The resurrection of a website advocating the genocide of Jews and Canadians, founded by a Toronto extremist who is wanted by police, highlights the difficulties of policing the Internet, where public postings can be generated and disseminated from almost anywhere.
The website was founded by Salman Hossain, 25, a Canadian extremist who fled Canada earlier this year during a police investigation into use of the Internet to promote terrorist violence in Canada.
Police subsequently charged him with five hate crimes -- two counts of advocating genocide and three counts of promoting hatred -- but have so far been unable to locate him.
The site was shut down after the charges were laid.
The National Post reported last month that the site had reemerged on a U.S. free-speech server but was again shut down. This month it found a new home, through Internet servers based in Switzerland.
"We are aware that he has a website up and running in various locations," said Inspector Dave Ross of the Ontario Provincial Police. "We are monitoring it and are continuing to liaise with enforcement agencies around the world. We are actively seeking him. We haven't forgotten about him. Our hope is that some day you will see him back in Canada in custody."
The fact that the alleged crimes continue despite his fugitive status shows the difficulties of such cases.
"The Internet poses very unique challenges to law enforcement agencies around the world, not only for hate crimes but a vast number of offences. It has certainly opened the global marketplace to criminals of all types," said Insp. Ross.
Mr. Hossain is wanted by the OPP for advocating genocide and is named in a worldwide Interpol fugitive list. He is believed to have returned to his native Bangladesh and appears to have had technological issues with accessing the Internet.
This month any obstacles were overcome and the website Filthy Jewish Terrorists renewed its stream of violent imagery, language and fierce anti-Jewish and anti-Western sentiments.
"He's never had any concern for the warrant hanging over his head. He is thumbing his nose at Canadian police and at Interpol. The site is up and gotten even more vile," said Bernie Farber, chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
"It speaks to the ineffectiveness of the law in terms of trying to deal with modern technology. A lot of the law dealing with hate crimes is based on the fact that people are living in Western countries where the law applies. But Salman Hossain left and is clearly living in a place where Western law and Western mores have no meaning and so he is basically free to post whatever he wants.
"I do believe the law will eventually catch up to him. "
One article on the site, listed as having been written by Mr. Hossain and posted Dec. 17, again encourages the killing of Jews and Westerners and expresses hope his articles harm Western society.
"I encourage Iran to get assistance from others in committing a full scale genocide against the Jew run nations of the Western World (Australia, Europe and North America to be more precise). Killing them with bio-genetic weaponry would literally be the best option," it says in part.
Another article, posted on Dec. 18, is entitled: "Learning How To Identify Jews During Roundup Time!"
Despite that type of content, the website offers a "legal disclaimer" that states: "Our web site does not advocate terrorism or genocide against any people. All information on this site is for informational purposes only."
A phone call and email from the National Post to the contact information provided for the site's domain registration in Lucerne, Switzerland, went unanswered yesterday.
National Post
