GREEK HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS ACQUITTED (Greece)

Three Greek human rights activists on trial for speaking out against judges who had acquitted a Holocaust-denying ultranationalist politician were acquitted. A three-judge panel on Monday unanimously found for the activists from the AntiNazi Initiative, an Athens-based group founded in 1997 that fights hate in Greek society. The activists were on trial Monday for speaking out against the judges who acquitted Kostas Plevris, an open admirer of National Socialism who was found guilty by a Greek court in 2007 of incitement to racial hatred based on statements in his book "Jews: The Whole Truth," but was later acquitted by an appeals court in a verdict that was upheld by the Greek Supreme Court. The president of the Athens Jewish community, Benjamin Albala, a member of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, expressed his satisfaction with ruling in favor of the activists. "The outcome shows that the brave human rights activists of the AntiNazi Initiative were right when claiming that in the previous trial some court officials were biased," Albala said.

One of the appellate court judges who had acquitted Plevris, Marianthi Pagouteli, has published anti-Semitic remarks on her blog, according to the Greek daily newspaper Elefterotypia, including "f. Jews I wish Hitler had exterminated you completely." The prosecutor's office in Athens started legal action against the Greek AntiNazi Initiative for publicly denouncing certain judges who had participated in the proceedings against Plevris. The AntiNazi Initiative organization, the Greek Helsinki Monitor and the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece had sued Plevris for incitement to racial hatred and violence against the Jews. Plevris sued senior representatives of the Greek Jewish community, several journalists and human rights activists for libel. World Jewish organizations protested vehemently to the United Nations following the Greek Supreme Court's ruling in favor of Plevris, the founder and leader of two nationalist parties. The U.N. in a letter to the Greek government asked for an explanation of the ruling.

JTA

Revealed: 15 become hate crime victims each day in Greater Manchester (UK)

Fifteen people a day become victims of hate crimes in Greater Manchester, new figures reveal.

Police have released the data which is based on a broader definition and includes crimes against disabled, gay and transgender people, and other minority groups.

A total of 5,348 hate crimes were recorded in Greater Manchester last year – accounting for 10.5 per cent of incidents recorded by 44 forces throughout England and Wales.

They included 4,406 racially-motivated crimes and 359 motivated by religion – the highest in the country outside London.

But the number of race-hate crimes actually represented a drop of 12pc on the previous year.

GMP also recorded 497 homophobic crimes, 12 ‘transphobic’ crimes, and 74 against disabled people.

While most other forces recorded no anti-Semitic crimes, GMP dealt with 198.

Senior GMP sources said the figures, released by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), reflected Greater Manchester’s diversity and the seriousness of the force’s approach to hate crime.

Deputy Chief Constable Simon Byrne said: “It is encouraging to see that the number of racist incidents in Greater Manchester has fallen by nearly 12pc in the past year.

“Racially motivated crime is wholly abhorrent in all its forms and GMP vigorously investigates all allegations of hate crime, irrespective of the ethnic heritage of the victim or offender, so I would encourage anyone who is a victim of racism to report it.

“All 12 police areas in Greater Manchester have a Community and Race Relations Officer who liaises with their local communities to encourage reporting.

“Victims can also report any incidents through the GMP website or at one of the many reporting centres in outside agencies.”

Chief Constable Stephen Otter, from ACPO, said: “Hate crimes cause a great deal of harm.

By publishing this data, and demonstrating the service’s commitment to open reporting of hate crime,we hope to encourage victims and witnesses to come forward.”

MenMedia

Pizza Hut accused of racism after black footballers asked to pay up front (UK)

Pizza Hut was accused of racism yesterday after asking a group of black professional footballers to pay in advance for their meals.

The demand was made as a table of white youngsters seated nearby were allowed to settle up after eating.

Five AFC Bournemouth players were stunned when a duty manager told them to pay up front because of “the way you lot look”.

When they refused, staff claimed they were being “disruptive” and called the police.

Officers arrived at the restaurant but took no action after the players, including £2,000-a-week first-team regulars Anton Robinson, Liam Feeney and Marvin Bartley, agreed to leave.

Pizza Hut last night apologised to the League One stars and admitted they had been treated “very shabbily” but insisted there was no racism.

However, midfielder Mr Robinson, 24, said later: “The only thing that was different was the colour of our skins.”

Revealing his outrage on Facebook, he added: “I asked ‘has anyone else had to pay before they eat?’. He replied ‘no, but it’s the way you lot look’. I was gonna tear the place up but then it would just prove that he was right not to give us our food. The fact we left without even raising our voices will count against him.”

And Mr Bartley, 23, fumed: “It was 100 per cent a race issue. If it wasn’t then I would like to know what it was.” He said the manager told them he was asking them to pay because some people had earlier run off without doing so.

The defender added: “There was a bigger group of white lads aged about 17 and 18 in there and I asked if they had to pay and he said he wasn’t going to answer that.

“I went over and asked the group myself whether they had to pay in advance and they said they hadn’t.

“We were smartly dressed in jeans and jumpers or cardigans and the other group wore tracksuits and hooded tops.

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“I asked if it was because we were black and he again said he wasn’t going to answer and we would have to pay or he would call the police.

“I told him to call them as we hadn’t done anything wrong. The police turned up and asked us what had happened. One officer spoke to the other customers and asked them how we had behaved and everybody was fine with us. Some of the lads went somewhere else but I lost my appetite and went home.”

The group, also including another black player Mitchell Nelson, 21, and white team-mate Shaun Cooper, 27, had gone to Pizza Hut for lunch last Thursday.

Midfielder Mr Feeney, 23, commented: “The fact that there were other groups of white lads younger than us who weren’t asked to pay in advance didn’t really leave anything else for it to be.”

Their treatment has sparked anger among anti-racism groups.

Alison Vaughan, of football campaign group Kick It Out, said: “We would expect that such a high-profile company would ensure all staff are fully trained on issues of equality.”

And Dorset Race Equality Council boss Adnan Chaudry said: “If Pizza Hut is saying that it wasn’t racially motivated then I find that incredible.”

A football club spokesman said: “In this day and age, it is upsetting to hear that people are treated differently because of the colour of their skin.”

But a Pizza Hut spokesman insisted the incident was not racist.

He added: “We have had a spate of customers leaving without paying so were advised by the police to ask people to pay for their meal before dining.

“We have been doing this at our discretion, and in this case the situation was poorly handled. We have contacted the customers concerned to apologise for any offence caused.”

Daily Mirror