Two leaders of a neo-Nazi gang were sentenced Tuesday to life in jail for a rash of hate killings that terrorized minorities in Russia's second-largest city.
The St. Petersburg City Court said Alexei Voevodin and Artyom Prokhorenko headed a gang that enlisted Russian supremacists and football fans aged 16 to 22 who preyed on non-Slavs with dark skin or Asian features, kicking and stabbing them to death.
The court also sentenced another 10 gang members to up to 18 years in jail for their roles in dozens of attacks over three years. Their victims included a nine-year old from the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan, and natives of North Korea, China and African nations.
The gang also killed two former members suspected of co-operating with police and buried their bodies in a suburban forest.
In 2004, the gang members gunned down Nikolai Girenko, a prominent expert on African ethnology and a human rights advocate who organized anti-racist conferences and helped police investigate hate crimes.
The killings rattled St. Petersburg, a city long plagued by assaults on labour migrants from ex-Soviet Central Asia and Russia's Caucasus region, as well as natives of African and Asian nations. Critics accused police of doing little to prevent the crimes and find the culprits, and the gang was caught only after a local newspaper ran an investigative report.
Voevodin and Prokhorenko, with shaved heads and bulging biceps covered with tattooed Celtic imagery, stood calmly in a cage in the courtroom as they listened to the verdict. At a court session last week, Voevodin threatened the judge with "a horrible death," Gazeta.ru online newspaper reported.
Celtic crosses are popular among Russian neo-Nazis as substitutes for swastikas.
A handful of their supporters raised their right hands in a Nazi salute and yelled "Hail Russia! Hail heroes!" Some of them were holding small, hand-drawn pictures of Adolf Hitler.
Voevodin formed the gang in 2003 after most of the members of his previous group, the Mad Crowd, were arrested and charged with multiple killings and assaults. He ordered his followers not to name the gang, refrain from wearing Nazi and ultranationalist symbols and advertising their crimes — unlike other neo-Nazi groups that often posted videos of their attacks online.
In recent years, dozens of mostly underage neo-Nazis have stood trial and been convicted across Russia amid a surge in xenophobia and hate crimes triggered by the influx of labour migrants. Some average Russians and nationalist politicians accuse the migrants of stealing jobs and forming ethnic gangs.
Racially motivated attacks peaked in 2008, when 110 were killed and 487 wounded, independent human rights watchdog Sova said.
Since then, the number of hate crimes dwindled, but human rights groups say neo-Nazis are increasingly resorting to bombings and arson against police and government officials, whom they accuse of condoning the influx of illegal migrants. Ultranationalist groups have also stepped up attacks on human rights activists and anti-racist youth groups.
In early May, a member of an ultranationalist group got a life sentence for the Jan. 2009 killing of a human rights advocate and a journalist, his girlfriend and accomplice was sentenced to 18 years in jail.
In April 2010, a federal judge who presided over trials of White Wolves, a mostly teenage group of skinheads convicted of killing and assaulting non-Slavs, was gunned down contract-style outside his Moscow apartment.
Members of a neo-Nazi group accused of planning to blow up a mosque, a McDonald's restaurant and railway stations are currently standing trial in Moscow.
Neo-Nazis operate in small, semi-autonomous groups that co-ordinate their actions through Internet forums and coded messages, rights groups say.
Yahoo News
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
ITALY AGAINST THE JEWS
Murky wave of anti-Israel zeal, demonization of Jews growing at alarming rate in Italy
By Giulio MeottiGiulio Meotti, a journalist with Il Foglio, is the author of the book A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism
The first months of 2011 have confirmed Italy’s status as one of Iran’s biggest European trade partners, all while the ayatollahs pursue the means to perpetuate a second Holocaust. Rome is doing business as usual with the greatest totalitarian threat to international peace and security since the defeats of Soviet communism and Nazi fascism, providing a lifeline to an Iranian regime that is cruel at home, sponsors terror abroad and preaches anti-Jewish revolt. Meanwhile, a murky wave of anti-Israel zeal is also growing at an alarming rate in Italy. “The old anti-Jewish libels are now aimed at the State of Israel”, says Stefano Gatti, one of the top researchers at the Center for Documentation in Milan. Pro-Palestinian activists are threatening to “ignite” Milan, the financial capital of Italy where an Israeli exhibit is going displayed in a central square. Meanwhile, the city of Turin hosted a “cultural festival” where the image of Shimon Peres was used as a shoe-throwing target. For one euro, Italian students had the chance to hit the face of Israel’s president, who was fitted with a Nazi-style Jewish nose.
An Israeli student at the University of Genoa has been harassed and threatened with death by Arab students. Muslim students shouted at him “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) and “Itbach el Yahud” (slaughter the Jews.) Another Israeli student at the University of Turin, Amit Peer, confessed that “the Jews here are hiding their own identity because they risk becoming a target.” Meanwhile, demonization of the Jews is spreading in the liberal media. Leftist newspaper “Il Manifesto” published a caricature of a Jewish candidate for parliament, Fiamma Nirenstein, with Fascist insignia, a campaign button and a Star of David. The cartoon “Electoral Monsters” was dubbed “Fiamma Frankenstein.” L’Unità, the official newspaper of the leftist Democratic Party, published an interview with anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes, where she claimed that Israel is a world leader in organ trafficking. The accusation resembled that of the Middle Ages blood libel whereby Jews were accused of kidnapping Christian and Muslim children before Passover in order to murder them and use their blood for matza.
Lists of boycotted Israeli products
Ucoii, the largest Islamic organization in Italy, published an ad in many mainstream newspapers entitled “Nazi Bloodshed Yesterday, Israeli Bloodshed Today.” An Italian court ruled that the Nazification of Israel came under “freedom of expression” and was not a case of incitement to hatred. In 2009, Italy sent the largest European delegation of artists to an Iranian cartoonist festival on the Holocaust. The cartoons presented the Holocaust as an invention of Jews with hooked noses typical of Nazi propaganda. Pisa, Rome and Bologna are among the most prestigious Italian universities that annually host anti-Zionist conferences and pro-Intifada speakers. Israeli attaché Shai Cohen was prevented from speaking at Pisa University after a violent attack by students, who called out “butcher, fascist, assassin.” The Israeli ambassador, Ehud Gol, fled Florence University after a similar “protest.” Meanwhile, the Riccione city council sponsored a meeting against “the militarism of Israel,” explaining that “Israeli governments don’t represent the Jewish people.” The Coop and Conad, two of the largest supermarket chains in Italy, for some weeks last year removed Israeli products from their shelves in the name of a boycott of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. Lists of boycotted Israeli products have been launched also by local Christian communities and leftist groups, targeting L’Oreal, Ahava and other firms. Flaica, a trade union with 8,000 members working in large-scale retail, promoted the boycott of “all Rome shops managed by Jews” and drew up lists of Jewish-owned shops to be avoided, because of “what is happening in Gaza.” In Rome, a new pro-Hamas Freedom Flotilla has just been presented in the official buildings of the Professional Order of the Journalists, a body financed by the Italian government. Some members of Turkish terror group IHH were also on hand.
Anti-Semitism becoming fashionable
The Foreign Press Association in Rome, a state-funded institution, suspended two journalists, both Jews: Yedioth Ahronoth correspondent Menachem Gantz and French journalist Ariel Dumont. Iranian journalist Masoumi Nejad, who has been arrested for a arms trading involving Italy and Iran, has never been expelled by the association. Anti-Semitism is becoming fashionable also among the “chattering classes”, intellectuals and academicians. Actress Sabina Guzzanti attacked the “Jewish race” in a primetime television program. Literary guru Alberto Asor Rosa wrote in a book on the transformation of the Jews from “a persecuted race” to “a warrior persecutor race.” Renowned leftist philosopher Gianni Vattimo declared that he had “re-evaluated” “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and now felt they largely reflect the truth about the Jews. The slandering of Israel is also growing among the most important Catholic journalists. Vittorio Messori, who conducted the first book-length interview with Pope John Paul II, recently wrote an editorial for the Italian daily “Il Corriere della sera” where he stated: “All governments of all Muslim nations are under the tsunami of the violent intrusion of Zionism that has come to put its capital in Jerusalem.”
The growing anti-Semitism is also evident by the security around the largest synagogue in Rome, one of the oldest in the world. The Jewish temple looks like a military outpost: Private guards everywhere, metal detectors and policemen at every corner. The Jewish school looks like a “sterilized area” protected by policemen, bodyguards and cameras. All school windows are plumbed with iron grates. I saw the same in the Jewish homes of Hebron and in the schools of Sderot. Pro-Palestinian groups just recently marched into the ghetto, shouting “Fascist” and “Assassins” to the Jews, some of them Holocaust survivors. It was here, on 16 October 1943, that 1,200 Jews were deported to Auschwitz; none of the 200 Jewish children came back home. It was here, on 9 October 1982, that an Arab terrorist opened fire on Jews; a two-year old baby, Stefano Taché, became the first Italian victim of anti-Jewish violence since the war. Not far from the ghetto, in the lower part of the Titus Gate, named after the Roman emperor who destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem, someone wrote in Hebrew: “Am Yisrael Chai.” The people of Israel not only had not been destroyed, but defiantly remained alive. It's comforting to know that there is still someone with the courage to write it.
YNetNews
By Giulio MeottiGiulio Meotti, a journalist with Il Foglio, is the author of the book A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism
The first months of 2011 have confirmed Italy’s status as one of Iran’s biggest European trade partners, all while the ayatollahs pursue the means to perpetuate a second Holocaust. Rome is doing business as usual with the greatest totalitarian threat to international peace and security since the defeats of Soviet communism and Nazi fascism, providing a lifeline to an Iranian regime that is cruel at home, sponsors terror abroad and preaches anti-Jewish revolt. Meanwhile, a murky wave of anti-Israel zeal is also growing at an alarming rate in Italy. “The old anti-Jewish libels are now aimed at the State of Israel”, says Stefano Gatti, one of the top researchers at the Center for Documentation in Milan. Pro-Palestinian activists are threatening to “ignite” Milan, the financial capital of Italy where an Israeli exhibit is going displayed in a central square. Meanwhile, the city of Turin hosted a “cultural festival” where the image of Shimon Peres was used as a shoe-throwing target. For one euro, Italian students had the chance to hit the face of Israel’s president, who was fitted with a Nazi-style Jewish nose.
An Israeli student at the University of Genoa has been harassed and threatened with death by Arab students. Muslim students shouted at him “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) and “Itbach el Yahud” (slaughter the Jews.) Another Israeli student at the University of Turin, Amit Peer, confessed that “the Jews here are hiding their own identity because they risk becoming a target.” Meanwhile, demonization of the Jews is spreading in the liberal media. Leftist newspaper “Il Manifesto” published a caricature of a Jewish candidate for parliament, Fiamma Nirenstein, with Fascist insignia, a campaign button and a Star of David. The cartoon “Electoral Monsters” was dubbed “Fiamma Frankenstein.” L’Unità, the official newspaper of the leftist Democratic Party, published an interview with anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes, where she claimed that Israel is a world leader in organ trafficking. The accusation resembled that of the Middle Ages blood libel whereby Jews were accused of kidnapping Christian and Muslim children before Passover in order to murder them and use their blood for matza.
Lists of boycotted Israeli products
Ucoii, the largest Islamic organization in Italy, published an ad in many mainstream newspapers entitled “Nazi Bloodshed Yesterday, Israeli Bloodshed Today.” An Italian court ruled that the Nazification of Israel came under “freedom of expression” and was not a case of incitement to hatred. In 2009, Italy sent the largest European delegation of artists to an Iranian cartoonist festival on the Holocaust. The cartoons presented the Holocaust as an invention of Jews with hooked noses typical of Nazi propaganda. Pisa, Rome and Bologna are among the most prestigious Italian universities that annually host anti-Zionist conferences and pro-Intifada speakers. Israeli attaché Shai Cohen was prevented from speaking at Pisa University after a violent attack by students, who called out “butcher, fascist, assassin.” The Israeli ambassador, Ehud Gol, fled Florence University after a similar “protest.” Meanwhile, the Riccione city council sponsored a meeting against “the militarism of Israel,” explaining that “Israeli governments don’t represent the Jewish people.” The Coop and Conad, two of the largest supermarket chains in Italy, for some weeks last year removed Israeli products from their shelves in the name of a boycott of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. Lists of boycotted Israeli products have been launched also by local Christian communities and leftist groups, targeting L’Oreal, Ahava and other firms. Flaica, a trade union with 8,000 members working in large-scale retail, promoted the boycott of “all Rome shops managed by Jews” and drew up lists of Jewish-owned shops to be avoided, because of “what is happening in Gaza.” In Rome, a new pro-Hamas Freedom Flotilla has just been presented in the official buildings of the Professional Order of the Journalists, a body financed by the Italian government. Some members of Turkish terror group IHH were also on hand.
Anti-Semitism becoming fashionable
The Foreign Press Association in Rome, a state-funded institution, suspended two journalists, both Jews: Yedioth Ahronoth correspondent Menachem Gantz and French journalist Ariel Dumont. Iranian journalist Masoumi Nejad, who has been arrested for a arms trading involving Italy and Iran, has never been expelled by the association. Anti-Semitism is becoming fashionable also among the “chattering classes”, intellectuals and academicians. Actress Sabina Guzzanti attacked the “Jewish race” in a primetime television program. Literary guru Alberto Asor Rosa wrote in a book on the transformation of the Jews from “a persecuted race” to “a warrior persecutor race.” Renowned leftist philosopher Gianni Vattimo declared that he had “re-evaluated” “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and now felt they largely reflect the truth about the Jews. The slandering of Israel is also growing among the most important Catholic journalists. Vittorio Messori, who conducted the first book-length interview with Pope John Paul II, recently wrote an editorial for the Italian daily “Il Corriere della sera” where he stated: “All governments of all Muslim nations are under the tsunami of the violent intrusion of Zionism that has come to put its capital in Jerusalem.”
The growing anti-Semitism is also evident by the security around the largest synagogue in Rome, one of the oldest in the world. The Jewish temple looks like a military outpost: Private guards everywhere, metal detectors and policemen at every corner. The Jewish school looks like a “sterilized area” protected by policemen, bodyguards and cameras. All school windows are plumbed with iron grates. I saw the same in the Jewish homes of Hebron and in the schools of Sderot. Pro-Palestinian groups just recently marched into the ghetto, shouting “Fascist” and “Assassins” to the Jews, some of them Holocaust survivors. It was here, on 16 October 1943, that 1,200 Jews were deported to Auschwitz; none of the 200 Jewish children came back home. It was here, on 9 October 1982, that an Arab terrorist opened fire on Jews; a two-year old baby, Stefano Taché, became the first Italian victim of anti-Jewish violence since the war. Not far from the ghetto, in the lower part of the Titus Gate, named after the Roman emperor who destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem, someone wrote in Hebrew: “Am Yisrael Chai.” The people of Israel not only had not been destroyed, but defiantly remained alive. It's comforting to know that there is still someone with the courage to write it.
YNetNews
BNP lose another councillor (Hope Not Hate, UK)
The BNP last night lost another councillor when Amber Valley member Cliff Roper resigned from the party whip and became an Independent.
In his resignation statement he said:
"It is with sadness that I have this evening resigned the British National Party whip on Amber Valley Borough Council. I will now sit as an Independent Member of the Council, though I retain my membership of the British National Party and, of course, my nationalist views.
This change will make no difference to the way I assist and deal with enquiries from my constituents, but is a symbolic protest at recent events within the British National Party, both at a national and local level."
Hope Not Hate
In his resignation statement he said:
"It is with sadness that I have this evening resigned the British National Party whip on Amber Valley Borough Council. I will now sit as an Independent Member of the Council, though I retain my membership of the British National Party and, of course, my nationalist views.
This change will make no difference to the way I assist and deal with enquiries from my constituents, but is a symbolic protest at recent events within the British National Party, both at a national and local level."
Hope Not Hate
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
White supremacist cries rape (Canada)
A wannabe white supremacist, who was placed in a Calgary Remand Centre cell with two members of visible minorities, said Monday he was raped by them.
The complainant, who can’t be identified, said he shaved his head after being sent to the northwest Calgary jail to get rid of two Nazi symbols carved into his hair.
But he testified at least one of his alleged attackers saw the symbols and other minority inmates made threatening comments about them.
And he rejected suggestions by lawyers for Ali Sanghar and Samar Sigar he consented to having sex with the two men in their cell on May 30, 2010.
Both Sanghar, 31, and Sigar, 19, face charges of sexual assault with a weapon.
The witness told Crown prosecutor Bev Bauer he awoke in the middle of the night to find a towel placed over his face and Sigar, who is black, holding a weapon on him,
“He pointed something at the back of my neck, which I thought was a knife,” said the witness.
“He told me he was in there for murder and he could either rape me or murder me, and he chose to rape me,” he said.
“I didn’t want to die so I just took it.”
During the attack Sanghar, who is of middle-eastern origin and required a Farsi interpreter in court, woke up and assaulted him as well, the complainant testified.
“I guess he wanted to join in so the black guy held my arms while the Iraqi, Middle Eastern guy took his turn,” the man said.
He said he was trying at the time to get membership in the white supremacist group Western European Bloodlines, but never joined.
He admitted being a racist at the time, but said his decision to have a friend carve Nazi symbols into his hair was more of a drunken lark than anything else.
Both defence lawyers Alan Fay and David Andrews suggested the complainant was making up the rape claim after agreeing to have sex with his new cellmates.
“You consented because you knew that if you didn’t do something you would continue to remain vulnerable because of your beliefs about persons of different races, isn’t that correct?” Andrews said.
“No that is not,” the witness replied.
Fay went one step further, saying the man agreed to have sex with Sigar and make it look like rape so other non-whites would be pacified.
The trial continues Tuesday.
Calgary Sun
The complainant, who can’t be identified, said he shaved his head after being sent to the northwest Calgary jail to get rid of two Nazi symbols carved into his hair.
But he testified at least one of his alleged attackers saw the symbols and other minority inmates made threatening comments about them.
And he rejected suggestions by lawyers for Ali Sanghar and Samar Sigar he consented to having sex with the two men in their cell on May 30, 2010.
Both Sanghar, 31, and Sigar, 19, face charges of sexual assault with a weapon.
The witness told Crown prosecutor Bev Bauer he awoke in the middle of the night to find a towel placed over his face and Sigar, who is black, holding a weapon on him,
“He pointed something at the back of my neck, which I thought was a knife,” said the witness.
“He told me he was in there for murder and he could either rape me or murder me, and he chose to rape me,” he said.
“I didn’t want to die so I just took it.”
During the attack Sanghar, who is of middle-eastern origin and required a Farsi interpreter in court, woke up and assaulted him as well, the complainant testified.
“I guess he wanted to join in so the black guy held my arms while the Iraqi, Middle Eastern guy took his turn,” the man said.
He said he was trying at the time to get membership in the white supremacist group Western European Bloodlines, but never joined.
He admitted being a racist at the time, but said his decision to have a friend carve Nazi symbols into his hair was more of a drunken lark than anything else.
Both defence lawyers Alan Fay and David Andrews suggested the complainant was making up the rape claim after agreeing to have sex with his new cellmates.
“You consented because you knew that if you didn’t do something you would continue to remain vulnerable because of your beliefs about persons of different races, isn’t that correct?” Andrews said.
“No that is not,” the witness replied.
Fay went one step further, saying the man agreed to have sex with Sigar and make it look like rape so other non-whites would be pacified.
The trial continues Tuesday.
Calgary Sun
Church beatifies Nazi-victim priest (Germany)
The Catholic Church has beatified the venerated priest Alois Andritzki, who was murdered by the Nazis at the Dachau concentration camp. Andritzki has long been revered by Sorbs, a minority ethnicity in eastern Germany.
German Priest Alois Andritzki, who died at Nazi hands in Dachau, has been bestowed the title "Blessed" by the Catholic Church.
Andritzki, who was arrested by the National Socialists in 1941 for criticizing the regime and later murdered by lethal injection, was beatified Monday at the Dresden Cathedral in a bilingual ceremony in German and Sorbian, the language of the eastern German Slavic minority to which he belonged.
Roman Cardinal Angelo Amato read the papal declaration of Andritzki's beatification at a ceremony which drew an estimated 11,000 people, many of them in traditional Sorbian dress.
Dresden's Bishop Joachim Reinelt praised Andritzki in his sermon, saying the priest had showed a "bright face" even through the "most awful beastly work" at the Dachau concentration camp.
Saxony State Premier Stanislaw Tillich, who spoke at the ceremony in Sorbian, said Andritzki had "unshakably stood by his faith during the time of the inhuman Nazi dictatorship."
Pope Benedict XVI, who approved Andritzki's beatification in December, honored the priest on Sunday during his noon prayer St. Peter's Square. Benedict said Andritzki remained an attestor to the faith even in times of great suffering.
Andritzki has long been revered by eastern Germany's Catholic Sorbs. Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process.
DW-World
German Priest Alois Andritzki, who died at Nazi hands in Dachau, has been bestowed the title "Blessed" by the Catholic Church.
Andritzki, who was arrested by the National Socialists in 1941 for criticizing the regime and later murdered by lethal injection, was beatified Monday at the Dresden Cathedral in a bilingual ceremony in German and Sorbian, the language of the eastern German Slavic minority to which he belonged.
Roman Cardinal Angelo Amato read the papal declaration of Andritzki's beatification at a ceremony which drew an estimated 11,000 people, many of them in traditional Sorbian dress.
Dresden's Bishop Joachim Reinelt praised Andritzki in his sermon, saying the priest had showed a "bright face" even through the "most awful beastly work" at the Dachau concentration camp.
Saxony State Premier Stanislaw Tillich, who spoke at the ceremony in Sorbian, said Andritzki had "unshakably stood by his faith during the time of the inhuman Nazi dictatorship."
Pope Benedict XVI, who approved Andritzki's beatification in December, honored the priest on Sunday during his noon prayer St. Peter's Square. Benedict said Andritzki remained an attestor to the faith even in times of great suffering.
Andritzki has long been revered by eastern Germany's Catholic Sorbs. Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process.
DW-World
Derby music festival clashes with plan for English Defence League march (UK)
A Derby music promoter is planning a multiculturalism music festival on the same day as an English Defence League (EDL) march in the city.
The Love Music Hate Racism festival will feature music at seven different venues in the city on the same day as it aims to celebrate different cultures. The festival website describes the aim of the event as "living testimony to the fact that cultures can and do mix. " before adding that music "unites us and gives us strength, and offers a vibrant celebration of our multicultural and multiracial society. Racism seeks only to divide and weaken us. Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) was set up in 2002 in response to rising levels of racism and electoral successes for the Nazi British National Party (BNP)."
Approximately 300 people have already indicated on the EDL's Facebook page that they will attend the Derby march on 9 July.
A Derbyshire Police spokesman said it was aware of the march but had not been officially contacted by the EDL.
Supt Gary Parkin told the BBC: "We will continue to look at the intelligence arrangements and make sure we have an appropriate policing response to make sure the policing of Derby is as safe as possible.
"We will facilitate lawful protest - but I would be very unhappy if I had to put a policing response and put a lot of police on the streets."
While the EDL, has for now refused to comment further on the subject, the festival spokesman Baby J said he hoped the police would step in and control the demonstration because the EDL "do not represent the city".
"We live in a very multicultural city and we get along very well and work alongside people or all different faiths and colour - and this is something we want to celebrate."
IBTimes
The Love Music Hate Racism festival will feature music at seven different venues in the city on the same day as it aims to celebrate different cultures. The festival website describes the aim of the event as "living testimony to the fact that cultures can and do mix. " before adding that music "unites us and gives us strength, and offers a vibrant celebration of our multicultural and multiracial society. Racism seeks only to divide and weaken us. Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) was set up in 2002 in response to rising levels of racism and electoral successes for the Nazi British National Party (BNP)."
Approximately 300 people have already indicated on the EDL's Facebook page that they will attend the Derby march on 9 July.
A Derbyshire Police spokesman said it was aware of the march but had not been officially contacted by the EDL.
Supt Gary Parkin told the BBC: "We will continue to look at the intelligence arrangements and make sure we have an appropriate policing response to make sure the policing of Derby is as safe as possible.
"We will facilitate lawful protest - but I would be very unhappy if I had to put a policing response and put a lot of police on the streets."
While the EDL, has for now refused to comment further on the subject, the festival spokesman Baby J said he hoped the police would step in and control the demonstration because the EDL "do not represent the city".
"We live in a very multicultural city and we get along very well and work alongside people or all different faiths and colour - and this is something we want to celebrate."
IBTimes
Monday, 13 June 2011
SOCIAL MEDIA'S INFLUENCE ON ‘HATE CRIME' (Turkey)
Whilst the rise of the Internet and social networking websites has, in many ways, presented many positives for society, particularly in terms of freedom of speech and communication, it has also created a platform on which abusive and threatening opinions can be more easily voiced, in particular against certain individuals or groups of people, which is often referred to as hate speech. Despite hate speech being restricted to the act of verbal abuse, some experts are worried by its tendency to develop into something more serious, falling under the bracket of hate crime. A hate crime is a criminal offense motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a victim's race, ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, sexual orientation or disability. This kind of crime may include robberies, threats, harassment, intimidation or actual acts of physical violence such as physical assault, sexual assault, rape, torture, attempted murder or murder. Hate crimes are unique as they have a social undertone in their aim. They are intent on sending a message to entire groups or individuals, as well as to their families and other supporters, that they are unwelcome in particular communities. What sets hate crimes apart from other acts of violence is the psychological damage that they leave behind. Although any type of victimization carries with it psychological consequences, certain types of emotional reactions are more frequent among survivors of hate crimes. These feelings include depression, anxiety, fear, stress and anger.
The Internet and social media networks are not under any sort of inspection against racist ideas, hate or abusive speech in the name of freedom of surfing the Web. The news that features on media outlets are getting onto social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, where hate speeches are added and uploaded. Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was fatally shot in front of the headquarters of the bilingual Armenian weekly Agos in 2007, was one of the biggest victims of hate crime in Turkey as he was killed only because of his "Armenian" identity. Forty-eight Roma from 13 families were forced to leave Selendi in Manisa, where they had lived for many years, after clashes erupted between the district's Roma population and other locals. These two examples show how serious these hate crimes can be. An organization named the Association for Social Change (ASC) is currently the only association that solely deals with every aspect of hate crime. Their slogan is "Hate Crimes Kill."
In an interview with Cihan new agency, ASC's secretary-general, Fikret Levent ªensever, stated that there are various organizations that are working against hate crimes, such as the International Hrant Dink Foundation. ªensever said that hate speech on online community and social networking websites strongly influences hate crimes. "We have to differentiate hate crime and hate speech first. Hate crimes are physical crimes against individuals or groups of people, based on many aspects, such as ethnic origin, religious belief and so on. Hate speech is normally only in the form of verbal attacks; however, they can sometimes lead to hate crimes, too." Currently there is no legislation about hate crimes in the Turkish Constitution. Though there are some articles in the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), as they do not directly cover hate crime or hate speech, criminal cases on such issues are not solved as they are in European countries and criminals generally get away with what they have done.
Hate speech does not only declare one's hate or anger, but also sets a premise for hate crime. ªensever stated that the Turkish government should take immediate action in creating legislation on hate crime and inform and train judicators, attorneys, police officers and civil societies. ªensever told Cihan news agency, the government in the United Kingdom trains media personnel on discrimination issues to prevent any sort of racism or hate crimes, and they also provide booklets and newsletters concerning hate crime. ªensever said the ASC was founded on Feb. 26, 2009 by activists in order to carry out various campaigns on social, cultural and environmental issues, and to support such efforts through projects and campaigns. He also mentioned that there were not many organizations that are dealing with hate crime in Turkey. "In Western countries, especially in the United States, the government produces reports on hate crime every year. However, this is not the case in our country. So far there have been no reports on hate crimes in Turkey, so we do not know which segments of society are victims of hate speech," he said.
Chan News Agency
The Internet and social media networks are not under any sort of inspection against racist ideas, hate or abusive speech in the name of freedom of surfing the Web. The news that features on media outlets are getting onto social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, where hate speeches are added and uploaded. Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was fatally shot in front of the headquarters of the bilingual Armenian weekly Agos in 2007, was one of the biggest victims of hate crime in Turkey as he was killed only because of his "Armenian" identity. Forty-eight Roma from 13 families were forced to leave Selendi in Manisa, where they had lived for many years, after clashes erupted between the district's Roma population and other locals. These two examples show how serious these hate crimes can be. An organization named the Association for Social Change (ASC) is currently the only association that solely deals with every aspect of hate crime. Their slogan is "Hate Crimes Kill."
In an interview with Cihan new agency, ASC's secretary-general, Fikret Levent ªensever, stated that there are various organizations that are working against hate crimes, such as the International Hrant Dink Foundation. ªensever said that hate speech on online community and social networking websites strongly influences hate crimes. "We have to differentiate hate crime and hate speech first. Hate crimes are physical crimes against individuals or groups of people, based on many aspects, such as ethnic origin, religious belief and so on. Hate speech is normally only in the form of verbal attacks; however, they can sometimes lead to hate crimes, too." Currently there is no legislation about hate crimes in the Turkish Constitution. Though there are some articles in the Turkish Penal Code (TCK), as they do not directly cover hate crime or hate speech, criminal cases on such issues are not solved as they are in European countries and criminals generally get away with what they have done.
Hate speech does not only declare one's hate or anger, but also sets a premise for hate crime. ªensever stated that the Turkish government should take immediate action in creating legislation on hate crime and inform and train judicators, attorneys, police officers and civil societies. ªensever told Cihan news agency, the government in the United Kingdom trains media personnel on discrimination issues to prevent any sort of racism or hate crimes, and they also provide booklets and newsletters concerning hate crime. ªensever said the ASC was founded on Feb. 26, 2009 by activists in order to carry out various campaigns on social, cultural and environmental issues, and to support such efforts through projects and campaigns. He also mentioned that there were not many organizations that are dealing with hate crime in Turkey. "In Western countries, especially in the United States, the government produces reports on hate crime every year. However, this is not the case in our country. So far there have been no reports on hate crimes in Turkey, so we do not know which segments of society are victims of hate speech," he said.
Chan News Agency
Reprisals feared following murder of Russian extremist
The authorities in Russia are on alert for a violent far-right reaction to the murder of Yuri Budanov, a notorious former colonel who became an icon for extreme nationalists.
Mr Budanov was shot four times in the head in central Moscow on Friday, in an attack that far-right groups immediately blamed on Chechens.
The police claimed the killing could be a “provocation” intended to ignite smouldering ethnic tension in Russia.
Mr Budanov was convicted in 2003 of having brutally murdered teenager Elza Kungayeva during a tour of duty in war-torn Chechnya, after being cleared of the killing in a previous trial.
He was granted early release from jail in 2009 due to good behaviour, to the fury of Ms Kungayeva’s family and many others, who saw him as the embodiment of the brutal methods used by the Kremlin to crush Chechnya’s rebels.
He was hailed as a hero, however, by some soldiers and officials and by ultra-nationalist groups that have grown in number and prominence in recent years, and which often target people from the mostly-Muslim Caucasus republics.
Extra patrols and riot police were deployed around Moscow after Mr Budanov was gunned down.
Investigators sought to prevent potential reprisals against people from the Caucasus by saying that eyewitnesses had described the getaway driver as being of typically Slavic appearance.
Heightened security measures were put in place around Manezh Square next to the Kremlin where, six months ago, thousands of nationalists rioted in a furious response to the alleged murder of a football fan by a youth from the Caucasus.
A number of well-known leaders of nationalist and football fan groups gathered again on the square following Mr Budanov’s murder.
The police prevented large crowds from forming, and the security services were on guard for potential trouble during yesterday’s annual Russia Day events.
Football fans and soldiers were among those who placed flowers and other tributes at the place where Mr Budanov was killed.
Many of these people are expected to attend his funeral this week.
Last month, an ultra-nationalist was convicted of the murder in 2009 of lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who was campaigning against Mr Budanov’s early release from jail.
Irish Times
Mr Budanov was shot four times in the head in central Moscow on Friday, in an attack that far-right groups immediately blamed on Chechens.
The police claimed the killing could be a “provocation” intended to ignite smouldering ethnic tension in Russia.
Mr Budanov was convicted in 2003 of having brutally murdered teenager Elza Kungayeva during a tour of duty in war-torn Chechnya, after being cleared of the killing in a previous trial.
He was granted early release from jail in 2009 due to good behaviour, to the fury of Ms Kungayeva’s family and many others, who saw him as the embodiment of the brutal methods used by the Kremlin to crush Chechnya’s rebels.
He was hailed as a hero, however, by some soldiers and officials and by ultra-nationalist groups that have grown in number and prominence in recent years, and which often target people from the mostly-Muslim Caucasus republics.
Extra patrols and riot police were deployed around Moscow after Mr Budanov was gunned down.
Investigators sought to prevent potential reprisals against people from the Caucasus by saying that eyewitnesses had described the getaway driver as being of typically Slavic appearance.
Heightened security measures were put in place around Manezh Square next to the Kremlin where, six months ago, thousands of nationalists rioted in a furious response to the alleged murder of a football fan by a youth from the Caucasus.
A number of well-known leaders of nationalist and football fan groups gathered again on the square following Mr Budanov’s murder.
The police prevented large crowds from forming, and the security services were on guard for potential trouble during yesterday’s annual Russia Day events.
Football fans and soldiers were among those who placed flowers and other tributes at the place where Mr Budanov was killed.
Many of these people are expected to attend his funeral this week.
Last month, an ultra-nationalist was convicted of the murder in 2009 of lawyer Stanislav Markelov, who was campaigning against Mr Budanov’s early release from jail.
Irish Times
Far-right demo leader ‘treated like caged animal’ says: We’ll be back in thousands (uk)
The leader of the far-right English Defence League has vowed to stage a large national protest in Dewsbury after complaining that supporters were treated like “caged animals” at a demonstration in the town on Saturday.
A protest by 400 EDL supporters passed off without serious incident but leader Tommy Robinson was angered that the protesters were contained within high steel barriers.
He said the EDL should have been allowed to protest at Dewsbury Town Hall, rather than a tightly cordoned area of the railway station car park.
Mr Robinson said Saturday’s protest was a regional demonstration but the next one in would be national and “the EDL bandwagon will be coming back to Dewsbury in our thousands.”
Many of the EDL protesters were from outside West Yorkshire, including members from Merseyside, Teeside, Burnley, Bolton, Leicester and Mansfield.
A nearby counter-protest by Unite Against Fascism attracted about 50 people at its height.
A large police operation ensured that the day passed off relatively peacefully, although traders in the town said they were thousands of pounds out of pocket because many shoppers stayed away.
Kirklees Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent John Robins said: “On duty in West Yorkshire in relation to this operation there has been around 700 police officers in total but I stress they have not all been at Dewsbury. They have been around West Yorkshire in support of this operation.”
Six men were arrested by West Yorkshire Police and British Transport Police.
They were: A 31-year-old from Batley, for possessing an offensive weapon; a 44-year-old from Barnsley, a 39-year-old from Merseyside and a 41-year-old from Cleckheaton, all for public order offences; a 16-year-old from Bradford for criminal damage; and an 18-year-old from Preston for trespass on railway property.
Yorkshire Post
A protest by 400 EDL supporters passed off without serious incident but leader Tommy Robinson was angered that the protesters were contained within high steel barriers.
He said the EDL should have been allowed to protest at Dewsbury Town Hall, rather than a tightly cordoned area of the railway station car park.
Mr Robinson said Saturday’s protest was a regional demonstration but the next one in would be national and “the EDL bandwagon will be coming back to Dewsbury in our thousands.”
Many of the EDL protesters were from outside West Yorkshire, including members from Merseyside, Teeside, Burnley, Bolton, Leicester and Mansfield.
A nearby counter-protest by Unite Against Fascism attracted about 50 people at its height.
A large police operation ensured that the day passed off relatively peacefully, although traders in the town said they were thousands of pounds out of pocket because many shoppers stayed away.
Kirklees Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent John Robins said: “On duty in West Yorkshire in relation to this operation there has been around 700 police officers in total but I stress they have not all been at Dewsbury. They have been around West Yorkshire in support of this operation.”
Six men were arrested by West Yorkshire Police and British Transport Police.
They were: A 31-year-old from Batley, for possessing an offensive weapon; a 44-year-old from Barnsley, a 39-year-old from Merseyside and a 41-year-old from Cleckheaton, all for public order offences; a 16-year-old from Bradford for criminal damage; and an 18-year-old from Preston for trespass on railway property.
Yorkshire Post
Sunday, 12 June 2011
Turkey PM warns of Dutch radicalism (Netherlands)
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he is worried by the “radical” turn Dutch politics is taking. "In politics I strongly oppose radicalism. The right way is a middle course”, Mr Erdogan told Dutch media on the eve of Sunday's general elections in Turkey. “Radicalism only causes problems, for people and the country”, he went on to say, without mentioning Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders. “Our party, as you know, steers a middle course in politics. We are neither left nor right wing. We are far removed from the extremes. We are far removed from the radicals. We only work with those who are close to everybody. “ “Erdogan is the worst kind of Islamist”, Mr Wilders says in a reaction. “If he wins the elections, Turkey will turn its back on Europe for good. We don’t want them in the EU anyway, but with him even normal relations will become more complicated. He is, therefore, a dangerous man who is a radical Islamist himself.” "Erdogan is the worst kind of Islamist”, Mr Wilders says in a reaction. “If he wins the elections, Turkey will turn its back on Europe for good. We don’t want them in the EU anyway, but with him even normal relations will become more complicated. He is, therefore, a dangerous man who is a radical Islamist himself.”
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Muslims call for action against hate crimes (UK)
Islamophobic attacks have been on the rise, with an increase in assaults, vandalised mosques and desecrated graves
Britain's largest mainstream Muslim organisation will today call for "robust action" to combat Islamophobic attacks amid fears of growing violence and under-reporting of hate crimes.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) will challenge the "ethnic profiling" of members of its community, claiming that minorities are 42 times more likely to be targeted under the Terrorism Act.
MCB secretary-general Farooq Murad will tell the council's AGM in Birmingham that there must be more monitoring of anti-Muslim crimes in response to incidents including violent assaults, death threats and the desecration of graves. He will also complain that not enough is being done to encourage communities to report crimes to the police.
The calls, supported by leading academics, a counter-terrorist think-tank and Muslim groups, come as the Metropolitan Police confirmed a total of 762 Islamophobic offences in London since April 2009, including 333 in 2010/11 and 57 since this April. A spokesman said the Met was aware of "significant" under-reporting of hate crime, and acknowledged "missed opportunities" to keep victims safe.
Despite rising concerns about the impact of hate crime on all communities, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said that data on such offences are not collated centrally as this would be an "overly bureaucratic process for local forces". Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, who leads the police on hate crime, was unavailable for comment.
In his speech, Mr Murad is expected to warn that attacks are increasing. "Islamophobic attacks, on persons and properties, are committed by a tiny minority, but the number of incidents is increasing. Robust action is necessary and this means we must have a systematic manner of recording, monitoring and analysing such attacks. Only a small number of police forces record anti-Muslim hate crimes."
He will claim that figures collated from only two police forces indicate 1,200 Anti-Muslim crimes in 2010, as opposed to 546 anti-Semitic crimes from all the police forces in the UK.
Muslims from across the country have reported attacks on imams and mosque staff, including petrol bombings and bricks thrown through windows, pigs' heads being fixed prominently to entrances and minarets, vandalism and abusive messages.
Mr Murad will tell the gathering at the Bordesley Centre: "It is not a piece of cloth on someone's head or face, the shape of someone's dress, a harmless concrete pillar on a religious building or even not speaking a common language that creates alienation."
Dr Robert Lambert, co-director of
the European Muslim Research Centre and research fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter University, said a decade of research will report before the 10th anniversary of 11 September.
His report will provide comprehensive figures on attacks on mosques, Islamic organisations and Muslim institutions, while avoiding confusion over race-related or random attacks.
Dr Lambert, a former counter-terrorism police officer, said problems over data collection stemmed from a lack of political will, rather than from the police efforts – and that the onus was on Muslim communities to emulate the "outstanding" data collection around anti-Semitic crimes conducted by the Community Security Trust.
He added: "When I was working in the police, some of the notable spikes in incidents came after terrorist events such as 9/11 and 7/7. We have more than 50 incidences of fire-bomb attacks and we have yet to reach the 10-year anniversary. But no leading politician has seen fit to stand shoulder to shoulder with mosque leaders. That is quite something."
Ghaffar Hussain of the counter-extremism think-tank Quilliam said: "Anti-Muslim bigotry is very real. It does exist. There are sections of our society who are deeply suspicious of Muslims, even of Muslims building mosques, and are threatened by the idea of Islamification across Europe."
Some 40 to 60 per cent of the mosques, Islamic centres and Muslim organisations in the UK have suffered at least one attack since 9/11.
Taji Mustafa, spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain, said: "Xenophobic attacks on Muslims have increased under successive governments. In a manipulative alliance with some sections of the media, they have demonised Islam as part of their foreign policy propaganda."
Continued at the Independent.
Britain's largest mainstream Muslim organisation will today call for "robust action" to combat Islamophobic attacks amid fears of growing violence and under-reporting of hate crimes.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) will challenge the "ethnic profiling" of members of its community, claiming that minorities are 42 times more likely to be targeted under the Terrorism Act.
MCB secretary-general Farooq Murad will tell the council's AGM in Birmingham that there must be more monitoring of anti-Muslim crimes in response to incidents including violent assaults, death threats and the desecration of graves. He will also complain that not enough is being done to encourage communities to report crimes to the police.
The calls, supported by leading academics, a counter-terrorist think-tank and Muslim groups, come as the Metropolitan Police confirmed a total of 762 Islamophobic offences in London since April 2009, including 333 in 2010/11 and 57 since this April. A spokesman said the Met was aware of "significant" under-reporting of hate crime, and acknowledged "missed opportunities" to keep victims safe.
Despite rising concerns about the impact of hate crime on all communities, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said that data on such offences are not collated centrally as this would be an "overly bureaucratic process for local forces". Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, who leads the police on hate crime, was unavailable for comment.
In his speech, Mr Murad is expected to warn that attacks are increasing. "Islamophobic attacks, on persons and properties, are committed by a tiny minority, but the number of incidents is increasing. Robust action is necessary and this means we must have a systematic manner of recording, monitoring and analysing such attacks. Only a small number of police forces record anti-Muslim hate crimes."
He will claim that figures collated from only two police forces indicate 1,200 Anti-Muslim crimes in 2010, as opposed to 546 anti-Semitic crimes from all the police forces in the UK.
Muslims from across the country have reported attacks on imams and mosque staff, including petrol bombings and bricks thrown through windows, pigs' heads being fixed prominently to entrances and minarets, vandalism and abusive messages.
Mr Murad will tell the gathering at the Bordesley Centre: "It is not a piece of cloth on someone's head or face, the shape of someone's dress, a harmless concrete pillar on a religious building or even not speaking a common language that creates alienation."
Dr Robert Lambert, co-director of
the European Muslim Research Centre and research fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter University, said a decade of research will report before the 10th anniversary of 11 September.
His report will provide comprehensive figures on attacks on mosques, Islamic organisations and Muslim institutions, while avoiding confusion over race-related or random attacks.
Dr Lambert, a former counter-terrorism police officer, said problems over data collection stemmed from a lack of political will, rather than from the police efforts – and that the onus was on Muslim communities to emulate the "outstanding" data collection around anti-Semitic crimes conducted by the Community Security Trust.
He added: "When I was working in the police, some of the notable spikes in incidents came after terrorist events such as 9/11 and 7/7. We have more than 50 incidences of fire-bomb attacks and we have yet to reach the 10-year anniversary. But no leading politician has seen fit to stand shoulder to shoulder with mosque leaders. That is quite something."
Ghaffar Hussain of the counter-extremism think-tank Quilliam said: "Anti-Muslim bigotry is very real. It does exist. There are sections of our society who are deeply suspicious of Muslims, even of Muslims building mosques, and are threatened by the idea of Islamification across Europe."
Some 40 to 60 per cent of the mosques, Islamic centres and Muslim organisations in the UK have suffered at least one attack since 9/11.
Taji Mustafa, spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir in Britain, said: "Xenophobic attacks on Muslims have increased under successive governments. In a manipulative alliance with some sections of the media, they have demonised Islam as part of their foreign policy propaganda."
Continued at the Independent.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
March Against Neo-Nazi's in Sofia on June 12 (Bulgaria)
People Against Racism will stage an "anti neo-Nazi march" on June 12 at the Sveta Nedelya Square in Sofia, media reports have said.
The organisers said that they will commemorate the one year anniversary since the foundation of the People Against Racism, but also to mark the anniversary of the "tram attack" in which several youths were attacked and beaten by suspected skinheads. Six men were arrested following an assault aboard tram 20 in Sofia on June 6 2010. Reportedly, the six are said to be members of far-right extremist groups. Other reports have them linked to Sofia-based football "firms", hooligan supporter groups. The authorities named the six perpetrators – Dimitar Lazarov, Vassil Pavlov, Matei Penev, Emil Alexiev, Rossen Kunev and Mario Abdal Gamal.
The latter's name has also been reported as Mario el Makoussi in other media. On the day of the attack, the masked men burst into the tram, allegedly armed with metal rods, and proceeded to attack four youths in the vehicle.
The victims were supporters of asylum seekers' rights in Bulgaria. People Against Racism say that neo-Nazi attacks in Sofia are increasing. Traditionally, they are aimed at Roma and people of darker skin complexion, as well as homosexuals, but they can sometimes happen randomly and against anyone they perceive as strange. The anti-Nazi march in Sofia on June 12 is not politically motivated, the organisers said.
The Sofia Echo
The organisers said that they will commemorate the one year anniversary since the foundation of the People Against Racism, but also to mark the anniversary of the "tram attack" in which several youths were attacked and beaten by suspected skinheads. Six men were arrested following an assault aboard tram 20 in Sofia on June 6 2010. Reportedly, the six are said to be members of far-right extremist groups. Other reports have them linked to Sofia-based football "firms", hooligan supporter groups. The authorities named the six perpetrators – Dimitar Lazarov, Vassil Pavlov, Matei Penev, Emil Alexiev, Rossen Kunev and Mario Abdal Gamal.
The latter's name has also been reported as Mario el Makoussi in other media. On the day of the attack, the masked men burst into the tram, allegedly armed with metal rods, and proceeded to attack four youths in the vehicle.
The victims were supporters of asylum seekers' rights in Bulgaria. People Against Racism say that neo-Nazi attacks in Sofia are increasing. Traditionally, they are aimed at Roma and people of darker skin complexion, as well as homosexuals, but they can sometimes happen randomly and against anyone they perceive as strange. The anti-Nazi march in Sofia on June 12 is not politically motivated, the organisers said.
The Sofia Echo
NGOs RISE AGAINST XENOPHOBES VOWING TO MAR SOFIA GAY PARADE (Bulgaria)
Bulgarian NGOs have demanded that the Bulgarian capital Sofia's municipality ban the nationalistic rally scheduled at the same time and place as the upcoming "Sofia Pride" gay parade on June 18.
The Sofia Pride Foundation, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the AnarchoResistance group, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender's youth "Action" organization, People against Racism and the Bilitis Resource Center have sent a letter to Sofia's Mayor Yordanka Fandakova and the head of the Sofia Department of the Interior, pointing out that the nationalistic rally will be dangerous for the public order and should be banned. The NGOs have refuted a statement made earlier by Sofia's Deputy Mayor responsible for security, Ivan Sotirov, who claimed that the municipality cannot ban any parades but only advise about changing their routes.
The rally will be aggressive and threatening the peaceful citizens, the NGOs have pointed out. "Sofia Pride", Bulgaria's first ever gay parade, took place for the first time in 2008 and was marred by hooligans, with more than 60 people ending up arrested by the police for trying to attack and harass the participants, some of them throwing Molotov cocktails. The 2009 gay parade, passing very quickly and under enhanced security measures, gathered around 300 people. Bulgaria's 3rd annual gay parade went without violent incidents largely thanks to the decisive actions of the 300 riot police officers guarding the rally.
Novinite
The Sofia Pride Foundation, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the AnarchoResistance group, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender's youth "Action" organization, People against Racism and the Bilitis Resource Center have sent a letter to Sofia's Mayor Yordanka Fandakova and the head of the Sofia Department of the Interior, pointing out that the nationalistic rally will be dangerous for the public order and should be banned. The NGOs have refuted a statement made earlier by Sofia's Deputy Mayor responsible for security, Ivan Sotirov, who claimed that the municipality cannot ban any parades but only advise about changing their routes.
The rally will be aggressive and threatening the peaceful citizens, the NGOs have pointed out. "Sofia Pride", Bulgaria's first ever gay parade, took place for the first time in 2008 and was marred by hooligans, with more than 60 people ending up arrested by the police for trying to attack and harass the participants, some of them throwing Molotov cocktails. The 2009 gay parade, passing very quickly and under enhanced security measures, gathered around 300 people. Bulgaria's 3rd annual gay parade went without violent incidents largely thanks to the decisive actions of the 300 riot police officers guarding the rally.
Novinite
Police gearing up for city protest by far right group (UK)
Police have moved to reassure residents over a planned protest by the far right group the English Defence League.
Members of the Portsmouth and south east branch are planning a march in the city next month.
They say they will peacefully protest against Islamic extremism and Sharia law, which they are against.
A wreath will then be laid in Portsmouth’s Guildhall Square in memory of servicemen and women who have lost their lives.
The march is due to take place on July 16 but the group says that date could change and it has refused to reveal the route.
The group has informed police who are now planning for an estimated 1,000 people expected to come to Portsmouth for the march.
Officers from Safer Neighbourhoods Teams are speaking to locals to allay any concerns about the planned protest.
Superintendent Rick Burrows, who is planning Operation Buscot, said: ‘We are engaging with organisers to establish details and have begun the planning process to provide a policing operation.
‘This will facilitate the group’s right to peaceful and lawful protest, while minimising the impact to people and ensuring that the interests of all members of the local community are protected.
‘Officers from the Safer Neighbourhoods teams in Portsmouth are engaging with members of the local community to address any concerns they may have. It is very early in the planning process at this time.’
The rally comes eight months after up to 100 people were involved in a protest outside the Jami Mosque in Victoria Road North, Southsea. It started after Muslim extremists from outside Portsmouth burned poppies in London during the Armistice Day two-minute silence. Peace campaigners gathered outside the mosque in support of the Muslim community.
An English Defence League spokesman said: ‘This is not a national demo but a local one that will be protesting at situations relevant to that area.
‘The English Defence League will be peacefully protesting at this event against Islamic extremism.’
Portsmouth News
Members of the Portsmouth and south east branch are planning a march in the city next month.
They say they will peacefully protest against Islamic extremism and Sharia law, which they are against.
A wreath will then be laid in Portsmouth’s Guildhall Square in memory of servicemen and women who have lost their lives.
The march is due to take place on July 16 but the group says that date could change and it has refused to reveal the route.
The group has informed police who are now planning for an estimated 1,000 people expected to come to Portsmouth for the march.
Officers from Safer Neighbourhoods Teams are speaking to locals to allay any concerns about the planned protest.
Superintendent Rick Burrows, who is planning Operation Buscot, said: ‘We are engaging with organisers to establish details and have begun the planning process to provide a policing operation.
‘This will facilitate the group’s right to peaceful and lawful protest, while minimising the impact to people and ensuring that the interests of all members of the local community are protected.
‘Officers from the Safer Neighbourhoods teams in Portsmouth are engaging with members of the local community to address any concerns they may have. It is very early in the planning process at this time.’
The rally comes eight months after up to 100 people were involved in a protest outside the Jami Mosque in Victoria Road North, Southsea. It started after Muslim extremists from outside Portsmouth burned poppies in London during the Armistice Day two-minute silence. Peace campaigners gathered outside the mosque in support of the Muslim community.
An English Defence League spokesman said: ‘This is not a national demo but a local one that will be protesting at situations relevant to that area.
‘The English Defence League will be peacefully protesting at this event against Islamic extremism.’
Portsmouth News
More Breaking News (UK)
Admin comment; Following on to the previous item.
What happens when you challenge Nick Griffin in the so called democratic BNP.
More Breaking News.
Word is that Nick Griffin has moved to suspend his leadership challenger and fellow MEP Andrew Brons. Not for standing as candidate you understand, but for organising a factional meeting in Wigan last night.
See last blog post ... BNP MEP Andrew Brons, another former chair of the NF like Griffin, has decided he will stand against Nick Griffin for the leadership ...
What happens when you challenge Nick Griffin in the so called democratic BNP.
More Breaking News.
Word is that Nick Griffin has moved to suspend his leadership challenger and fellow MEP Andrew Brons. Not for standing as candidate you understand, but for organising a factional meeting in Wigan last night.
See last blog post ... BNP MEP Andrew Brons, another former chair of the NF like Griffin, has decided he will stand against Nick Griffin for the leadership ...
Breaking News-Game on! (UK)
This could be a major setback for Griffin. Although Brons has little chance of winning (due to the way the party's electoral processes have been stitched up), the BNP's lie and smear machine that it unleashes against dissenters will struggle against the popular Yorks and Humberside MEP.
Brons's supporters have already clashed with Griffin after Griffin turned on Brons during a Q&A session held for BNP members at the European parliament.
Brons and Griffin fell out previously in the 80's for control of the National Front. It seems history has a habit of repeating itself.
Nick Lowles at Hope Not Hate
Friday, 10 June 2011
Islington racist jailed for slashing Asian teen’s face with a knife (UK)
An Islington man who pinned a 15-year-old Asian boy to the floor and sliced open his cheek in an “appalling” racist attack has been jailed for eight years.
Jerry Monerville, 47, of Claremont Square, off Pentonville Road, pounced on the teenager and beat him to the ground with the help of accomplice Shane Doyle, 26.
The vile pair then slashed his face twice with a knife, and when the boy asked why they had attacked him they spat back: “It’s cos you’re a f***ing Paki”.
Monerville and Doyle ambushed the teenager from behind as he sat alone in Weavers Field Park, Bethnal Green, at around 11pm on November 21, last year.
Prosecutor Helen Owens said the boy heard voices behind him saying “Are you on it? Let’s do it!”, before he was confronted by Monerville and punched in the face, kicked and headbutted.
“Jerry Monerville was sitting on top of him,” said the prosecutor.
“He had the knife in his hand.
“He told the victim he was going to kill him.
“He then drew the knife across the victim’s face twice, causing cuts both times.
“After the victim was cut Shane Doyle kicked him twice in the face.
“He asked why they were doing this and one of them replied: ‘It’s cos you’re a f***ing Paki’.”
Miss Owens said the two men then searched the teenager’s pockets and took his mobile phone before they attempted to flee the scene.
But a passer-by who heard the boy’s screams called the police and the two men were arrested in the park.
Officers recovered the knife used in the attack and found Monerville was also carrying a stungun.
Both men pleaded guilty to robbery and causing grievous bodily harm, but claimed they were drunk at the time of the incident.
Jailing Monerville for eight years and Doyle, of Epping Close, Isle of Dogs, for seven years at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Judge Neil Sanders said: “The facts of this case are appalling.
“To exasperate everything he was repeatedly called a ‘Paki’ and it is absolutely plain that there were racial overtones to what was being done to him.
“It must have been a terrifying experience for the victim.”
Islington Gazette
Jerry Monerville, 47, of Claremont Square, off Pentonville Road, pounced on the teenager and beat him to the ground with the help of accomplice Shane Doyle, 26.
The vile pair then slashed his face twice with a knife, and when the boy asked why they had attacked him they spat back: “It’s cos you’re a f***ing Paki”.
Monerville and Doyle ambushed the teenager from behind as he sat alone in Weavers Field Park, Bethnal Green, at around 11pm on November 21, last year.
Prosecutor Helen Owens said the boy heard voices behind him saying “Are you on it? Let’s do it!”, before he was confronted by Monerville and punched in the face, kicked and headbutted.
“Jerry Monerville was sitting on top of him,” said the prosecutor.
“He had the knife in his hand.
“He told the victim he was going to kill him.
“He then drew the knife across the victim’s face twice, causing cuts both times.
“After the victim was cut Shane Doyle kicked him twice in the face.
“He asked why they were doing this and one of them replied: ‘It’s cos you’re a f***ing Paki’.”
Miss Owens said the two men then searched the teenager’s pockets and took his mobile phone before they attempted to flee the scene.
But a passer-by who heard the boy’s screams called the police and the two men were arrested in the park.
Officers recovered the knife used in the attack and found Monerville was also carrying a stungun.
Both men pleaded guilty to robbery and causing grievous bodily harm, but claimed they were drunk at the time of the incident.
Jailing Monerville for eight years and Doyle, of Epping Close, Isle of Dogs, for seven years at Snaresbrook Crown Court, Judge Neil Sanders said: “The facts of this case are appalling.
“To exasperate everything he was repeatedly called a ‘Paki’ and it is absolutely plain that there were racial overtones to what was being done to him.
“It must have been a terrifying experience for the victim.”
Islington Gazette
MEMORIAL ACTIVIST BEATEN OUTSIDE HOME (Russia)
A human rights worker was hospitalized after being beaten up in his apartment building, an attack his employer said was linked to his work. Bakhrom Khamroyev, a member of leading human rights group Memorial, was walking into the building in southeast Moscow on Monday when a group of strangers attacked him, spraying gas in his face and beating him on the head and legs. Memorial chief Oleg Orlov said Tuesday that the attack was aimed at disrupting Khamroyev's upcoming trip to Murmansk, where he had arranged a meeting with an Uzbek citizen threatened with extradition for purportedly taking part in Islamist militant activities, RIA-Novosti reported. "Memorial believes the attack on Bakhrom Khamroyev was planned in advance and prepared as a trap," Memorial said in a statement. "In December last year, an attack was carried out on Khamroyev. A criminal case was opened, but until today no one has been called to take responsibility." Orlov said Khamroyev was attacked by security forces in December when he was working on a similar case involving the arrest of suspected militants from Central Asia. The head of Amnesty International's Russia division, Sergei Nikitin, called on authorities to find and punish those responsible for the beating. "We hope a serious investigation will be carried out and that the guilty are punished," he said. Police said Tuesday that they were looking for the attackers.
Moscow Times
Moscow Times
Austrian far-right in fresh push for EU respectability
Buoyed by their recent success in the polls, the Austrian and French far right have made a fresh push for respectability in the European Parliament. A blurring of the 'softer' far right with eurosceptic parties may be in the offing.
Austria's Freedom Party in particular called on the eurosceptic alliance in the chamber, the Europe of Freedom and Democracy grouping led by Britain's Ukip and Italy's Northern League, to let their two MEPs join.
FPO Party leader and MEP Heinz-Christian Strache alongside French Front National chief Marine Le Pen in the parliament in Strasbourg announced deeper co-operation between their two far-right parties at a Wednesday press conference.
Speaking to reporters, the Austrian also said that he wanted his deputies in the EFD but was being blocked by two MEPs in the grouping reluctant to embrace the party.
The two party leaders were hoping to put themselves across as serious statesman and distance themselves from the impression of far-right politicians as consorting with skinheaded and heavily tattooed bully boys.
According to a March poll in Le Parisien, Le Pen, who has something of a softer image from her father whom she succeeded as leader in January, would gain an unprecedented first-round victory if a presidential election were held today.
Meanwhile, a May survey found that were an election to happen now, the FPO would top the polls, with 29 percent of votes to the second-placed Social Democrat's 28 percent. A second far-right party, the Alliance for Austria (BZO) would be awarded an additional 13 percent, putting far-right politics by far the most popular option in the land.
Strache, whose MEPs are classed as 'non-inscrit', the parliamentary term for unattached deputies but something of a short-hand for extremists as most of the non-inscrit politicians come from far-right parties, wants to leave this reputation behind.
He declared he has no interest in joining with the Greater Romania party, the UK's British National Party (BNP) or Bulgaria's Ataka, three groups that in the demi-monde of the far-right are seen as the extremists.
Asked whether Le Pen is looking to form a parliamentary fraction with the FPO, she held back from a full endorsement, saying "Deeper relations and work on different fronts ... does not necessarily revolve around the European Parliament."
In an interview with Dutch radio on 1 June, Le Pen also sought to distance herself from Dutch anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, saying he reads the Koran literally.
Strache this week also met with Belgium's Flemish nationalists of the Vlaams Belang and the Northern League to press his case.
According to Francesco Speroni, Northern League deputy and co-chair of the EFD, his party is in favour of the FPO joining, but MEPs from Greece's Laos and Denmark's People's Party are opposed.
The FPO has been campaigning for months to kick Greece out of the eurozone.
Ukip for its part said that they have no contact with Strache's party and have no comment on their joining.
"Everybody is free to desire to be a member of the EFD," EFD spokesman Herman Kelly, a member of Ukip, told EUobserver. "But we have no control over that. The EFD has had no contact with Strache. Ukip has had no contact with Strache. Why would we have an opinion about someone we have never met with?"
In the wake of the economic crisis, both euroscepticism and the far right have been two of the only political forces to increase their support in polls. While the centre-right has benefited electorally at the expense of the centre-left, it has been largely on the back of record abstention.
EUobserver.com
Austria's Freedom Party in particular called on the eurosceptic alliance in the chamber, the Europe of Freedom and Democracy grouping led by Britain's Ukip and Italy's Northern League, to let their two MEPs join.
FPO Party leader and MEP Heinz-Christian Strache alongside French Front National chief Marine Le Pen in the parliament in Strasbourg announced deeper co-operation between their two far-right parties at a Wednesday press conference.
Speaking to reporters, the Austrian also said that he wanted his deputies in the EFD but was being blocked by two MEPs in the grouping reluctant to embrace the party.
The two party leaders were hoping to put themselves across as serious statesman and distance themselves from the impression of far-right politicians as consorting with skinheaded and heavily tattooed bully boys.
According to a March poll in Le Parisien, Le Pen, who has something of a softer image from her father whom she succeeded as leader in January, would gain an unprecedented first-round victory if a presidential election were held today.
Meanwhile, a May survey found that were an election to happen now, the FPO would top the polls, with 29 percent of votes to the second-placed Social Democrat's 28 percent. A second far-right party, the Alliance for Austria (BZO) would be awarded an additional 13 percent, putting far-right politics by far the most popular option in the land.
Strache, whose MEPs are classed as 'non-inscrit', the parliamentary term for unattached deputies but something of a short-hand for extremists as most of the non-inscrit politicians come from far-right parties, wants to leave this reputation behind.
He declared he has no interest in joining with the Greater Romania party, the UK's British National Party (BNP) or Bulgaria's Ataka, three groups that in the demi-monde of the far-right are seen as the extremists.
Asked whether Le Pen is looking to form a parliamentary fraction with the FPO, she held back from a full endorsement, saying "Deeper relations and work on different fronts ... does not necessarily revolve around the European Parliament."
In an interview with Dutch radio on 1 June, Le Pen also sought to distance herself from Dutch anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, saying he reads the Koran literally.
Strache this week also met with Belgium's Flemish nationalists of the Vlaams Belang and the Northern League to press his case.
According to Francesco Speroni, Northern League deputy and co-chair of the EFD, his party is in favour of the FPO joining, but MEPs from Greece's Laos and Denmark's People's Party are opposed.
The FPO has been campaigning for months to kick Greece out of the eurozone.
Ukip for its part said that they have no contact with Strache's party and have no comment on their joining.
"Everybody is free to desire to be a member of the EFD," EFD spokesman Herman Kelly, a member of Ukip, told EUobserver. "But we have no control over that. The EFD has had no contact with Strache. Ukip has had no contact with Strache. Why would we have an opinion about someone we have never met with?"
In the wake of the economic crisis, both euroscepticism and the far right have been two of the only political forces to increase their support in polls. While the centre-right has benefited electorally at the expense of the centre-left, it has been largely on the back of record abstention.
EUobserver.com
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Lincoln yob denies being racist 'because he has a friend called nig-nog' (UK)
Neil Mitchell, 42, of Woodland Avenue in Skellingthorpe, has been found guilty of racially aggravated threatening behaviour and racially aggravated criminal damage.
Lincoln Magistrates' Court heard that Mitchell went to Caldo Pizza in Woodfield Avenue, Birchwood on Thursday, January 6 after he was given the wrong kebab by staff.
Mitchell slammed the chicken kebab on the counter before swearing at owner Hamid Banki.
The court heard he asked staff "Can't you understand English" and called them "f***ing foreigners" and "pakis" before picking up a pizza shovel and brandishing it at them.
A bowl was damaged during the altercation.
But in an interview with police, Mitchell claimed he was not a racist because he "had lots of paki and coloured friends" and a friend in his phone called "nig nog".
At an earlier hearing, Mitchell pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour and causing criminal damage but denied they were racially aggravated.
Lois Colley, prosecuting, asked Mitchell: "On a number of occasions during your police interview you mimicked the accents of staff at the shop. Do you find that offensive?"
Wearing a dark suit and standing defiantly in the dock Mitchell replied: "No. Is it offensive for a northerner to mimic a southerner?"
Ms Colley then put to Mitchell: "You said in interview you had lots of "paki" and "coloured" friends and that you had a friend in your phone called 'nig nog' ".
Mitchell replied: "Nig nog is a white guy, it was a name he had from the Army.
"He got the name because he was always dirty and would wear paint on his face."
Referring to the incident at Caldo Pizza, Mitchell then told magistrates: "I hadn't slept for three nights because my father is ill with Parkinson's disease.
"They had got my order wrong again, so I went back to demand my money back, and petrol money as well.
"The chef started getting a bit cocky and it escalated from there.
"I said 'Can't you understand English?', but it wasn't a racist remark.
"I grew up in the ghetto where life was tough. Where I came from, things were different and you could have a bit of banter.
"I never used racist words, I can't understand why they thought I did."
Richard Marshall, in mitigation, said: "Mr Mitchell comes from a different background, but it is clear he didn't use overtly racist language."
Adjourning sentencing for further reports, chairman of the bench Robert Cox said: "You have accepted threatening behaviour and criminal damage offences but we have come to the conclusion they were racially aggravated.
"Mr Mitchell's use of words in both interview and the witness box demonstrates an underlying hostility to racial minorities."
Sentencing was adjourned until Friday July 8 awaiting further reports.
This is Lincolnshire
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