. Lipke, who died in 1987, was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the Holocaust memorial organization Yad Vashem. Nearly all of Riga's Jews were murdered during World War II by occupying Nazi forces assisted by local volunteers. Several Jewish organizations, including the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, have warned about high levels of anti-Semitism in the Baltic states.
The issue is put into sharp focus every year in Latvia on March 16, when an unofficial parade takes place in the Latvian capital commemorating members of the Latvian Waffen-SS. Of around 60,000 Jews in Latvia at the start of WWII, only 3,500 survived.
DPA
The incident came just days after 89 tombstones in the Jewish Cemetery in Riga were daubed with swastikas by vandals. Latvian Foreign Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis was quick to condemn the latest incident, saying 'recurrent acts of vandalism' were unacceptable. Lipke, who died in 1987, was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations by the Holocaust memorial organization Yad Vashem. Nearly all of Riga's Jews were murdered during World War II by occupying Nazi forces assisted by local volunteers. Several Jewish organizations, including the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, have warned about high levels of anti-Semitism in the Baltic states.
The issue is put into sharp focus every year in Latvia on March 16, when an unofficial parade takes place in the Latvian capital commemorating members of the Latvian Waffen-SS. Of around 60,000 Jews in Latvia at the start of WWII, only 3,500 survived.
DPA
BNP leader Nick Griffin to stand in Oldham East byelection (UK)
Far-right figurehead is latest candidate to confirm bid for seat left empty following Phil Woolas court case.
Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National party, will contest the Oldham East and Saddleworth byelection, the far-right party confirmed today.
Griffin, who currently serves as MEP for the North West, is the latest candidate to confirm his bid to enter the race for the seat left empty by Labour's Phil Woolas.
Judges ordered a rerun of the constituency election after ruling last month at a specially convened court that Woolas had lied to win his seat in May by 103 votes, exploiting racial tensions in order to defeat Liberal Democrat Elwyn Watkins.
Watkins took Woolas to court under the rarely used section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, claiming that the outcome was influenced by Labour leaflets making false allegations in an effort to sway the white vote in the constituency by wrongly accusing Watkins of wooing Islamist extremists and of not condemning threats of violence.
Woolas was stripped of his seat and banned from standing for election for three years, in the first such judgment for 99 years. He was subsequently expelled by the Labour party and earlier this month failed in an appeal at the high court against the decision.
The Labour party is expected to move a writ in the new year confirming the byelection date. Oldham East is a three-way marginal and the election will see the Lib Dems and Conservatives fighting against each other at the polls for the first time since going into coalition together in May.
The Conservatives today announced that Kashif Ali, who came third in the constituency at the May 2010 election, will stand again.
At the weekend Labour selected Debbie Abrahams, while Watkins will stand again for the Lib Dems.
Griffin's decision to stand comes after a humiliating showing for his party at the general election, when the BNP failed to win a single parliamentary seat at the general election, despite fielding more than 300 candidates.
The BNP leader stood in Barking, where he came third after polling just 4,916 votes despite a sustained campaign in the constituency.
BNP candidate Alwyn Stott came fourth in Oldham East at the general election, with 5.7% of the vote.
The decision by the BNP to field its leader in the race comes on the day that the party came under the spotlight for breaking electoral law in 2008 by "failing to keep accounting records sufficient to explain, with reasonable accuracy, the financial position of the party at the time".
The Electoral Commission said the party was guilty of a "clear failure" to keep accurate financial records for 2008, adding that it was "frustrating" that it could not impose a penalty on the party because the law at the time did not allow it.
The Guardian
Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National party, will contest the Oldham East and Saddleworth byelection, the far-right party confirmed today.
Griffin, who currently serves as MEP for the North West, is the latest candidate to confirm his bid to enter the race for the seat left empty by Labour's Phil Woolas.
Judges ordered a rerun of the constituency election after ruling last month at a specially convened court that Woolas had lied to win his seat in May by 103 votes, exploiting racial tensions in order to defeat Liberal Democrat Elwyn Watkins.
Watkins took Woolas to court under the rarely used section 106 of the Representation of the People Act 1983, claiming that the outcome was influenced by Labour leaflets making false allegations in an effort to sway the white vote in the constituency by wrongly accusing Watkins of wooing Islamist extremists and of not condemning threats of violence.
Woolas was stripped of his seat and banned from standing for election for three years, in the first such judgment for 99 years. He was subsequently expelled by the Labour party and earlier this month failed in an appeal at the high court against the decision.
The Labour party is expected to move a writ in the new year confirming the byelection date. Oldham East is a three-way marginal and the election will see the Lib Dems and Conservatives fighting against each other at the polls for the first time since going into coalition together in May.
The Conservatives today announced that Kashif Ali, who came third in the constituency at the May 2010 election, will stand again.
At the weekend Labour selected Debbie Abrahams, while Watkins will stand again for the Lib Dems.
Griffin's decision to stand comes after a humiliating showing for his party at the general election, when the BNP failed to win a single parliamentary seat at the general election, despite fielding more than 300 candidates.
The BNP leader stood in Barking, where he came third after polling just 4,916 votes despite a sustained campaign in the constituency.
BNP candidate Alwyn Stott came fourth in Oldham East at the general election, with 5.7% of the vote.
The decision by the BNP to field its leader in the race comes on the day that the party came under the spotlight for breaking electoral law in 2008 by "failing to keep accounting records sufficient to explain, with reasonable accuracy, the financial position of the party at the time".
The Electoral Commission said the party was guilty of a "clear failure" to keep accurate financial records for 2008, adding that it was "frustrating" that it could not impose a penalty on the party because the law at the time did not allow it.
The Guardian
Street attack racist yob jailed (UK)
Adam Moran, 22, was jailed for 23 months for the attack on his 41-year old victim after she went to look at the abuse – including a death threat – he'd sprayed on her garage door and wheelie bin.
Moran then turned violent on another neighbour after she came out to try and stop the attack.
Alisha Kaye, prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court the victim had reported problems with youths in the period leading up to the incident in Pontefract on August 8.
Moran wrote messages on her property which read "Tell us to get off again and I will kill you" as well as racist insults before signing his nickname 'Jackass'.
The woman, originally from Zambia, came out of her home.
As she went to take photographs of the damage Moran then hurled vile insults at her including: "You are my slave. You used to shine my shoes. Why don't you go back to your own country?!"
He then grabbed her by the hair before punching, kicking and kneeing her while constantly shouting abuse, the court was told.
A neighbour saw what was happening and ran over to try to help but Moran then swung a punch at her.
His first victim spent two days in hospital with head, back and leg injuries.
Moran later told police his nickname was Jackass but denied the damage.
He claimed he attacked the woman after she dug her nails into him when he went to confront her.
Moran, of Thomas Hill House, Horsefair, Pontefract, pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and two offences of racially aggravated damage.
He has previous convictions including burglary, robbery and assaulting a police officer.
Richard Canning, mitigating, said: "He acknowledges that his behaviour was quite frankly appalling and he is very ashamed of it."
Jailing him, Recorder David Hatton said: "These were serious offences, fully motivated by your approach to this woman's background and race."
Yorkshire Evening Post
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