Neo-Nazi speech-giver in Czech Republic is a policeman who lectures at schools in Slovakia

The residents of Trnava, Slovakia probably never thought their school-aged children would ever be listening to lectures by uniformed municipal police officer Marián Mišún (31). Mišún is best known for his boldly extremist approach and statements in which he publicly speaks of Roma people as "asocial Gypsy parasites" and calls for the institution of labor camps and forced sterilization. He is also infamous in the Czech Republic for giving a racist speech at a neo-Nazi event in Nový Bydžov this past March. The Slovak Prosecutor will be pursuing charges against him for that speech.

According to the Slovak association People against Racism (Lidé proti rasismu), a person with Mišún's opinions should not be on a municipal police force. His commanding officer, Igor Keleši, says he is an exemplary police officer and will only be released from service if charged.

Mišún's obviously racist statements are just "indicators" in Trnava

"I consider myself a promoter of Dubček-era socialism with a human face which also takes national interests into account," Marián Mišún told the Slovak internet daily Pluska.sk. The news server reported that Mišún believes the "Roma question" should be answered as follows:

"I would send parents who endanger the morals of their children to labor camps where they would eat only what they could grow themselves and their children would be taken away from them. Obviously mentally retarded individuals who are not supervised should be placed in institutions so their uncontrollable reproduction does not occur."

"I am glad Marián Mišún is so blunt. Thanks to his statements we won't have to convince anyone of what would happen to basic human rights if public power were ever placed in the hands of the extreme right. Mišún voluntarily admits it of his own accord... All that's missing is for him to say that in the spirit of his concept, only specimens of strong, white individuals should be permitted to exist and to be recognized by the state," Irena Biháriová of People against Racism said in response to Mišún's statements.

Mišún has been a municipal police officer in Trnava for four years. He recently lectured on police topics at one of the elementary schools there - for example, on who thieves are. "The Trnava Town Hall does have an ethical codex in place for its employees, but will not concern itself with Mišún," Slovak radio station Expres reported. Town hall spokesperson Pavel Tomašovič said Mišún's public dissemination of hateful opinions was merely an "indicator": "I do not have the relevant information needed to let him go, it can't be done on the basis of indicators, the Labor Law takes precedence over the ethical codex." On the basis of these "indicators", the town will supposedly ban Mišún from lecturing in the schools. "Given his publicly presented opinions, the town will halt that activity," Tomašovič told news server Pluska.sk.

Mišún gave a racist speech in the Czech Republic too

This item continues at Romea

Probe into soldiers’ far-right EDL photos

Defence chiefs are investigating a claim that soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment have been photographed showing their support for a far-right anti-Islam group.

Several pictures are under investigation.

One shows soldiers from regiment – which recruits in Cumbria – posing next to the flag of the English Defence League (EDL) at a homecoming parade for the regiment in Blackburn last year.

Eight soldiers are seen standing next to the flag, bearing the words: “EDL supports Duke of Lancaster Regiment.”

Another more controversial picture shows a uniformed solider, allegedly in Helmand Province, his face hidden by a black scarf as he brandishes a pistol and stands in front of before the EDL flag.

An active branch of the organisation hit the headlines in Carlisle last month when one of their members was jailed for publicly burning the Koran in the city centre.

The pictures – which have not yet been confirmed to be genuine – could help radicalise some Muslim, and inflame divisions between Islam and the West.

A Ministry of Defence spokeswoman yesterday confirmed that an investigation was now underway, but suggested that some of the soldiers who appear in the photos may have been hoodwinked into posing next to the EDL flag.

“Individuals are free to join political parties but they’re not permitted to take an active role in political campaigning and must abide by our values and standards in all they do,” she told the News & Star.

“Instances of unacceptable behaviour in the armed forces are investigated, and appropriate action taken – up to and including dismissal.

“An investigation is already underway into allegations that individuals have breached army regulations through their involvement with the EDL.”

Kevin Caroll, 41, who is joint EDL leader, said the organisation was opposed to racism, but the Cumbrian branch is currently publishing an on-line video crammed with anti-Islamic slogans.

The first of these shows a medieval crusader in battle armour, under the slogan: “Jihad works both ways.” Another slogan tells viewers: “Let the crusade begin.”

Patrick Mercer, a former chairman on the Commons counter terrorism sub-committee, urged servicemen to steer clear of the EDL. He said the pictures could be used as propaganda by extremists in Afghanistan. “That could only damage our cause,” he said.

News & Star

BAN SOUGHT FOR NAZI-ERA SCHOOL BOOK (Russia)

The Public Chamber urged the Prosecutor General's Office to ban an anti-Semitic publication favored by Adolf Hitler on Friday, just weeks after Moscow prosecutors found it to be of "historical and educational" value. The chamber's secretary, Yevgeny Velikhov, asked Prosecutor General Yury Chaika to open an investigation into the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," the rights watchdog said on its web site. The book, first released in 1903 by a tsarist-era anti-Semitic newspaper, details the Jewry's purported plans of world domination. The book has since been exposed as a forgery based on a 19th-century political pamphlet by French political satirist Maurice Joly, but has nevertheless become a staple of anti-Semitic literature. It was taught in schools in Nazi Germany.

Chaika's office did not comment on the request over the weekend. But his subordinates ruled in March that "Protocols" did not fan ethnic hatred, and its content was "politically and historically educational," the Public Chamber said. The ruling was passed by Moscow's Northern Administrative District Prosecutor's Office and later upheld by the City Prosecutor's Office, it said. Both refused to place "Protocols" on a federal list of extremist materials, citing an unspecified "psychological examination" of the book, it said. The Public Chamber based its own request on an appeal by two prominent members of the Academy of Sciences, Yury Pivovarov and Valery Tishkov, who criticized the ready availability of "Protocols" in Russia, including at the prominent Books of Russia fair earlier this year.

"This book is often called the banner of anti-Semitism," Vera Alperovich, an analyst with the Sova anti-xenophobia watchdog, said by telephone Friday. But she admitted that even Sova's experts were divided on the issue. "We fear that if the book is banned, it might provoke a backlash from anti-Semitic groups who would blame Jews for banning the book," Alperovich said.

Moscow Times

Anti-racism social project for Euro 2012 kicks of in Ukraine

National social project "Come Together " organized for Euro 2012 Soccer Championship launched on Monday in Kiev, the information centre "Ukraine 2012" announced on its website.

The main aims of the project are attracting youth to healthy life style and combating discrimination in all its forms. Organizers plan to show the society the damage which racism can cause.

In this campaign the volunteers will conduct ideological work against racism and xenophobia, said Sergey Gluschenko, a deputy chairman of Ukrainian Government Service of Youth and Sports.

"Now we are conducting a wide campaign for Euro 2012. We want to draw the attention of children, youth and all the fans to racism and xenophobia. This phenomenon has no place in society, especially in children's minds," he said at the "Come Together" project opening.

Video reels against discrimination will be shown on the national TV channels in Ukraine. Volunteers conduct educational conferences and seminars on racism. Domestic celebrities will also take part in the campaign, according to the project organizers.

Euro 2012 Soccer Championship will be held in Ukraine and Poland between June 8 and July 1 next year.

People Daily

Rally to oppose far right racism (New Zealand)

Organisers of two anti-racism marches have agreed to come together next week for one "massive counter-rally" against a far-right group.

Thousands have indicated on the organisers' Facebook site that they will take part in the rally in central Auckland on May 27, and the event is also fuelling a high level of interest on some Chinese online forums.

The Right Wing Resistance is distributing flyers in Auckland, Christchurch and New Plymouth claiming an Asian invasion is taking place.

Leader Kyle Chapman said the group was against Asian immigration because Asians "stole jobs" and "destroyed white New Zealand culture and heritage".

Susan Zhu, a local Chinese community leader who is promoting the protest, said, "Our rally is to say that this city does not tolerate racism.

"We just want people from different cultures to be celebrating New Zealand as one harmonious, multicultural country where diversity is welcomed."

The rally at 11am on Friday week in Aotea Square would include speeches and Asian cultural performances, she said.

The Right Wing Resistance has said on its website it will not be marching in Auckland, but is planning for "activism in Auckland and other cities for the [general] election".

The group claims its "stop the Asian invasion" flyer campaign has been "the most successful right-wing campaign ever".

"The plan to target high-income areas paid off. Man, them people love to moan and complain ... better to put a hundred flyers in rich letterboxes than 10,000 in the lower income."

Meanwhile, the police will hold meetings in the coming weeks with various Asian communities in Auckland to reassure them that they do not have to fear the right-wing "radicals".

"We shouldn't live in fear," said Superintendent Wally Haumaha, head of Maori, Pacific and ethnic services, "and we shouldn't sit back and think these people are going to inflict harm, because the moment they even consider stepping towards that, the police will take a hard line and ensure that any breaches of the law will be dealt with in an appropriate way.

"It's well known that the Right Wing Resistance are a small group who do tend to make noises from time to time.

"But I would think that most well-intentioned people in this country would not take too much notice or cognisance of what is being said by these radicals."

Police Asian liaison officer Raymond Wong, who has already been meeting members of the Asian community since news of the anti-Asian flyers broke, said many were feeling disappointed.

"Many said they are disappointed that there are such strong anti-Asian views around, because they moved here thinking it was a warm and welcoming country," Mr Wong said.

"Some are just wondering what they, or the community, have done to deserve such an attack."

Asians made up 9.2 per cent of the population in the 2006 Census. In Auckland, nearly one in five (18.9 per cent) people are Asian, the highest proportion in the country.

But immigration from China has slowed since its peak in 2003, and declined last year from 2009.

NZHerald