Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis has condemned a wave of neo-nazi activity in the country.
“Such acts are considered as attacks against the Lithuanian state and the entire civil society, they incite hatred for the Lithuanian Jewish community and should be qualified as a provocation against Lithuania and its multiple efforts in the field of promoting tolerance,“ the minister said in a press release.
"These efforts are particularly intensive during the current Year of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania and during the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship," he said.
Numerous Nazi flags were found in Vilnius and anti-semetic remarks spray-painted around Kaunas last week as extremists marked Hitler's birthday. The incidents come on the heels of a slew of anti-semetic attacks in which Jewish graves were defaced with swastikas.
“We hope that the law enforcement authorities will immediately identify the offenders and their actions will be properly assessed in accordance with the Lithuanian legislation,“ he said.
Lithuanian parliamentary speaker Irene Degutiene has also condemned the activity and pledged that the perpetrators would be caught and punished.
Baltic Times
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
MLK Day bomb plot suspect pleads innocent to hate crimes (USA)
A reputed neo-Nazi accused of planting a backpack bomb discovered along the route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade pleaded not guilty on Monday to newly filed charges of committing hate crimes.
During a brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Spokane, Washington, Kevin Harpham, 36, also was ordered to remain in pretrial federal detention without bond, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice told Reuters.
Harpham was indicted last month on charges of attempting to bomb a downtown Spokane observance of the January 17 national holiday marking the slain civil rights leader's birthday. He pleaded not guilty to those offenses on March 23.
The FBI has said that it is treating the bombing attempt as a case of domestic terrorism.
A three-page superseding indictment returned last week added charges that Harpham tried to use the backpack bomb to injure individuals attending the parade because of their "actual or perceived race, color and national origin."
It also accused him of seeking to use a destructive device in the furtherance of a hate crime.
He has now pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.
Harpham's trial is scheduled for May 31, and he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
He was arrested at his home in Colville, Washington, on March 9, about seven weeks after the bomb that he allegedly tried to set off was found stuffed inside an backpack left unattended on a bench along the planned parade route.
The march, attended by an estimated 1,500 people, was rerouted and the device safely diffused by bomb technicians.
Officials from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights group, said Harpham was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance in 2004.
He also served in the U.S. Army during the late 1990s as a "fire support specialist" at what is now Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma.
U.S. officials have said little about the findings of the investigation that led to Harpham's arrest.
Reuters
During a brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Spokane, Washington, Kevin Harpham, 36, also was ordered to remain in pretrial federal detention without bond, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice told Reuters.
Harpham was indicted last month on charges of attempting to bomb a downtown Spokane observance of the January 17 national holiday marking the slain civil rights leader's birthday. He pleaded not guilty to those offenses on March 23.
The FBI has said that it is treating the bombing attempt as a case of domestic terrorism.
A three-page superseding indictment returned last week added charges that Harpham tried to use the backpack bomb to injure individuals attending the parade because of their "actual or perceived race, color and national origin."
It also accused him of seeking to use a destructive device in the furtherance of a hate crime.
He has now pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.
Harpham's trial is scheduled for May 31, and he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
He was arrested at his home in Colville, Washington, on March 9, about seven weeks after the bomb that he allegedly tried to set off was found stuffed inside an backpack left unattended on a bench along the planned parade route.
The march, attended by an estimated 1,500 people, was rerouted and the device safely diffused by bomb technicians.
Officials from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights group, said Harpham was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance in 2004.
He also served in the U.S. Army during the late 1990s as a "fire support specialist" at what is now Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma.
U.S. officials have said little about the findings of the investigation that led to Harpham's arrest.
Reuters
EU Security Official In Kosovo Removed For 'Racist Comments'
The European Union's police and justice mission in Kosovo (EULEX) says one of its officials has been suspended amid charges he offended and abused his Kosovar colleagues, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports.
EULEX spokesman Anne Blanksma told RFE/RL that "[EULEX] head of mission [Xavier de Marnhac] intends for the head of the Close Protection Unit to leave the mission."
Blanksma added that the man in question, who has not been named, has the right to appeal his suspension and possible dismissal.
Read the full story at Radio Free Europe
EULEX spokesman Anne Blanksma told RFE/RL that "[EULEX] head of mission [Xavier de Marnhac] intends for the head of the Close Protection Unit to leave the mission."
Blanksma added that the man in question, who has not been named, has the right to appeal his suspension and possible dismissal.
Read the full story at Radio Free Europe
BNP youth leader arrested (UK)
The arrest followed a demonstration in Wolverton, Milton Keynes, against a local councillor who voted in favour of granting planning permission to Bletchley mosque. Councillor Mike Galloway, a Liberal Democrat, is a member of the Milton Keynes Development Control Committee, which deals with planning applications, and chair of the Local Development Framework Advisory Group.
Bletchley mosque has been the target of BNP opposition since last autumn, with Trent leading several protests.
Trent and another person were held in custody on suspicion of committing an offence under section 5 of the Public Order Act – disorderly behaviour, the report said. If convicted he could be fined.
The report says the demonstration forms part of a new approach to activism consisting of “explaining the failures of an individual councillor to their immediate neighbours and ensuring that the community realise who is responsible for the changes that are coming about”.
It seems more a new excuse for harassment than anything else. Trent, who has stood unsuccessfully for election to Milton Keynes council, was one of a group of BNP activists involved in a violent confrontation with Asian youths in Barking a few days before last year’s general election. The incident was caught on film, posted on YouTube, but Trent was not charged despite being clearly visible landing blows and kicks to someone on the ground.
Trent is pictured posing with a gun in front of an Ulster loyalist flag on page 91 of Lone wolves: myth or reality? in “chapter 6, these people are dangerous”, downloadable from http://www.lonewolfproject.org.uk.
Hope Not Hate
St George’s Day open-air drink ban in city centre after BNP and EDL violence fears (UK)
People were banned from drinking outside some city centre pubs on Saturday – over fears of violence by far-right groups celebrating St George’s Day.
As part of a one-day police operation, pubs were told not to allow people to use outdoor seating in parts of the city centre where violence had broken out in previous years amongst BNP and EDL members.
Pubs and bars in the Shambles area and on Deansgate told customers they were only allowed to drink indoors on St George’s Day.
But some customers said the action was unfair – as outdoor seating areas lay empty on a scorching spring afternoon.
Robert Kavanagh, 21, from Newton Heath, came into Manchester to celebrate a friend’s wedding anniversary.
He said: "The bouncers at Sinclairs told us if we wanted to drink we’d have to sit inside.
"They said it was because it was St George’s Day.
"All the tables and chairs were outside but empty – I was pretty stunned.
"My friends went to some other bars on Deansgate and were told the same thing.
"Town wasn’t even that busy so it was a surprise they were doing it."
The manager of Sinclair’s Oyster Bar, which has a large outdoor seating area on the edge of Exchange Square, declined to comment.
A police spokesman said officers took the decision to ban outdoor drinking in the Shambles and Deansgate areas after alcohol related-violence occurred when supporters of far-right groups gathered there on St George’s Day in previous years.
He said: "Drinking outside in various areas was banned because members of the BNP and EDL had used them to congregate, leading to drink-fuelled violence.
"This was a one-day operation specifically for St George’s Day in one part of the city centre."
Manchester Evening news
As part of a one-day police operation, pubs were told not to allow people to use outdoor seating in parts of the city centre where violence had broken out in previous years amongst BNP and EDL members.
Pubs and bars in the Shambles area and on Deansgate told customers they were only allowed to drink indoors on St George’s Day.
But some customers said the action was unfair – as outdoor seating areas lay empty on a scorching spring afternoon.
Robert Kavanagh, 21, from Newton Heath, came into Manchester to celebrate a friend’s wedding anniversary.
He said: "The bouncers at Sinclairs told us if we wanted to drink we’d have to sit inside.
"They said it was because it was St George’s Day.
"All the tables and chairs were outside but empty – I was pretty stunned.
"My friends went to some other bars on Deansgate and were told the same thing.
"Town wasn’t even that busy so it was a surprise they were doing it."
The manager of Sinclair’s Oyster Bar, which has a large outdoor seating area on the edge of Exchange Square, declined to comment.
A police spokesman said officers took the decision to ban outdoor drinking in the Shambles and Deansgate areas after alcohol related-violence occurred when supporters of far-right groups gathered there on St George’s Day in previous years.
He said: "Drinking outside in various areas was banned because members of the BNP and EDL had used them to congregate, leading to drink-fuelled violence.
"This was a one-day operation specifically for St George’s Day in one part of the city centre."
Manchester Evening news
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