JD Wetherspoon Says 'No' To Racist Gatherings

In January the far-right white supremacist National Front held an anti-Muslim march in Stoke. They started the festivities in a JD Wetherspoons pub to drink, sing and generally prepare themselves for a fun afternoon’s racism and bigotry.



This prompted many members of the public, as well as anti-fascist organisations, to write in protest to Wetherspoons to object to a family pub being taken over by these thugs. And in a remarkable display of decency over profit, Wetherspoon have responded by pledging they will close their pubs rather than allow a repeat of this performance.

A letter, which has been published on the Socialist Worker website, from Kathy Long of the pub chain explains that Wetherspoons are often ‘asked by the police to allow people to meet due to the size of our establishments and their reputation for being well managed pubs’. However ‘given the feedback we have received…it will be our preference close the pub rather than inadvertently become the host for such an event’.

Although it won’t stop the EDL gathering or marching, at least this removes one veneer of respectability.

Gold star to JD Wetherspoon plc for acting so quickly on customer feedback.

Seoul calls Moscow for enhanced security measures to prevent hate crimes against South Koreans (Russia)

The South Korean government requested Moscow to take stronger security measures to prevent hate crimes against its citizens living in Russia, prompted by an attack on a college student earlier this week that resulted in a death, local media reported citing foreign ministry officials Friday.

"We urged both the central and local governments of Russia to take measures to help prevent any hate crime from happening again, " an official from South Korea's foreign ministry was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.
"The government expressed its concerns over the gravity of this incident and the negative impact it could impose on the relationship between the two countries to the Russian government through our embassy in Moscow," it added.
The 22-year old South Korean, identified only by his surname Kang, was reportedly involved in an attack believed to be racially motivated by three local youths in the Russian city of Irkutsk, and died at a hospital on Thursday, according to media reports.
All three suspects have been arrested by local police who believe it was a racially motivated attack since no cash or valuables were taken from the scene, according to local media.
Kang was on an exchange student program at a national college of education in Russia where 18 other South Koreans currently enroll, all of whom are scheduled to return home next week, media said.

Global Times

Extreme nationalist brought to court for fiery swastika (Russia)

A man in Siberia’s Kemerovo region has been charged after he dug a giant swastika in a local forest, filled it with gasoline, and set it on fire.
The 45-year-old resident of the city Tashtagol did his landscape fire show on May 9 last year – the date of Russia’s national holyday marking the victory over Nazi Germany – which naturally led investigators to suspecting neo-Nazis responsible for the act.
The perpetrator, however, claimed after police found him that he is an old-believer and that setting on fire a solar symbol to celebrate spring was an archaic Slav tradition, local media report. He failed to explain how such a pagan ritual fits into being a member of the traditionalist Christian sect, which split from the mainstream Russian Orthodox Church in 17th century.
A subsequent search of the man’s apartment revealed that he was far from being a peaceful sun worshipper. Police seized instructions for bomb-making, unregistered firearms and rounds, and extremist propaganda material. He also had a stockpile of marijuana. Neighbours report that he was a vocal nationalist and anti-Semite, police add.

Prosecutors have charged the intolerant man with inciting hatred, illegal possession of arms and drugs.

RT

Kazan Court Hands Down Suspended Sentence to Anti-Fascist (Russia)

court in Kazan, Russia (Republic of Tatarstan) handed down a suspended sentence to an anti-fascist for assaulting a neo-Nazi last year, according to a February 10, 2010 article in the local supplement to the

national daily "Kommersant." Denis Shelepov, age 21, and a group of unidentified young people threw bricks and bottles at university student Aleksandr Naumenko, a neo-Nazi, on June 10, 2009, causing

injury to his face. The victim identified Mr. Shelepov, who was charged with "hooliganism motivated by ideological hatred and animosity," a rarely used statute.
Local police sources told "Kommersant" that both neo-Nazi and anti-fascist gangs became active in Kazan at the beginning of 2008, engaging in propaganda and occasional brawls. Last May, a Kazan court sentenced two anti-fascists in connection with the stabbing of a neo-Nazi teenager. A court in the nearby city of
Naberezhnye Chelny handed down suspended sentences to two anti-fascists in connection with an assault on two neo-Nazis. There is no information in the report about neo-Nazi violence against anti-fascists--a
disturbingly common phenomenon in other Russian cities.
UCSJ

Far-right Czech Workers Party to challenge court ban

A far-right party in the Czech Republic says it will appeal against a ban imposed by the country's Supreme Administrative Court.

Workers' Party leader Tomas Vandas said the ban, announced on Wednesday, was a "political" decision aimed at excluding it from May elections.

The party has no national seats and holds just three local ones.
The court rules its rhetoric was racist, xenophobic, homophobic and anti-Semitic. The party can appeal.
It is the first time a party has been banned for political reasons - rather than financial irregularities - since the Czech Republic became independent in 1993.

'Highly suspicious'
Mr Vandas told the BBC that Wednesday's ruling was a deliberate attempt by Czech politicians to exclude the party from the democratic process, and that the party was determined to take part in the upcoming parliamentary vote.
"The judge's comments were clearly political," Mr Vandas told the BBC.
"The timing of the decision is highly suspicious, coming as it does three months before the elections."
Lawyers acting on behalf of the government - which filed the petition calling for a ban - said the Workers' Party enjoyed close links to neo-Nazi groups and clearly had been inspired by Adolf Hitler.

The party rejects such claims.

"If someone is looking for links with Hitler's Germany of the 1930s, then I'd advise them to read our manifesto, read our statements, read our point of view," Mr Vandas said.
"There's absolutely nothing of the sort in there."
The Workers' Party has just three local council seats nationwide, although in last year's European Parliament elections it shocked observers by winning more than 1% of the national vote.
It has become notorious for holding controversial rallies in areas inhabited by members of the Roma, or Gypsy, minority.
'Battle against extremism'
Those marches - described as "modern-day pogroms" by the government's lawyer - have frequently ended in violence.
"I think it's vital to show the whole of society that extremist groups like the Workers' Party advocate the suppression of the rights of ethnic and other minorities," said Gabriela Hrabanova, head of the government's Council for Roma Community Affairs.
"I call on the whole of Czech society to reject these racist and extremist views," Ms Hrabanova said. "All of us - including Romanies - have a place in this society."
Experts in extremism are divided over the possible consequences of the ban, with some worrying that the group will become even more radical.
However, members of the government told reporters it was an important first step.
"In a democratic society, the battle against extremism never ends," said Czech Interior Minister Martin Pecina in a televised news conference immediately after the ban was announced.
"Either we act immediately and stamp out extremism as soon as it appears, or we can wait for police cars to be set on fire and petrol bombs to be thrown," he added.
"Each step - like the one taken today - significantly weakens the neo-Nazi movement."
The Workers' Party has 30 days to file an appeal against the ban.

BBC News

Essex man jailed for sex with girl he met on Facebook

A 22-year-old man has been jailed for 18 months after admitting having sex with a 13-year-old Devon girl he met via the Facebook website.

James Grenfell, of Braintree, Essex, was arrested in Scotland after a police search for the pair in September 2009.

Appearing at Exeter Crown Court, he admitted three charges of sexual activity and a fourth charge of meeting a child following sexual grooming.
Police warned parents to be on their guard against similar incidents.
'Worrying concept'
Det Sgt Brian Slade of Devon and Cornwall Police's child exploitation unit said after the case: "The internet is a wonderful resource which provides a fantastic opportunity for learning and communication.
"Unfortunately, this does also present opportunities for those with a sexual interest in children - grooming is a very worrying concept for any parent.
"One of the most important things is to ensure your children are chatting to people they know in the real world, not purely in the virtual world.
"If they do not, they can never be really sure who they are talking to.

BNP targets the home of Liverpool’s ex-Lord Mayor Steve Rotheram

A GROUP of BNP supporters was accused of hurling abuse over a loudspeaker after gathering outside the home of a former Lord Mayor of Liverpool .
Labour Cllr Steve Rotheram hit out at the BNP’s tactics which he said left one of his two teenage daughters shaken.
Cllr Rotherham said the group also pointed cameras and video recorders at his home in Aintree.
His home was being used as the Labour party HQ during a by-election in the Fazakerley ward of the city.
The by-election was called to fill the vacancy caused by the death of veteran Councillor Jack Spriggs.
Speaking later Cllr Rotheram said: “I have always known that these are particularly nasty people.
“But this has really opened my eyes about how bitter and twisted they can be.”

But he said Labour would not be intimidated.
liverpool echo