A ban against wearing veils that cover the face at schools and universities violates the Swedish discrimination act, the country's equality ombudsman ruled Wednesday. The decision by Katri Linna was the first concerning full-face veils in Sweden. It was sparked by a complaint made in early 2009 by a young Muslim woman who was studying to become a kindergarten teacher, who was told she could not wear the full-face niqab at her school in Stockholm. In her decision, Linna said the right to wear religious garb did not mean that safety measures should be neglected but 'schools, or employers, are obliged to seek solutions to possible obstacles.'
The plaintive finished with good results, suggesting that 'her niqab did not constitute an obstacle for her training,' Linna said. During class, the woman was seated so that her male co-students could not see her face and she did not have to wear her niqab. Linna would not seek legal action against the school since the student was allowed to complete her year-long education pending the decision by the equality ombudsman agency. Linna, who has been criticized for the slow handling of the case, said the decision did not consider if a woman wearing the niqab could work at a kindergarten. There are no statistics on how many female students in Sweden wear the full-body burqa or the niqab. Estimates suggest there are at least 100,000 practicing Muslims among Sweden's 9.4 million inhabitants - but that number is uncertain as there are no official statistics. The equality ombudsman was set up to ensure compliance with the discrimination act that bans discrimination due to gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation or age.
In August, Education Minister Jan Bjorklund said he wanted leaders of Swedish schools and universities to be allowed to ban students from wearing clothes that cover their faces, including the burqa, the niqab or balaclava masks.
DPA
Friday, 3 December 2010
2 cleared, 1 guilty in white supremacists case (USA)
A federal jury on Wednesday acquitted two men and convicted a third in what prosecutors said was a conspiracy by white supremacists to sell grenades and guns to a purported national supremacist group member, who was really a government informant.
The jury at the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport found Kenneth Zrallack, 29, of Ansonia and David Sutton, 46, of Milford not guilty of conspiracy charges. Alexander DeFelice, 33, of Milford, was convicted of several conspiracy and weapons charges.
Federal prosecutors said Zrallack is the leader of the Connecticut-based Battalion 14 white supremacist group, formerly known as the Connecticut White Wolves. Officials said DeFelice is a Battalion 14 member who knows how to make explosives, while Sutton, who is black, has known DeFelice for years but isn't a white supremacist.
"I am very happy that the jury correctly evaluated the evidence," said Sutton's lawyer, Frank Riccio II. "Both he and I hope he could get back to leading a normal life."
A lawyer for DeFelice didn't immediately return a message Wednesday, and the U.S. attorney's office had no immediate response to the verdicts.
Zrallack and Sutton walked out of the courthouse as free men, while DeFelice was to be returned to prison, Riccio said.
"Obviously my client is happy," said Nicholas Adamucci, Zrallack's attorney. "There was a lack of evidence from the beginning and I'm glad the jury was able to find there was a lack of evidence."
The jury began deliberating Monday afternoon and sent several notes to Judge Janet C. Hall with questions about entrapment laws. The defendants' lawyers had raised entrapment as an issue in the case, saying the informant pressured their clients.
DeFelice faces the possibility of decades in prison. It wasn't immediately clear when he will be sentenced.
Two other defendants, Edwin Westmoreland and William Bolton, both of Stratford, pleaded guilty in the case and await sentencing.
The informant, convicted felon Joseph Anastasio, wore hidden recording equipment that captured hours of what prosecutors said were incriminating conversations on video and audio. Many of the recordings were shown to the jury.
Anastasio portrayed himself as a member of a national supremacist group, the Imperial Klans of America. He testified that he bought three grenades and some guns from the defendants and gave the weapons to federal agents.
Anastasio also testified that he was not a white supremacist and was "sick" and "upset" when he joined Zrallack and others as they waved Nazi flags near an outdoor Jewish menorah lighting ceremony in Fairfield last year.
In 1996, Anastasio was sentenced to three years' probation after being convicted of stealing historic letters and notes written by Abraham Lincoln and Confederacy President Jefferson Davis from a library at the University of Bridgeport, where he worked as a security guard, the Connecticut Post reported.
His criminal record was key to the government's case, because selling weapons to a felon is a federal crime.
Defense lawyers charged that Anastasio cooperated with the FBI only because he was trying to get a lenient sentence for his son in a drug and theft case.
Prosecutors accused Zrallack of making several hundred dollars off the sale of the firearms and grenades to Anastasio.
Authorities also alleged that DeFelice assembled three grenades that he sold to Anastasio for $3,000 last January, and Sutton helped him. The recording equipment worn by Anastasio showed DeFelice and Sutton joking about Sutton's race.
Prosecutors said Sutton also offered to dispose of the grenades if the deal with Anastasio fell through. They said his main motivation was getting DeFelice to broker a sale of semiautomatic firearms to Sutton's brother-in-law, a deal that never happened.
An expert on white supremacist groups, Robert Nill, told prosecutors that the Connecticut White Wolves claim to have been founded on April 20, Adolf Hitler's birthday, in 2002, and Zrallack formed the successor Battalion 14 in 2009. Court documents also say defendants in the case talked about their desires to kill President Barack Obama and leave an explosive-filled basketball at a New Haven playground so blacks would be killed.
Google Hosted News
The jury at the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport found Kenneth Zrallack, 29, of Ansonia and David Sutton, 46, of Milford not guilty of conspiracy charges. Alexander DeFelice, 33, of Milford, was convicted of several conspiracy and weapons charges.
Federal prosecutors said Zrallack is the leader of the Connecticut-based Battalion 14 white supremacist group, formerly known as the Connecticut White Wolves. Officials said DeFelice is a Battalion 14 member who knows how to make explosives, while Sutton, who is black, has known DeFelice for years but isn't a white supremacist.
"I am very happy that the jury correctly evaluated the evidence," said Sutton's lawyer, Frank Riccio II. "Both he and I hope he could get back to leading a normal life."
A lawyer for DeFelice didn't immediately return a message Wednesday, and the U.S. attorney's office had no immediate response to the verdicts.
Zrallack and Sutton walked out of the courthouse as free men, while DeFelice was to be returned to prison, Riccio said.
"Obviously my client is happy," said Nicholas Adamucci, Zrallack's attorney. "There was a lack of evidence from the beginning and I'm glad the jury was able to find there was a lack of evidence."
The jury began deliberating Monday afternoon and sent several notes to Judge Janet C. Hall with questions about entrapment laws. The defendants' lawyers had raised entrapment as an issue in the case, saying the informant pressured their clients.
DeFelice faces the possibility of decades in prison. It wasn't immediately clear when he will be sentenced.
Two other defendants, Edwin Westmoreland and William Bolton, both of Stratford, pleaded guilty in the case and await sentencing.
The informant, convicted felon Joseph Anastasio, wore hidden recording equipment that captured hours of what prosecutors said were incriminating conversations on video and audio. Many of the recordings were shown to the jury.
Anastasio portrayed himself as a member of a national supremacist group, the Imperial Klans of America. He testified that he bought three grenades and some guns from the defendants and gave the weapons to federal agents.
Anastasio also testified that he was not a white supremacist and was "sick" and "upset" when he joined Zrallack and others as they waved Nazi flags near an outdoor Jewish menorah lighting ceremony in Fairfield last year.
In 1996, Anastasio was sentenced to three years' probation after being convicted of stealing historic letters and notes written by Abraham Lincoln and Confederacy President Jefferson Davis from a library at the University of Bridgeport, where he worked as a security guard, the Connecticut Post reported.
His criminal record was key to the government's case, because selling weapons to a felon is a federal crime.
Defense lawyers charged that Anastasio cooperated with the FBI only because he was trying to get a lenient sentence for his son in a drug and theft case.
Prosecutors accused Zrallack of making several hundred dollars off the sale of the firearms and grenades to Anastasio.
Authorities also alleged that DeFelice assembled three grenades that he sold to Anastasio for $3,000 last January, and Sutton helped him. The recording equipment worn by Anastasio showed DeFelice and Sutton joking about Sutton's race.
Prosecutors said Sutton also offered to dispose of the grenades if the deal with Anastasio fell through. They said his main motivation was getting DeFelice to broker a sale of semiautomatic firearms to Sutton's brother-in-law, a deal that never happened.
An expert on white supremacist groups, Robert Nill, told prosecutors that the Connecticut White Wolves claim to have been founded on April 20, Adolf Hitler's birthday, in 2002, and Zrallack formed the successor Battalion 14 in 2009. Court documents also say defendants in the case talked about their desires to kill President Barack Obama and leave an explosive-filled basketball at a New Haven playground so blacks would be killed.
Google Hosted News
German president becomes honorary godfather to neo-Nazi baby
It is traditional in Germany for large families to apply to the president's office to have him become the honorary spiritual guide for the seventh child.
When the parents from Lalendorf, eastern Germany, wrote to him, his office replied saying the president would be "delighted" to act as his honorary godfather, enclosing a parchment scroll and a cheque for 500 euros (£420).
The father works for a "eugenics institute", while his wife is a leading figure in the far-right women's group.
The mayor of the town where they live refused to hand over the parchment and money honouring the child, sending them back to the president's office.
Norbert Nieszery, local party head of the Social Democrat SPD party, wrote to President Wulff stating; "These parents are clearly prominent in the right-wing extremist scene.
"They have a high political goal: the abolishment of the democratic state based on law. They should not have an honour from the federal president to bandy about and claim with it that their aims are honourable."
A spokesman for Mr Wulff's office explained however that they went round state officials and sent the money and certificate directly to the family.
"The child is at the centre of this," the spokesman said, explaining that the honour was not for the parents.
Everyone is, however, encouraged to "ensure an atmosphere where children are raised to respect democracy," the spokesman added.
Telegraph
Racist crimes and verbal insults are on the increase in the Bristol area (UK)
Racist incidents are on the increase in the Bristol area, according to the latest police figures.
The number of crimes and verbal insults reported to Avon and Somerset police rose by eight per cent from the 2008-09 to the 2009-10 financial year.
Statistics released by the Home Office show that in 2009-10 there were 2,037 reported, up 152 on the 1,885 reported in the 12 months previous.
The majority of hate crimes – accounting for about 60 per cent – take place in multi-cultural Bristol.
Batook Pandya, the director of Sari (Support Against Racist Incidents), believes the increase is down to a combination of factors.
He said: "People now know they have to report hate crimes and they are reporting them, but racist incidents are on the increase.
"In the present climate of unemployment and higher deprivation, you will always have more racial intolerance.
"For example, when Cabot Circus was being built and there were lots of Polish workers in the city, we heard of hate crimes affecting Polish families and insults relating to jobs. The demography of Bristol is changing faster than any city in the UK so we need to look at how we can stop racism happening in the future, when ethnic minorities move into the more traditionally white areas."
In 2008-09, Sari dealt with 650 racist incidents, which rose to 867 in 2009-10. But Mr Pandya has noticed a change in the type of complaints.
He added: "We don't see as many serious racist incidents as we used to. In the past, we would have people having their faces slashed and crimes like that, but nowadays it is more verbal, neighbourly issues.
"We always encourage people to call the police. If things are going to change, the multi-agencies need to come together to work through it."
Police believe the increase in recorded racist incidents could be down to efforts to encourage more reporting.
Assistant Chief Constable John Long said: "A key objective as part of Bristol's local hate crime action plan was to encourage reporting, particularly among communities who historically have a mistrust of public authorities.
"Efforts to encourage more reporting across Bristol is likely to have influenced the recorded increase we have seen. The increase could also be partly accounted for by an increased confidence in reporting these type of offences.
"It's encouraging that our detection rate for racially and religiously aggravated offences is 53.8 per cent, having risen from 34 per cent in 2008-09."
A number of local agencies are working together to investigate crimes, raise awareness and support victims.
The Partnership Against Hate Crime includes the police, South Gloucestershire Council, Victim Support, Sari and Educational Action Challenging Homophobia.
A Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel is held at the Crown Prosecution Service office in Bristol every three months, reviewing how cases have been handled, investigated and prosecuted. Sari can be contacted on 0117 9420060.
This is Bristol
The number of crimes and verbal insults reported to Avon and Somerset police rose by eight per cent from the 2008-09 to the 2009-10 financial year.
Statistics released by the Home Office show that in 2009-10 there were 2,037 reported, up 152 on the 1,885 reported in the 12 months previous.
The majority of hate crimes – accounting for about 60 per cent – take place in multi-cultural Bristol.
Batook Pandya, the director of Sari (Support Against Racist Incidents), believes the increase is down to a combination of factors.
He said: "People now know they have to report hate crimes and they are reporting them, but racist incidents are on the increase.
"In the present climate of unemployment and higher deprivation, you will always have more racial intolerance.
"For example, when Cabot Circus was being built and there were lots of Polish workers in the city, we heard of hate crimes affecting Polish families and insults relating to jobs. The demography of Bristol is changing faster than any city in the UK so we need to look at how we can stop racism happening in the future, when ethnic minorities move into the more traditionally white areas."
In 2008-09, Sari dealt with 650 racist incidents, which rose to 867 in 2009-10. But Mr Pandya has noticed a change in the type of complaints.
He added: "We don't see as many serious racist incidents as we used to. In the past, we would have people having their faces slashed and crimes like that, but nowadays it is more verbal, neighbourly issues.
"We always encourage people to call the police. If things are going to change, the multi-agencies need to come together to work through it."
Police believe the increase in recorded racist incidents could be down to efforts to encourage more reporting.
Assistant Chief Constable John Long said: "A key objective as part of Bristol's local hate crime action plan was to encourage reporting, particularly among communities who historically have a mistrust of public authorities.
"Efforts to encourage more reporting across Bristol is likely to have influenced the recorded increase we have seen. The increase could also be partly accounted for by an increased confidence in reporting these type of offences.
"It's encouraging that our detection rate for racially and religiously aggravated offences is 53.8 per cent, having risen from 34 per cent in 2008-09."
A number of local agencies are working together to investigate crimes, raise awareness and support victims.
The Partnership Against Hate Crime includes the police, South Gloucestershire Council, Victim Support, Sari and Educational Action Challenging Homophobia.
A Hate Crime Scrutiny Panel is held at the Crown Prosecution Service office in Bristol every three months, reviewing how cases have been handled, investigated and prosecuted. Sari can be contacted on 0117 9420060.
This is Bristol
Nothing Gets You in the Holiday Spirit like a Racist Snowman (USA)
A new-fallen snow is such a pure and beautiful thing...until a man in Idaho uses it to construct a snowman wearing a KKK hood and carrying a noose in its outstretched hand.
When local station KXLY came out to report on the snowman, the guy looked kinda familiar:
The homeowner who had the offensive snow sculpture in front of his home is Mark, who was profiled by KXLY back in July when he posted flags ranging from an Aryan Nations flag to an SS flag at his home, drawing the ire of his neighbors. Then in October he angered residents further when, according to neighbors, he passed out bullets on Halloween. Mark refuted his neighbors claims, saying he didn't actually pass out bullets, but rather he passed out bullet casings, and only did so after he ran out of candy
Someone knocked Mark's snowman down at first, so he built it larger and now it stands about 10 feet tall. Did we mention this delightful man lives 100 yards away from an elementary school?
Two Kootenai County sheriff's deputies let Mark know about the Idaho statute against hanging nooses, so that's gone. The snowman's pointy top got knocked off too.
Seattlest
When local station KXLY came out to report on the snowman, the guy looked kinda familiar:
The homeowner who had the offensive snow sculpture in front of his home is Mark, who was profiled by KXLY back in July when he posted flags ranging from an Aryan Nations flag to an SS flag at his home, drawing the ire of his neighbors. Then in October he angered residents further when, according to neighbors, he passed out bullets on Halloween. Mark refuted his neighbors claims, saying he didn't actually pass out bullets, but rather he passed out bullet casings, and only did so after he ran out of candy
Someone knocked Mark's snowman down at first, so he built it larger and now it stands about 10 feet tall. Did we mention this delightful man lives 100 yards away from an elementary school?
Two Kootenai County sheriff's deputies let Mark know about the Idaho statute against hanging nooses, so that's gone. The snowman's pointy top got knocked off too.
Seattlest
Racist blog leaves childcare manager's career in ruins (UK)
A Childcare centre manager behind a racist internet blog has been found guilty of misconduct by the care workers' watchdog.
Helen McClymont also leaked confidential information about children in her care on her daily blog, called "Helen's Life".
Now, the care manager faces being banned from working with children after an inquiry found she showed "ingrained attitudes of prejudice and racism".
On her web page she ranted about Muslims, saying that "they smell of curry and have a stupid religion".
The childcare worker, manager of Steelrings day care centre for children in Paisley, also posted racist remarks about Italians, Venezuelans and black people, while working at the centre earlier this year.
She also breached confidentiality of children who attended Steelrings, and made "derogatory remarks about the children, parents of children and members of staff of the service".
At a misconduct hearing at the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) in Dundee last month, it was revealed that Ms McClymont admitted making the comments on her blog, but denied that it amounted to misconduct.
The hearing was told that Ms McClymont - who admitted her guilt in a statement of facts and did not appear to defend herself in person - wrote on her blog: "Most people who know me well, know that I don't like Muslim people. They smell of curry and have a stupid religion."
She also derided Italians as "people who make ice-creams and work in fish 'n chip shops".
Now her career appears to be in ruins, as she faces being struck off after the misconduct hearing panel, under convener Margaret McAllister, this week found her guilty of misconduct and ordered her removal from the care workers' register.
The ruling states: "The sub-committee evaluated the seriousness of misconduct. It considered that there were several elements that placed the conduct towards the upper end of any scale of seriousness.
"These included the publication of personal information, including derogatory comments about service users under the registrant's care - in this instance, on social media - which could be accessed by a third party, was a fundamental breach of trust.
"This amounted to unsafe practice and a potential failure to protect and safeguard the people in the registrant's care, and of course, a breach of confidence.
"The registrant had exhibited apparently ingrained attitudes of prejudice and racism. These attitudes are fundamentally incompatible with the core values of the registered caring professions.
"Taken together, the registrant's actions had the potential of bringing the profession into disrepute and undermining public confidence in the profession."
The ruling added: "The decision of the sub-committee was to make an order for the removal of the registrant's registration in the register for managers of day care of children services maintained by the SSSC.
"A warning was felt to be insufficiently strong to mark the seriousness of the misconduct."
During the hearing in Dundee, presenter of the SSSC case, Lindsay Thomson, said: "This blog was in the public domain… this was not a personal diary or letter, or conversation with someone in the street."
Ms McClymont has 14 days to appeal the decision.
Scotsman
Helen McClymont also leaked confidential information about children in her care on her daily blog, called "Helen's Life".
Now, the care manager faces being banned from working with children after an inquiry found she showed "ingrained attitudes of prejudice and racism".
On her web page she ranted about Muslims, saying that "they smell of curry and have a stupid religion".
The childcare worker, manager of Steelrings day care centre for children in Paisley, also posted racist remarks about Italians, Venezuelans and black people, while working at the centre earlier this year.
She also breached confidentiality of children who attended Steelrings, and made "derogatory remarks about the children, parents of children and members of staff of the service".
At a misconduct hearing at the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) in Dundee last month, it was revealed that Ms McClymont admitted making the comments on her blog, but denied that it amounted to misconduct.
The hearing was told that Ms McClymont - who admitted her guilt in a statement of facts and did not appear to defend herself in person - wrote on her blog: "Most people who know me well, know that I don't like Muslim people. They smell of curry and have a stupid religion."
She also derided Italians as "people who make ice-creams and work in fish 'n chip shops".
Now her career appears to be in ruins, as she faces being struck off after the misconduct hearing panel, under convener Margaret McAllister, this week found her guilty of misconduct and ordered her removal from the care workers' register.
The ruling states: "The sub-committee evaluated the seriousness of misconduct. It considered that there were several elements that placed the conduct towards the upper end of any scale of seriousness.
"These included the publication of personal information, including derogatory comments about service users under the registrant's care - in this instance, on social media - which could be accessed by a third party, was a fundamental breach of trust.
"This amounted to unsafe practice and a potential failure to protect and safeguard the people in the registrant's care, and of course, a breach of confidence.
"The registrant had exhibited apparently ingrained attitudes of prejudice and racism. These attitudes are fundamentally incompatible with the core values of the registered caring professions.
"Taken together, the registrant's actions had the potential of bringing the profession into disrepute and undermining public confidence in the profession."
The ruling added: "The decision of the sub-committee was to make an order for the removal of the registrant's registration in the register for managers of day care of children services maintained by the SSSC.
"A warning was felt to be insufficiently strong to mark the seriousness of the misconduct."
During the hearing in Dundee, presenter of the SSSC case, Lindsay Thomson, said: "This blog was in the public domain… this was not a personal diary or letter, or conversation with someone in the street."
Ms McClymont has 14 days to appeal the decision.
Scotsman
France: Le Pen acquitted of racism charges
A Paris court has acquitted far-right French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen, who had faced charges of racism over campaign posters for his National Front party.
The court said Thursday that Le Pen was not personally responsible for the posters, reading "No to Islamism" and featuring a woman in a black face-covering Muslim veil next to a map of France swathed in the Algerian flag. The posters were issued ahead of March's regional elections.
The anti-racism group SOS Racism had brought the charge of "inciting racial hatred" against Le Pen.
The public prosecutor had asked the aging firebrand be handed a two month suspended sentence, a euro20,000 ($26,200) fine and a 1-year-long ban on running for office.
Bussiness Week
The court said Thursday that Le Pen was not personally responsible for the posters, reading "No to Islamism" and featuring a woman in a black face-covering Muslim veil next to a map of France swathed in the Algerian flag. The posters were issued ahead of March's regional elections.
The anti-racism group SOS Racism had brought the charge of "inciting racial hatred" against Le Pen.
The public prosecutor had asked the aging firebrand be handed a two month suspended sentence, a euro20,000 ($26,200) fine and a 1-year-long ban on running for office.
Bussiness Week
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)