National Front turn up in Birmingham for St George's Day march

The National Front turned out on the streets of Birmingham yesterday to hold a St George’s Day march through the north of the city.

It was the first time that the far-right party, which describes itself as a ‘racial nationalist’ party, has turned up on the streets since it was last banned from doing so in 2001.
Up to 40 men and women marched through the streets of Kingstanding to raise awareness about candidates standing in the upcoming local and general elections.

But they were also there to commemorate the death of local man Jason Spence, who they described as one of “The Fallen”.
Father-of-three Jason was gunned down at point-blank range as he left a Birmingham pub with friends in 2002.
It is believed that Jason, 31, regularly attended National Front meetings and rallies, and was known across the Midlands.
Within hours of the shooting on November 19, messages of remembrance and threats of revenge were posted on extremist websites.
But nobody has ever been charged with his murder and his widow Jacqui, 32, claims the police have “left her in the dark” about the investigation.
Jason’s three children – Tammy, 14, Cherree, 19, and Jason, 21 – still have no clue why their father was murdered shortly after leaving the New Bell pub.
A lack of police contact has frustrated the family and has left them feeling forgotten, with nowhere to turn to.

Jacqui said she supported the National Front march and denied claims that its members were exploiting her late husband’s memory.
“I was not upset about them commemorating Jason’s death, I thought it was a nice gesture,” she said. “But I was upset by a number of press reports which claimed they were hijacking his memory.

“They were only ever friends of his. It just happened they were promoting election candidates in the area yesterday and thought it would be nice to remember Jason.
“To be honest I’m more upset by the police investigation into Jason’s death. We have heard nothing from them at all and it seems like they are not interested.

“I have told them the information they need lots of times. They know exactly what they need to do and who they need to question but they just don’t seem interested. It is a terrible situation to be in.”

The NF will be putting forward candidates in the local election in Kingstanding and Oscott, as well as in the General Election in Erdington.
Oscott candidate Keith Axon, 63, a retired salesman said he doubts that he can win the Oscott seat but claimed more people are supporting the NF because of Labour’s immigration policies.

“The white working class in places like Kingstanding feel alienated and let down by the political process,” he said. “People have had enough of feeling like second-class citizens in their own country.”

Sunday Mercury

Faiths unite against BNP (UK)

STOP the BNP was the message from South Yorkshire’s religious leaders today.

Representatives of the county’s many faith communities gathered in Sheffield to urge voters: “use your vote to stop the BNP.”
Some of the 74 signatories to the statement gathered in front of Sheffield Town Hall to show their support for Britain’s multi-faith society.
“It is our responsibility to celebrate our multi-faith community and defend the values of unity and respect that we have worked so hard to accomplish. We need to make sure that racists cannot destroy what we have achieved,” said Abdool Gooljar, President of the Islamic Society of Britain (South Yorkshire).

“If we don’t vote and the BNP get elected, we have no-one to blame but ourselves.”

The Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Sheffield, said:“We must stand together as different faiths and say to the whole community: ‘get involved and help shape your future’”.

“Cast your vote for love, hope, good neighbourliness and a cohesive community. We have no time for racism in politics.”

rotherham advertiser

CAMPAIGNERS BATTLE FAR-RIGHT ELECTION CANDIDATES (uk)

Anti-fascist campaigners are hitting the streets to warn people against voting for far-right parties at the General Election. The British National Party (BNP) is contesting 15 of the county’s 26 seats next month – compared to just four in 2005 – while the National Front is fielding two candidates, in Faversham and Maidstone. Fighting to see both parties’ election dreams crushed are members of the Unite Against Fascism (UAF) group, who are leafleting constituencies targeted by far-right groups in the run-up to polling day. Last Saturday they held a stall near the Priestfield Stadium home of Gillingham FC, whose supporters are rumoured to be the target of a recruitment drive by the English Defence League.

UAF member Steve Wilkins said: “The BNP has candidates in two of the three Medway seats, and our position is to ask people to use their vote for anyone other than them. “Although there have been many TV exposes over the years, there are still many people who don’t realise what the BNP truly stands for. Its members ferociously deny everything but the evidence is there for all to see. “I don’t think any BNP candidates stand a chance of winning any of the Kent seats, but support for the party is growing and it’s important we put a stop to that.” Seven of the Kent seats being targeted by the BNP are on the outskirts of London, but constituencies including Dover, Tunbridge Wells, and Folkestone and Hythe, are also being contested.

The National Front candidates are Graham Kemp in Faversham and Mid Kent, and Gary Butler in Maidstone and the Weald. Almost immediately after announcing his decision to stand on Monday, Mr Butler was made subject to a campaign by his Labour opponent Rav Seeruthun. Dr Seeruthun said: “The National Front is a fascist party and given that both [Tory candidate] Helen Grant and I are from [minority] ethnic backgrounds, I fear this is the reason they have put a candidate up. “We must attack them head-on with a cross-party approach.” Dr Seeruthun’s campaign has been supported by fellow Maidstone candidates Stuart Jeffery (Greens) and Peter Carroll (Lib Dem), but Mrs Grant said she did not want to give the National Front the publicity “on which they thrive”. Mr Butler denied claims that he was racist, adding: “I’m not saying kick every non-white person out, not at all. “We have [minority] ethnic people who have lived and worked here in the country for generations and they have a right to be here. “I want to see British jobs for British people, but it has nothing to do with race.”


Kent News

SPAIN PROTESTS AGAINST FRANCO-ERA IMMUNITY

Thousands of demonstrators took to streets across Spain on Saturday to protest against immunity for Civil War crimes and charges against a prominent judge for investigating deaths under Francisco Franco's 1939-1975 dictatorship. Protesters in support of High Court judge Baltasar Garzon, say charges against him are an assault on judicial independence. He is accused by far-right parties of abusing his judicial powers by attempting to launch the first comprehensive investigation into Spain's 1936-1939 Civil War. Garzon came to the world's attention in 1998 when he issued an international arrest warrant for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet for the alleged deaths and torture of Spanish citizens. Demonstrations were staged in 20 Spanish cities on Saturday, as well as at Spanish embassies in London, Dublin, Brussels, Lisbon, Paris, Mexico and Buenos Aires. Crowds in central Madrid included human rights activists, actors, intellectuals and family members of victims. "There's still a big open wound in our democracy that needs to be healed," actor Antonio de la Torre, one of the event's organizers told Reuters by telephone. A falangist demonstration a few blocks away drew a crowd of about 300 carrying a banner reading "Proud of our History."


Garzon appeals
Garzon filed an appeal against the charges on Friday, claiming partiality by the Supreme Court justice in charge of the case, Luciano Varela, for allegedly helping the far-right groups with their accusations against him. Garzon, who also investigated abuses under Latin American military governments and at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, is facing three separate Supreme Court inquiries that could end his judicial career. He faces ten years in prison and a ban as a judge if found guilty of abusing his powers in the Civil War investigation. Human rights activists around the world have praised him for pioneering the principle of universal jurisdiction, according to which perpetrators of crimes such as genocide can be tried anywhere if the courts of their own country fail to prosecute.

reuters

Former Nazi corporal dies in jail (USA)

Paul Schaefer, the former Nazi corporal who founded a secretive German colony in Chile in the 1960s, has died in a prison hospital in Santiago, the country's capital.

The 88-year-old was serving a 20-year sentence after being jailed in 2006 for sexually abusing and torturing children and settlers.

He died of heart disease on Saturday, prison officials said.

Schaefer established Colonia Dignidad, a large, armed, self-sufficient German colony, in an isolated region south of Santiago in 1961 after fleeing Germany to escape child abuse charges.

The mountain colony was home to about 300 refugees from Nazi Germany and their descendants. It was equipped with a hospital and an airport, and became a "state-within-a-state".

But Schaefer left Chile for Argentina in August 1996 when new child abuse allegations came to light.

The colony was seized in 2005 by Chilean authorities. The same year, Schaefer was arrested in Argentina and extradited back to Chile to face child abuse charges.

Human rights abuse
Schaefer was also charged with collaborating in human rights violations commited by the regime of Augusto Pinochet, the dictator who ruled Chile between 1973 and 1990.
He was accused of allowing Chilean military agents to use Colonia Dignidad to torture political prisoners. Many of the prisoners later disappeared.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a Jewish human rights organisation which helps track down Nazi war criminals, had suspected Schaefer of connections with Nazi fugitives such as Walter Rauff, who the centre said escaped to Chile and was protected by Pinochet's regime. Rauff died in Chile in 1984.

Residents of Colonia Dignidad lived an austere life until Schaefer's arrest. They have now renamed it "Bavarian Village" and opened it to the tourist trade.

aljazeera

Indians campaign against UK's BNP fascist party

The leader of the British National Party (BNP) Nick Griffin, who is contesting the Barking constituency in London for the UK election on May 6, is the biggest threat to Indians and other non-white people in Britain.

His politics threatens their (Indians/non-whites) very existence in Britain. In an area where poor white people live around poor migrants, tensions run high and BNP aims are clear.

Councilor Bailey of BNP said, "A lot of people have come from India to this country to make a better life for themselves. But a lot of those people have still got Indian passports, they retire back in India, and they send a lot of money, which they earn in this country back to India as well. Now remittances alone are in billions, and it affects the British economy."

This is just the kind of politics his opponents are uniting to stop in this Barking and Dagenham constituency.

Councilor Tariq Saeed said, "They are leftover Nazi party, they are leftover Hitler, they are Hitler's followers."
Challenging BNP's Nick Griffin is the Labour Party and local Indians led by the local gurdwara have been campaigning actively against the BNP.

Councilor N S Gill said, “We have been campaigning for three years for people to use their vote, which is essential to keep the BNP out.”
A vote in the Barking constituency could be very telling how far a lot of white working class people think that Indians and other immigrants should simply pack their bags and head home - this late in the day. Indians of course are doing their bit to see that the BNP is kept away, on principle, and for themselves

bnlive

BNP Leader: 'East London Is Like Nairobi'

BNP leader Nick Griffin has been secretly filmed out on the far-right party's campaign trail, where he compared east London to Nairobi.
The BNP is well known for having controversial policies, but it would appear the party also has controversial opinions when it comes to canvassing voters.

An undercover reporter from the People tabloid recorded what happened when senior party member Richard Edmonds was out leafleting in Dagenham.

When a woman told him she would not vote BNP, Mr Edmonds' response as he walked away was: "Silly ******* aren't they? Maybe she's got a black kid you see?

"Or maybe her sister's got a black kid? That I think is always the explanation around here.

"Once they go with blacks, they're part of the black tribe.

"Wicked, horrible, stupid. I've seen it many, many times."

Mr Griffin was also filmed talking about canvassing in Barking, where he is trying to oust Labour's Margaret Hodge.

"Yes, it's something like leafleting central Nairobi isn't it, I'm afraid," he said.

A spokesman for the BNP said the remarks were made after Mr Edmonds had been verbally abused in the street.
They party did not want to comment further on the filming.

At its manifesto launch last week, the BNP insisted it was not a single-issue party.

Sky News

Hungary votes in second round of parliamentary election

Hungary is preparing to vote in the second round of a parliamentary election which conservative opposition party Fidesz has already won.

But the second round will decide the fate of almost one-third of the seats in the next parliament.

Fidesz trounced the Socialists by 53% to 19% in the first round, followed by the far-right Jobbik, and a new Green party called Politics Can be Different.

Its leader, Viktor Orban, is set to become prime minister.

The second round of this election is being fought in 57 constituencies nationwide - all those where no single candidate won more than 50% of the votes in the first round.
Seats in Parliament are distributed according to three lists - individual, territorial and national - so 121 seats out of 386 will be decided in this second round of the election.
Mr Orban has promised the creation of a million jobs in the next 10 years, sweeping tax cuts, and reform of central and local government.
Fidesz hope to win a two-thirds majority in the new Parliament, which would give them the chance to change the constitution.
The Socialists, who have governed for the past eight years, say they created 100,000 jobs, navigated the ship safely through a serious economic crisis, and improved law and order.

BBC News

KT Tunstall disowns mother's BNP husband

ROCK star KT Tunstall has broken all ties with her mother's husband after he decided to stand as candidate for the BNP at the General Election.

David Orr is married to Tunstall's biological mother, Carol-Ann, who gave up the St Andrews-born singer for adoption when she was born.
He says his decision to stand for the far right party as Westminster candidate in his home town of Livingston
has prompted Tunstall to sever all contact with him. "This has caused huge problems in my family, it's really put the cat amongst the pigeons," he said.
"I've had KT's people on the phone basically saying that she won't have anything further to do with me and doesn't want to see me ever again."
The 61-year-old former taxi driver added: "I've never used the family connection for political gain, it was a big no-no from the start.

"She's still in touch with my wife Carol-Ann, mainly through texts.

"It has caused huge problems but I've had these political views all of my life and Carol-Ann knows that. It doesn't bother me that KT won't speak to me. I've nothing to be ashamed of.

"I am bothered for Carol-Ann though. She just wants to keep out of it all and stay in touch with her daughter."
A spokesperson for Tunstall confirmed the estrangement, saying: "KT abhors the BNP and all they stand for. She now has no contact with David Orr."
The 34-year-old star regularly campaigns on environmental issues such as climate change and endorsed the Democratic Party in the US presidential election.
Scotland On Sunday

Indonesians riot in 'race' clash

Thousands of Indonesian workers have rioted at a foreign-owned shipyard on the western island of Batam, torching buildings and cars.

The workers were protesting against an alleged racial slur by an Indian manager, a national police spokesman was quoted as saying by AP news agency.
Several people were injured and Indonesian police say they had to evacuate dozens of Indian employees.

The manager had repeatedly called the workers "stupid", local media say.

The riots took place at PT Drydock, the shipbuilding arm of Dubai World conglomerate.

"This problem has to be solved with the help of the immigration and other departments involved. Foreigners that insult Indonesians will have to leave the country," local police chief Leonidas Braksan was quoted as saying by the country's offical news agency Antara.
Mr Braksan has asked the Indian manager accused of the insult, to leave the country, Antara reports.

Indonesia's Ministry of Manpower is sending a fact-finding team to PT Drydock to investigate the rioting, Antara adds.

BBC News

PAY-DAY FOR RACIST PAPER PUTS SUBSIDIES UNDER FIRE (Sweden)

Opinion has been split on how best to handle state press subsidies ever since the Press Subsidies Council (Presstödsnämnden) agreed on Wednesday to award 2.3 million kronor ($321,000) in operational support to Nationell Idag ('National Today'), a weekly newspaper run by the extreme right-wing National Democrat party. Culture Minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, herself formerly a delegate on the subsidies council, said a review was needed of guidelines prohibiting the council from taking a publication's political views into consideration. "Even if this is about freedom of expression, that's not the same thing as using taxpayers' money to support this type of media," Adelsohn Liljeroth told public broadcaster Sveriges Radio. But the minister's view was countered by Jan Strid, a media professor at Gothenburg University. "What opinions should we pay for then? This is one small way of restricting the liberty of the press, which is under enough threat today as things stand. Either we change the press support system and get rid of it completely or we give it to everybody," he told Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter. Strid was also critical of Fokus magazine's editor-in-chief Martin Ahlquist, who "must have known" before stepping down from his post on the council in protest that existing regulations prevented the council from taking a political stand. Madeleine Sjöstedt, the Liberal Party head of Stockholm's Culture and Sports Division, exhorted the culture minster to abolish Sweden's system of press subsidies. "I call on culture minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth (Moderate) to go to the ministry and draft new legislation abolishing press subsidies, rather than distancing herself from those whose job it is to put her decisions into practice," Sjöstedt said in a statement. "Press subsidies should have ended a long time ago. They've served their purpose. It's almost ridiculously out of step with the times to believe, in our digitalized age, that citizens require a daily paper from each of the blocs in every town," she added.

The European Commission gave Sweden a rap on the knuckles last June for maintaining a system of press subsidies that "distorts competition", calling on the country to gradually cut back its support for large circulation metropolitan newspapers. "The commission recognises the importance of media pluralism for the cultural, democratic and public debate in member states and the importance of newspapers in this context," EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said at the time. "However, running a newspaper is also a commercial activity and the commission has a duty to prevent undue distortions of competition and trade resulting from public subsidies," she added. In its decision on Wednesday, the Press Subsidies Council ruled that Nationell Idag fulfilled the criteria necessary to qualify for operational press subsidies. For example, the council found that the newspaper publishes more than 1,500 copies, is primarily sold to subscribers, and publishes at least 1,000 column metres of editorial material per year. Nationell Idag was granted 699,583 kronor for August to December last year, as well as 1.679 million kronor for 2010. The decision did not enjoy unanimous support, with one of the nine council representatives present calling for a further examination of whether Nationell Idag can be considered a "general newspaper that has the publication of regular general news as its primary function." On its website the Press Subsidies Council explains that it is "a governmental organisation whose task is to safeguard the diversity of the daily newspaper market. It carries out its function by distributing the state's subsidy to the daily press." The council disburses operational subsidies totalling 483 million kronor a year to around 80 newspapers.
The Local Sweden

POLICE PROBE AFTER THE BNP PARADES FAKE SOLDIER WALKER

A controversial  BNP election candidate is being investigated by police after he posed as a soldier.

Adam Walker wore desert fatigues while campaigning alongside the far-right party’s leader, Nick Griffin.
But Walker, 41 – who is standing in Bishop Auckland, County Durham – is no longer a serving member of the Armed Forces and might have broken the law by dressing as one.

Police were alerted when a member of the public made a complaint.Walker, who was a member of the Royal Armoured Corps from 1985 to 1990, claims he has done nothing wrong.


At the rally in Barking, Essex, last weekend, he was asked if he was a real soldier and admitted he wasn’t.
But he said: “I’m wearing this uniform in solidarity with our boys in Afghanistan.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We have received a complaint and officers will now decide what action, if any, is required.”
Walker could be charged with a breach of the 1894 Uniforms Act which says that wearing a military uniform without permission can “bring contempt” on the Army. If convicted, he could face up to a month in prison or a hefty fine.
His appearance at the rally was labelled “disgraceful” by serving soldiers and Forces’ organisations.

A spokesman for the ABF soldiers’ charity said: “There is no place in the Army for racism or politics. Nick Griffin should know better.” One soldier using an online forum said: “This is disgraceful. The scumbag should be prosecuted.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “Neither serving nor retired military personnel are permitted to wear uniform in support of political activities as this could undermine the impartiality of the Armed Forces.”

It is not the first time that former teacher Walker, of Spennymoor, County Durham, has attracted controversy. In 2007, he was caught posting alleged slurs against asylum seekers, immigrants and homosexuality on the BNP’s website during lesson time at the sports college where he worked.

He left the college shortly after the scandal broke but claimed the comments had no link to his work. He is awaiting a General Teacher Council hearing.

Daily Star