Sweden Democrat 'members' site shut down

The website on which the leaked Sweden Democrat membership list was published has been shut down by the web hosting company where the domain name was registered.

The site, sverigedemokrater.se, was registered with Swedish web hosting from Binero under the company name of Gottfrid Swartholm Warg, founder of The Pirate Bay.

The site’s content, however, is hosted by PRQ, the same company that hosts Wikileaks.

However, when Binero discovered that Swartholm Warg was in fact not the owner of the account, it shut down the domain and contacted police.

“The web should be free, but no wild west,” Binero founder and CEO Anders Aleborg said in a statement.

“We have fought hard to improve the reputation of the hosting business for years, and whenever we find faulty user information, we act.”

The site went live on September 20th, the day following a stunning electoral performance by the Sweden Democrats which gave them 20 seats in the Riksdag.

It contained personal data, including telephone numbers, email addresses, and maps to the homes of thousands of people who were either members of the Sweden Democrats or had requested information about the party.

The data featured on the site, which had a slogan of “Find a buddy near you“, is believed to have been obtained from an April 16th hacker attack of the Sweden Democrats’ official website.

Binero added that, although PRQ is legal responsible for the content of the site hosted on its servers, Binero is within its rights to shut down the site’s domain if there are suspicions of false user information, which amounts to a breach of contract.

The Local Se

MTV, Magyar Rádió block Jobbik ads (Hungary)

Magyar Rádió has refused to broadcast Jobbik's party political broadcasts, saying this would be tantamount to a covert offending of the Roma minority.

"MTV did not even bother to inform Jobbik that the election advertisement will not be broadcast on Thursday," party spokeswoman Dóra Dúró told the Independent News Agency. "Jobbik uses the term Gypsy crime in the criminological sense of the word, not in the ethnic one," she added.

Jobbik will now appeal to the National Election Commission because two state-run media outlets are impeding the dissemination of the party's political views, Dúró said.

MTV later said in a statement that political advertisements must meet specifications laid down in the respective legal regulations and Jobbik's advertisement does not meet those requirements as it contains misleading claims and violates privacy rights.

Politics Hu

Irving banned from leading Auschwitz tour

Controversial British historian David Irving wants to lead a tour of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi  death camp site but the museum says he will not be allowed to do so.

Imprisoned by Austria in 2006 for Holocaust denial, the historian started a tour around Poland this week with a group of people from the US and Australia and wants to present his, revisionist, interpretation of World War II history.

Irving, the author of several books which question elements of established Holocaust history, has claimed that much of what visitors to Auschwitz see today is a “reconstruction” and a Polish “money making machine”.

Though his original itinerary did not include the most infamous site of the Holocaust, the 72 year-old Irving has confirmed that he intends to lead his tour party around the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.

Irving will probably arrive at Auschwitz on 30 September but has not informed the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum about the visit. The museum says it will not be allowing him to lead a tour as he is not a bona fide qualified guide, however.

“David Irving cannot lead a tour group at Auschwitz because he is not licensed,” said director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Bartosz Bartyzel.

“He can visit the museum, like anyone else, but we will watch him closely and if he starts telling lies about the Holocaust, we will take action,” Bartyzel assured.

The director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum admitted, however, that it will be difficult to establish if a person who heads a group serves as a guide, or is just a group member.

“If I’m refused the right to enter a concentration camp or if I’m forced out, it will be methods such as the Nazi used,” David Irving told Italian daily Corriere della Sera after officials at the former Treblinka death camp announced that they will not let the British historian enter.

Irving’s tour has angered Poland’s small Jewish community. "Mr Irving is not a historian but a charlatan and a vicious liar," said Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich.

Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) says that it is following Irving’s steps in Poland to make sure he does not commit another “Holocaust related crime”. “We know where he is, what he’s doing and what he’s saying,” assured Marcin Golebiewicz from IPN.

Denying facts about the Holocaust is punishable by up to three in prison in Poland.

The news Pl

'Koran burning': men expect to be charged with inciting racial hatred (UK)

A gang of six men arrested on suspicion burning copies of the Koran on YouTube said yesterday that they expected to be charged with stirring racial hatred.

The men, all but one of them members of the far-right English Defence League, set fire to what appears to be the Muslim holy books on the anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities in the United States.

They say they carried out the “private joke” as a riposte to historical images of Muslim extremists burning American flags and effigies of western leaders.

However, all six insist that they have no idea who actually posted the video onto the internet, and say they now “bitterly regret” the stunt. All are now on bail pending further police inquiries.

The clip, recorded in the back yard of a public house in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, has been broadly condemned by other YouTube users, some of whom have expressed concern that British soldiers in Afghanistan could be targeted as a direct result.

They were marshalled by a man wearing a jacket bearing the logo: “English Defence League, Gateshead Division”.

The group admit to having been drinking at The Bugle in Felling, Gateshead, ahead of a Newcastle United match.

“It wasn’t anyone’s idea as such,” said the spokesman, who agreed to speak only on condition that all six remained anonymous.

“People are sick of British soldiers being killed out in Afghanistan and then being spat at and called baby killers when they come home.”

He added: “The last thing we would want is for any British soldier to be hurt as a result of this clip going out on YouTube”.

Speaking over a jukebox playing the rock song `This is England`, he claimed the decision to burn the books was taken“spontaneously”, with the group and about a dozen onlookers moving into the back yard.

Some wrapped tea-towels around their heads as the first book went up in flames.

On the video members of the gang are heard shouting: “This is for the boys in Afghanistan. September 11, international Burn a Koran Day, for all the people of 9/11. This is how we do it in Gateshead, right.”

They are then shown burning a second book.

Police visited The Bugle last Wednesday after the video was posted online and two men were arrested on suspicion of stirring racial hatred. They have since been released on bail.

Four more men were arrested and bailed on Wednesday pending further inquiries, Northumbria Police said.

“The arrests followed the burning of what are believed to have been two Korans in Gateshead on September 11,” a spokesman said.

He added that the men were not arrested for watching or distributing the video, but on suspicion of burning the Koran.

Gateshead Council and the force issued a joint statement to stress that community relations in the area were good.

It said: “The kind of behaviour displayed in this video is not at all representative of our community as a whole.

“Our community is one of mutual respect and we continue to work together with community leaders, residents and people of all faiths and beliefs to maintain good community relations.”

The incident follows tensions in America after an extremist Florida pastor threatened to burn 200 copies of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York.

Terry Jones faced an international outcry when he announced the plan, which he later abandoned.

The Telegraph

Recordings disputed in bombing case (USA)

Recordings made by a paid informant should not be used at the trial of white supremacist twin brothers charged with an Arizona bombing, lawyers say.

U.S. District Judge David Campbell heard evidence Wednesday on the role Rebecca Williams played in building a case against Dennis and Daniel Mahon, The Arizona Republic reported. The brothers allegedly carried out a 2004 bombing aimed at Don Logan, then the diversity director in Scottsdale.

Williams acknowledged she was paid for getting close to the Mahons and said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents promised her $100,000 if they were convicted.

"I'm a girl, and they're guys," she said. "Guys like to talk to pretty girls."

Deborah Williams, representing Dennis Mahon, described the informant's operation as "an emotional assault on Mr. Mahon that was both outrageous and 'shocking to the universal sense of justice.'"

The 60-year-old brothers are scheduled to go on trial next year. Campbell said he expects to rule this week on the motion to suppress the recordings.

Investigators say the brothers are close to White Aryan Resistance and have acknowledged white supremacist views.

Logan, who was severely injured in the bombing, now works for Glendale, Ariz.

UPI.com

MENTALLY ILL RUSSIAN CAGEFIGHTER ARRESTED IN NORWAY AFTER HOSPITAL BREAK-OUT (Russia/Norway)

A former Russian mixed martial arts fighter was detained in Norway a month after he escaped from a mental  ward in St. Petersburg, Norwegian media said. Vyacheslav Datsik, 33, was arrested when he applied for political asylum at the Police Immigration Unit in Oslo. The "bulky, muscular and redheaded Russian" also handed a loaded revolver to the officer, Aftenposten wrote. Datsik was also involved in political activities as a member of the neo-Nazi party, Slavic Union, which was banned in Russia this march but reportedly opened its office in Norway. The party posted an online video saying Datsik arrived to the country onboard an arms-trafficking vessel. The video also shows Datsik posing in front of an "Oslo SS" banner, with an axe and a gun in his hands. "I am not a nationalist. I'm a racist," Datsik was quoted as saying in the online edition of the Verdens Gang (VG) newspaper. He was detained for illegal possession of weapons and on suspicion of having possible links to organized crime, along with two other suspected neo-Nazis, reportedly from an ex-Soviet Baltic state. The case was handed over to Norway's organized crime department. "We have made a seizure of weapons which makes this case a high priority. The three are currently charged with violating the Firearms Act," VG quoted Oslo organized crime department officer Einar Aas as saying. Datsik, who was repeatedly disqualified for being too violent with his opponents in the ring, retired from mixed martial arts after losing six straight fights between December 2001 and February 2003. From 1996 to 2001, he faced numerous criminal charges for assault and battery, murder threats, arbitrary behavior and theft, but all the charges were dropped. Datsik was arrested in 2007 after a series of robberies in mobile phone stores. However, psychiatric examinations concluded that he was mentally ill and was exempted from being held responsible for the criminal charges. He was initially locked in a high security psychiatric clinic, but was transferred to a low security ward in mid-July. According to the hospital's chief doctor, he "tore a hole in a chain-link fence with his bare hands and fled" in September.


RIA Novosti

VVD Liberals overtake anti-Islam party in latest poll (Netherlands)

The right-wing VVD Liberals have overtaken Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam PVV in the latest Synovate opinion poll, news agency Novum reports on Friday.

The VVD is now on 32 seats, one up on its total in the June election, while the PVV is on 31, up seven.

Labour, which has 30 seats in the current parliament, is down at 28, but this is up two on its previous Synovate poll showing. D66 is also up two at 13

But the Christian Democrats, who hope to form a government with the VVD and PVV, are down at 14 seats, one down on last week and a record low in support

Dutch News

INDONESIAN AMBASSADOR 'UNWISE' TO SAY PVV VOTERS MAY BE 'PSYCHOTIC' (Netherlands)

PVV leader Geert Wilders has urged the Dutch foreign minister to summon Indonesia’s ambassador to the Netherlands because of his ‘scandalous statements’ about the anti-Islam party and its supporters. Ambassador Yunus Effendi Habibie says in an interview with Thursday’s Financieele Dagblad that the planned October visit by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhynono would be ‘very much in doubt’ if the PVV is part of the next coalition government. ‘Of course the president will not come here if there is someone in the cabinet who says Islam is backward. I do not want my president to be seen as a clown’ the ambassador told the paper. The ambassador went on to say that the relationship between the Netherlands and its former colony would be hurt if Wilders joins the government. And, he suggested, the people who voted for Wilders could be ‘psychoticly fearfull’

Unwise
Foreign minister Maxime Verhagen told Nos tv that the ambassador’s words about PVV supporters were ‘unwise’. ‘I did not think it wise how he described the PVV voters,’Verhagen said. ‘An ambassador should not make comments about the electorate.’ Verhagen said he planned to make contact with the ambassador later on Thursday. Indonesia is the biggest Muslim country in the world. Wilders has repeatedly called for a ban on immigration from Islamic countries.

Dutch News

Abba to sue Danish far-Right party over Mamma Mia

As one of the bestselling pop group's in music history, the members of Abba are used to hearing their songs played almost everywhere.

However, the founders of the Swedish supergroup took exception when their hit Mamma Mia was used as a rally song for the leader of a Danish far-Right party.

Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus were so incensed that they launched a legal action and said the party could "bugger off".

To add insult to injury, the youth wing of the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party also changed the words of the song, without permission, to Mamma Pia when giving their female leader Pia Kjærsgaard an adoring and rapturous send-off at a party congress last weekend.

The young Dansk Folkeparti (DF) activists sang to the Mamma Mia tune – a British number one hit in 1976 – new lyrics celebrating their far-Right leader's success in making their hard-line anti-immigrant politics mainstream.

"Mamma Pia – you're on TV, DF – will be promoted. Mamma Pia – you check it out, DF – vision you have handled. All the hard arguments – as a miracle-maker," activists sang as the rally closed on Sunday.

Andersson said: "Firstly, you cannot just rewrite songs as you like and secondly we want them to understand that we have absolutely no interest in supporting their party."

"Abba never allows its music to be used in a political context. This is something that we have pointed out to the Danish People's Party."

Mrs Kjærsgaard's People Party is the third largest in the Folketinget Danish parliament and helps to support a minority conservative-liberal coalition government.

The 63-year-old's views on immigration have been compared to the Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders and Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French national Front leader.

In 2003, she lost a libel case in the Danish Supreme Court after suing a commentator who had characterised her politics as racist.

Mrs Kjærsgaard intervened in recent Swedish elections to lend support to the far-right Sweden Democrats, who went on to win seats in the country's parliament for the first time.

The Abba founders first found out about the illicit use of their song when a Left-wing Danish activist wrote to them asking if they were backers of the far-right party.

Andersson and Ulvaeus have given their pop music a new lease of life through the internationally successful musical Mamma Mia, which was turned into a film starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth.

The multi-millionaire artists have now instructed their record company Universal to pursue legal action against the Danish People's Party.

Last year, Andersson donated over £90,000 to Sweden's radical Feminist Initiative party.

The combination of far-right politics and music has also led to legal action in Britain.

Earlier this year, Dame Vera Lynn launched legal action after the British National Party after used her White Cliffs of Dover song on a anti-immigration album without her permission.

Five songs hijacked by politics:

1) Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream. The lyric became the anthem for Tony Blair's New Labour but Peter Cunnah, the disillusioned singer, voted Tory earlier this year.

2) Everybody's Changing by Keane. The band was "horrified" when David Cameron used their song to launch the 2010 Tory election manifesto.

3) Man Next Door by Massive Attack. The edgy track, which proclaims "he gets me down", was an unusual choice for William Hague in 2000, the rappers were not impressed and the Tories went on to ask the man behind The Wombles for a unmemorable theme tune instead.

4) There Goes My Hero by the Foo Fighters. The song backfired for John McCain when the Republican presidential candidate was accused by the band of "perverting the original sentiment" by using the song.

5) "Ode To Joy" by Beethoven, lyrics by Schiller. The Romantic composers 1785 piece was written to inspire revolution but was used to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday and is now the EU's official anthem.

The Telegraph

Far right a threat to euro, Germany warned

The rise of extremist parties in Europe could lead countries to leave the single currency if far-right leaders were to gain power, a leading adviser to the German government has warned.

Ottmar Issing, who has held senior positions in the Bundesbank and the European Central Bank, said public anger at austerity measures served to make populist politicians more appealing – with potentially serious implications for the euro.

“Leaving is committing economic and political suicide. This would not exclude that it might happen,” said Dr Issing, who is chairman of a group advising the Merkel administration on financial reform. “I think it could only happen if a government was in such a disastrous situation that extreme parties over a period of time get a majority, and this can only happen on the basis of populism and not accepting any more measures that are needed.

“I think it’s a big challenge for the responsible parties in the middle of the spectrum to explain to the people . . . why these hardships are necessary.”

Dr Issing’s remarks to an audience in Berlin came days after an anti-immigration party won its first parliamentary seats in Sweden, a non-euro country. The success of the Sweden Democrats mirrors the advance of extremist parties within and outside the euro zone, as mainstream politicians worry about the cumulative impact of austerity measures to deal with the economic crisis.

Anti-Islamist Geert Wilders more than doubled his party’s seats in the Dutch elections in the summer, leading to political gridlock as the country’s leaders struggle to form a government without him. In Belgium, hardline Flemish separatist Bart De Wever claimed victory in a general election. Although he does not cast himself as far right, his uncompromising nationalism is a prime factor in the stalemate that has bedevilled the country’s politics.

In French regional elections last March, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front seized 12 per cent of the first-round vote. In Italy, the xenophobic Northern League saw its tally in regional elections rise to 13 per cent. Hungarian ultra-nationalists Jobbik are also advancing, taking third place earlier this year in a general election.

Irish Times

22 men sought after far-right protest clashes (EDL, UK)

Detectives investigating disorder which broke out during an English Defence League protest in Dudley have released CCTV images of men they want to identify.

West Midlands Police said officers were continuing to investigate criminal damage and other offences committed during disturbances in the town centre on July 17.

The CCTV stills, taken on the day of the EDL protest and a counter-demonstration, show 22 individuals whom detectives wish to trace.

Homes in the Alexandra Street area of Dudley were attacked during the violence, which also saw damage caused to parked cars, restaurants and a Hindu temple.

Detective Inspector Carl Southwick, who is leading the investigation, said: "We are appealing to members of the public to look closely at these images.

"We are committed to identifying those responsible for the pockets of disorder and criminal damage that took place in Dudley town centre."

Morley Observer

Man hurt in racist assault in Rochdale street (UK)

A man was attacked with a wrench as he walked down a Greater Manchester street, in what police have said was a racist assault.

The 27-year-old, who is Asian, was attacked by a group of teenagers as he walked along Church Lane in Rochdale on Monday, between 1430 and 1515 BST.

The youths yelled racist abuse as they pushed him to the ground, kicked him and hit him in the face with a wrench.

Police have appealed to any witnesses to contact them.

The youths are described as male, aged about 19 and wearing dark clothing with the hoods up.

The attack stopped when a man intervened and the victim was taken to hospital with serious facial injuries.

Det Con Heidi Edge, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "This was a nasty racially-motivated assault and I would like to stress that we are taking this very seriously and doing everything we can to identify those responsible."

BBC News