Permit likely for neo-Nazis Gettysburg Rally (USA)

Aryan Nations plans to hold June rally at Gettysburg battlefield

A permit will likely be granted for the neo-Nazi group Aryan Nations to hold a rally at the Gettysburg National Military Park, according to park spokeswoman Katie Lawhon.

Aryan Nations - which identifies itself as a white-supremacist organization - applied for the permit last week and park officials are expected to approve the request, Lawhon said. The rally would take place on the park's lawn west of the Cyclorama Center, she added.

"Because the land is publicly owned, we're obligated to make it publicly available for exercising First Amendment rights," she said.

Although the approval is likely, Lawhon says the park doesn't support the views of Aryan Nations, which has been called a "continuing terrorist threat" by the FBI.
According to a statement from Lawhon, "The Park Service's mission in preserving and protecting the historic resources at Gettysburg includes making them available to all Americans, even those whose views are contrary to the majority of the public."

In response, the YWCA plans to hold a "celebration of diversity" on June 19, the expected date of the Aryan Nations rally, said YWCA Missions Director Ashley Andyshak Hayes.

"There are some people who feel it's better to ignore (Aryan Nations), but people around here aren't going to tolerate this and it's important for us to speak out and send a positive, proactive message," Hayes said.

A meeting will be held May 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the YWCA to discuss exactly what will take place at the "celebration of diversity."

In 2006, the YWCA held a similar event called "Community Unity Day," which was organized to counter a battlefield rally held by the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

Michael McQueeney, who leads the Wisconsin chapter of Aryan Nations, said Gettysburg is a popular location for white-supremacy groups because of the prevalence of sympathizers in the region.

"We're going to all the old Civil War battlefields to bring in recruits because there are a lot of white patriots in this area," he added.
But McQueeney attended the 2006 Ku Klux Klan rally and was a bit disappointed with the turnout, he said. The 2 1/2 hour rally was attended by about 30 Klan members, seven re-enactor counter-protesters and more than 100 spectators.

For Hayes and the YWCA, low turnout means mission accomplished.

"That's good to hear," she said, "because I know a lot of people came to (Community Unity Day) so it's definitely encouraging that more people came to our event."
If approved, the Aryan Nations rally will last two to three hours and will include speeches and discussions on current events, according to McQueeney.

"You're going to see 50 to 100 of us show up and there will be speakers talking about how our children and children's children should grow up white and not mixed race," he said. "We're protesting illegal immigration and President Barack Obama's birth certificate and the Jews who are running the banks and making all the white man's money.

"I have my speech all ready," he said, adding, "There will be no skinheads coming because they're the ones that cause the problems."
Following the rally, there will be either a burning of "Jewish" books, a cross lighting or bonfire, according to McQueeney.
"Afterward, everybody gets together and we have a barbecue and it's just a fun meet-and-greet type thing," he added.
But any events taking place after the rally will be held at a private site just outside of Gettysburg, according to McQueeney.

The Evening Sun

3 German rightists convicted in neo-Nazi camp case (Germany)

Three members of a far-right group were convicted Tuesday of organizing events to indoctrinate youth with neo-Nazi ideals, including a camping trip that had children painting masks with swastikas.

All three were members of the Homeland-Faithful German Youth, or HDJ, which was banned by Germany's Interior Ministry last year for promoting racist and Nazi ideology among children and youth.

The Berlin state court convicted Ragnar R. for his role in organizing a 2006 trip during which children decorated masks with swastikas and all participants wore black uniforms, court spokesman Robert Baeuml said in a statement.

He was also convicted of involvement in a 2007 event where youngsters were taught far-right racial theories and shown the Nazi propaganda film "The Eternal Jew," Baeuml said.

Co-defendants Christian F. and Daniela K. were also convicted of participating in the second event.

The court did not release the last names of the defendants in accordance with German privacy laws. It also did not give their ages and Baeuml could not be reached by telephone, but Germany's NDR news reported that Ragnar R. was 26, Christian F. 27, and Daniela K. 24.

Ragnar R. was given a 17-month suspended sentence, Christian F. a 12-month suspended sentence, while Daniela K. was fined €1,800 ($2,285).

The HDJ — whose initials evoke the German abbreviation for the Hitler Youth, the HJ — was founded in 1990 in Ploen, near Kiel, but is now based in Berlin and had several hundred members around the time it was banned, the Interior Ministry has said.

guardian

BULGARIAN NATIONALIST EXTREMIST FACES RACISM SUIT

Bulgaria’s Commission for Protection from Discrimination has raised racism charges against vocal far-right leader Boyan Rasate. The first sitting of the trial will take place on Monday, May 10, 2010, the Commission has announced. Rasate is sued for his statements made in a Nova TV and Darik Radio talk show in which he declared himself against the acceptance of “Third World refugees” by Bulgaria. “Rasate’s statements are xenophobic, racist, and stir prejudice and discrimination against people of a different race, nationality, ethnic group, human genome, citizenship or origin,” says the Commission statement. He is accused of using manipulative and discriminatory rhetoric by likening dark-skinned people to monkeys, defining refugees as “exotic representatives of unknown peoples”, and presenting them as a crime risk factor. He is also said to have presented the refugees coming from non-European countries as unable to integrate into European societies “because of their genetic structure.” Two years ago, Bulgaria’s anti-discrimination commission raised homophobia charges against Boyan Rasate but they could not be proven subsequently. In 2009, Rasate was charged again because of comments that he made in his former talk show “National Guard” where he described people of the Roma ethnicity as “gypsy parasites”, “persons dealing with robbery and prostitution”, “murderers slaughtering dozens of Bulgarians”.


The charge was raised by Roma leader Toma Nikolaev, the founder of the Roma information agency De Facto (currently inactive). Nikolaev is known to be close to Volen Siderov, the leader of the major Bulgarian right-wing nationalist party “Ataka”; Siderov and Rasate has been tangled in a personal conflict and legal battles for a couple of years. The Roma discrimination case against Boyan Rasate was thrown into the hands of the Supreme Administrative Court where the nationalist was acquitted and won the case because according to the ruling his words were true and reflected the actual situation in Bulgaria. Rasate is known as the leader of the minor but vocal far-right party Bulgarian National Union GUARD. In 2007, his movement announced the setting up of a "National Guard" aimed at protecting Bulgarians against "Roma terror" but the paramilitary formation was outlawed. He is also known for being arrested as one of the instigators of the Molotov cocktail attacks against Bulgaria’s first ever gay pride parade, which took place in Sofia in June 2008. In April 2010, Rasate got in a car accident with the owner of the Balkanski Circus in Sofia, which led to a fight and exchange of insults, with the nationalist allegedly offending the non-Bulgarian staff of the circus because of their ethnic origin.

Novinite

COURT DELAYS, IGNORANCE RENDER VICTIMS OF VIOLENT NEO-NAZISM POWERLESS (Czech Rep.)

At the end of last month, the court in Benešov heard testimony in the October 2008 case of neo-Nazis rampaging against random targets in the town. The main witnesses and court experts gave their testimony in closed session; the trial was then adjourned until the start of June. The media are not reporting on it. The hearing was closed because one of the defendants was a minor at the time the crime was committed. This is why the media are not even attempting to follow the trial - not one journalist was present at the courthouse last month. The public, therefore, is learning nothing about it. The Romea news server was the only media outlet to publish a brief announcement that the trial was taking place. To an outside observer, it seems that the law in this case is primarily defending the rights of the defendants. In June the victims will have to testify without supporters present before a large number of defendants and their attorneys. During the first hearing, some of the defendants ended up sitting in the benches normally reserved for the public for lack of seating. It is as if the victims had no right to legal counsel, or as if it were better to make sure the current degree of danger posed by neo-Nazis in the Czech Republic is neither known nor spoken of. There are 12 defendants on trial at the district court in Benešov. At the time of the crime they ranged in age from 16 to 22. They include several people who, according to other reporting by the daily MF Dnes, have previously participated in training camps for hand-to-hand combat held for those interested in Nazism. Filip Stránský (24) of Tábor, for example, is the alleged founder of the neo-Nazi group White Justice in the Czech Republic. In 2007 he was sentenced by the district court in Tábor for committing ideologically motivated battery and for supporting and promoting a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms. He is currently being prosecuted for other crimes, information the courts are not releasing because of personal data protections.

What happened at the start of October 2008 in Benešov? A 15 to 20-member group of neo-Nazis attacked an 18-year-old youth who believes he was randomly selected for assault. The brutal attack caused him serious injuries with permanent consequences. After finishing with this first victim, the mob continued to frantically chase other people throughout the town. They attacked another youth and shouted racist slogans at him; he also was hospitalized as a result, although his injuries were fortunately light. He met the first victim at the hospital, who had ended up much worse off. Seriously injured victim effectively lacks information about his rights “The physical attack on the man occurred on Friday 10 October at 20:30 when a group of men aged about 20 and dressed in black-and-white camouflage, black or blue pants, and bomber jackets attacked by kicking him and striking him with collapsible nightsticks and brass knuckles. Their faces were masked with bandanas. The victim has been hospitalized with serious injuries,” police spokesperson Zuzana Stránská announced shortly after the crime occurred. The life of the primary victim of this attack was acutely endangered. In addition to bruising all over his body, he suffered serious injury to his spleen, which he eventually lost, and to his kidneys. He was hospitalized for almost three weeks and then continued to be treated as an outpatient. He had to abandon his studies and his employability has been compromised as a result of the permanent injury he has sustained. This victim was not instructed by police on how to demand compensation from the state as the victim of a violent crime – or at least, he was not instructed in such a way as to make him aware of his rights. Since the law establishes the deadline for filing such a request as one year from the date of the crime, this victim has lost the opportunity to access a minimum of CZK 100 000 (EUR 4 000) in compensation. Shortly before the second hearing, the family of the Benešov victim requested assistance from the attorney-in-fact for the victims of the arson attack in Vítkov. Unfortunately, motions for compensation should have been filed prior to the start of the trial.

The victim described the events to the local paper as follows: “I was going to visit a friend at Spoøilov at 8:30 in the evening and I walked by the cultural center near the Jewish cemetery. Near the garage below Klášterská street I noticed a band of about 20 masked people. Two girls were walking in front of me, and the group let them pass without any problem. Suddenly I had a strange feeling - I was listening to music on my MP3 player and I thought they would leave me alone as well, but I was no match for them. One of them pushed me down on the ground and the others mercilessly kicked me. They didn’t swear at me, but one of them ridiculed me when they were leaving – ‘That hurts, right?’ They just kicked me like a dog and left.” The girls mentioned in the victim’s account followed the attack from afar but did not attempt to defend the victim out of fear that the mob might attack them as well. Once the assailants had left the scene, the girls helped the victim walk to a nearby shop. Salespeople there called the ambulance that took him to the hospital. The suspects have been charged with the crimes of grievous bodily harm (five of them), attempted racially motivated grievous bodily harm (six of them), rioting (all of them), and racist violence against a group (all of them). According to the criminal code in effect at the time, they face prison sentences of between two and eight years. Those suspects for whom racist motivation cannot be proven face a maximum of three years in prison. The state prosecutor has issued the following statement: “All of the defendants met together in Benešov and subsequently decided to proceed through the town and to physically attack anyone of a different appearance, or mindset, or ethnicity, or race. They paraded through the town in two groups which closely followed one another….” The groups committed their attacks in various places.

Delays jeopardize prosecution
How is it possible that the prosecution of such a serious crime has undergone such delays? Police wanted to find the greatest possible number of suspects involved and collect sufficient evidence to charge them. This was not an easy task given that the assailants attacked under cover of darkness and were masked. In the end, some of the suspects confessed to their participation in the crime and revealed the names of the others. Last May, more than six months after the crime took place, the 12 defendants were charged. Benešov state prosecutor Stanislav Novák then requested political scientist Zdeòek Zboøil to analyze the propaganda material police found during searches of the suspects’ homes. The amount of material discovered was so enormous the expert had to travel several times from Prague to Benešov to review it all; he did not receive the information in digital form from the state prosecutor until several months later. His analysis is meant to demonstrate the defendants’ ideological motivation. Zboøil said some of the defendants were in possession of some of the most hardcore examples of Nazi propaganda, such as recordings of the neo-Nazi band Judenmord. A member of the Anti-fascist Action organization claims that in Filip Stránský’s case, police only searched his mother’s apartment even though he was not living there at the time. Police have found almost no evidence of his motivation.

Another attack, directly at the courthouse
During 2007 and 2008, the White Justice group organized military trainings to take place in outdoor settings. Police say professional soldier Lukáš Sedláèek of the unit based in Tábor taught the neo-Nazis how to properly attack “living targets”. He was recently discharged from the Czech Army as a result. Czech Defense Minister Martin Barták commented on the news last November, saying: “I personally ordered the instigation of the appropriate steps to immediately discharge him from service.” “I am one of the founders of this organization. It was founded by me, Filip Stránský and a person named Jana," the daily MF Dnes reported Sedláèek as saying during police interrogation. At the time the professional solider confessed to training about 30 people at the camps. He taught them hand-to-hand combat, with and without weapons, and how to attack both living and inanimate targets. He also trained them in techniques for setting cars on fire and destroying other kinds of property. However, Sedláèek now denies participating in the group’s activities and claims to have stopped having anything to do with neo-Nazism long ago. Police have not succeeded in demonstrating a connection between the training and the Benešov attack, even though it is more than likely the attack was actually part of the training.

This year the Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zloèinu - ÚOOZ) has tried to charge several neo-Nazis with the crime of terrorism over an alleged plot to kidnap police officers and politicians. The state prosecutor refused to take the case forward, allegedly for insufficient evidence. Why did the Benešov court not announce this trial to the media? Evidently out of concern for the fact that the witnesses might have begun to fear the possible results of testifying. Most of the witnesses did show up to testify without concern at the end of April. However, as a result of failing to inform the public of the degree of danger involved, another attack occurred at the courthouse. An unidentified perpetrator, evidently a supporter of neo-Nazism, was watching the courthouse during the trial. While one of the main witnesses and his attorney were inside, the perpetrator slashed their tires. It will be difficult to prove who committed the crime as police did not patrol the area in front of the courthouse. After learning of the attack, Jakub Polák, the victims’ attorney-in-fact, said: “They think they can just bully someone like that and get away with it. It makes me want to see this through even more.” In the past, Polák represented a Romani youth who died after a neo-Nazi attack in broad daylight in the center of the South Bohemian town of Písek. The youth drowned in the river after his assailants prevented him from getting out of the water. Over the course of many years of painstaking work, Polák managed to convince the state prosecutor to classify the crime not as rioting, but as racially motivated murder. Three young neo-Nazis were eventually sentenced to long prison sentences five years after the crime was committed.

Romea

ETHNIC ALBANIANS PROTEST IN CAPITAL (Macedonia)

Some 2,000 people participated in a protest march dubbed "For Justice", organised by several Albanian civil society groups, in downtown Skopje on Monday. The protest passed off peacefully, with obvious heavy police presence visible in the downtown area. Protestors demanded the immediate release of those convicted in the so-called Brodec and Sopot cases, in which ethnic Albanians were found guilty for staging or helping terrorist activities. The protestors also demanded that all cases against ethnic Albanians involved in the 2001 armed conflict in Macedonia be scrapped and that all state funded project which promote ethnic and religious discrimination be stopped. The crowd shouted "liberate the political prisoners" as they marched in front of the Skopje court building. Later the protesters moved in front of the parliament and government buildings, causing traffic jams in the downtown area. In 2001 Macedonia suffered a short lived armed conflict between ethnic Albanian insurgents and the state security forces. Although the clashes ended the same year with the signing of the Ohrid Peace Accord and the pronouncement of amnesty for all insurgents, the situation in some areas remained problematic for some time following the signing of the accord.


Two years after the conflict, a mine killed two international KFOR soldiers near the wetern village of Sopot. 11 residents from Sopot were later convicted and given a joint prison sentence of 156 years for their participation in the incident. In the Sopot case the ombudsman’s office and former Macedonia prime minister Vlado Buckovski asked for the case to be reviewed, expressing their concern that the convicted might not be guilty. In a separate case in November 2007 Macedonian police raided the village of Brodec on the Sara Mountain in northwestern Macedonia, killing several armed men and apprehending several others. The court later found the men guilty for planning terrorist activities and sent them to prison. The protestors, marching under the umbrella of the so-called Council of Albanian Organisations, demanded that the government put a halt to the state funded revamp project for the capital, dubbed “Skopje 2014”, claiming that it stirred ethnic division by promoting values that are close only to the Macedonian majority. The ongoing project envisages the construction of at least 10 new buildings and at least 17 vast monuments depicting heroes and historical moments from Macedonian history. The organisers of the protest insisted that they had no political support for their activities. However, the opposition ethnic Albanian party New Democracy previously supported the march, while the ruling Democratic Union for Integration, DUI said it would not support it. The opposition Democratic Party of Albanians, DPA did not comment on the event.

Balkan Insight

Neo-Nazi Charged With Incitement (Russia)

A former member of Russian National Unity faces "incitement to hooliganism" charges in St.
Petersburg, according to a May 4, 2010 report by the local news agency Rosbalt. The 36 year old man allegedly urged his younger followers to set explosive devices around the city in an effort to terrorize non-Russians. The bombs went off in 2008 and 2009, but did not injure anybody. Police reportedly confiscated extremist literature and video material from the suspect's home.

ucsj

YESHIVA STUDENT MURDERED IN UKRAINE

A Chabad student was murdered two weeks ago in the Ukraine, and his body was cut into ten pieces, according to reports released to the media on Saturday night. Police were reportedly investigating whether the murder was an act of anti-Semitism. Haredi news sources reported that the victim, Aryeh Leib Misinzov, was a 25-year-old student at the Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Kiev. Police found pieces of the Misinzov's body in a suburb of Kiev, sources said, adding that he was kidnapped and murdered by a gang member on Hitler's birthday. The gang leader was reportedly undergoing questioning by Kiev police. On Sunday, haredi news sources reported that Misinzov himself was involved in organized crime. According to Chabad sources, the Ukrainian chief rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Reuvein Asman, was in Israel at the time of the murder, and cut his trip short in order to arrange the release and burial of the body.


jpost

BNP faces legal threat amid new racism claims over redrafted constitution

Nick Griffin could be in in contempt of court for allegedly breaching court order to amend party rules

The British National party faces the prospect of renewed legal action from the government's equalities watchdog over allegations that it has failed to remove potentially racist clauses from its constitution. The court case could potentially see the BNP's leader, Nick Griffin, jailed or fined for contempt of court, or see party assets seized, lawyers believe.
It caps a miserable couple of weeks for the BNP. Griffin came third in the parliamentary vote for Barking, a constituency the BNP had targeted heavily, while his party lost all 12 of its seats on Barking and Dagenham council. That followed a disastrous election campaign in which the BNP website was taken down by its designer, the party's publicity director was arrested on suspicion of threatening to kill Griffin and a London candidate was caught on camera fighting in the street with a group of Asian teenagers.

The BNP constitution was challenged in court last year by the government's Equalities and Human Rights Commission. In March, Judge Paul Collins ruled that even after the BNP lifted a direct ban on non-white members, the revised document was indirectly discriminatory because it required applicants to oppose "any form of integration or assimilation of ... the indigenous British", something the EHRC argued could not be endorsed by those in mixed-race relationships.

The constitution additionally required new members to submit to a two-hour vetting visit at their home by a pair of BNP officials, a clause Collins ruled could be seen as intimidating for non-white applicants. He ordered both offending sections be removed.

Following the ruling, Griffin redrafted the BNP constitution, something the party's rules allow him to do without consulting members. However, copies of the new version – officially known as draft 12.2 – show that both clauses have not been removed but moved and slightly amended. The home interview clause returns in near-identical wording as the "annual visit criteria", without which new members cannot attend meetings or vote on party matters.

"This seems like a slightly hapless attempt to get round the injunction by moving the offending section to a different part of the constitution," said Paul Epstein QC from Cloisters Chambers in London, a specialist in discrimination law. "There seems to be no doubt that what they have done goes against the spirit of Judge Collins's ruling at the very least. They're taking a real risk of being found in contempt of court. This is particularly the case for Griffin, given this role he has in changing the constitution."

The section relating to the "indigenous British" remains in the new constitution, under the heading "Temporary amendment". Gavin Millar QC, a specialist in election and discrimination law from Doughty Street chambers, said this appeared to breach the court decision. "The ruling made it quite clear that the reference to 'indigenous British' was discriminatory and had to be removed but the BNP has included it, saying it is only being temporarily removed pending a successful appeal, at which point it will be reinstated. This is a clear breach," he said.

The home visit clause had been slightly reworded but "it is in substance the same", he said, adding: "The approach they have taken is both a civil and criminal breach of the order and I think in the end, unless the courts or the commission give up, which I don't think they will, the BNP and Griffin will in the end face contempt proceedings and possible imprisonment."

Any EHRC action will have to wait until a government is formed, as until then its activities remain constrained by Cabinet Office guidelines on the behaviour of public bodies during election campaigns. An EHRC spokesman said: "At the time of the court ruling, we said that the commission would monitor the BNP's compliance with the ruling. We are currently looking into this matter."

The EHRC is understood to have written to the BNP outlining its concerns about the new constitution and is awaiting a reply. The BNP did not respond to a request for comment.

The Guardian

Far-right party seeks ACT toehold (Australia)

An extreme right-wing nationalist party is seeking to boost its presence in Canberra as it makes a bid to be registered in time for the federal election.

The party, founded by renegade Labor MP Graeme Campbell and spearheaded by contentious nationalist Jim Saleam, is holding a private meeting in Queanbeyan today.

The party supports restricting foreign ownership, reducing and limiting immigration, strengthening the traditional family and ''abolishing multiculturalism'', according to its website.

Dr Saleam, the party's nominal national spokesman, said public notice of its intent to register with the Australian Electoral Commission was imminent barring an ''absolutely marvellous objection'', and the territory had been identified as another possible foothold.

But he acknowledged the history of nationalist organisations in the territory was ''not a happy one''.

''There's a bit of a sub-culture of nationalistic groups that have operated in the ACT over time, and as a general rule they've never had any particular profile,'' he said.

But he argued there were still Canberrans who would identify with the party's far-right doctrine.

''If Australia First got established in the ACT it would have a definable base, a different social base to other groups in the ACT,'' he said.

''And that would be rather inevitable I suspect.''

ACT Greens Senate candidate Lin Hatfield Dodds said while the party recognised Australia First's right to a political voice, their platform resembled ''the politics of fear''.

''We would fight for the right for those voices to be heard, and then we would have a conversation about the value of some of those voices,'' she said. ''It all sounds to me like the politics of fear. The Greens are actually interested in the politics of hope. Do we want to be a country that is guided by justice and compassion, or ... a country driven by fear?''

The Australia First Party's capital push follows moves to have the party registered for this year's federal election, and similar efforts by the Australian Protectionist Party.
Canberra Times

Philippine gay party on ballot for the first time

A gay political party will be on the ballot Monday for the first time in the Philippines, where eight out of 10 households are Roman Catholics.

The elections will determine whether Ang Ladlad ("Out of the Closet") -- which represents lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender Filipinos (LGBT) -- will get the maximum three seats allowable for a marginalized or underrepresented party in Congress.

"We consider it a milestone in Philippine human rights," said Leila De Lima, head of the Commission on Human Rights in the Philippines. "They are really always victims of discrimination, exclusion and even violence."
The Commission sided with Ang Ladlad when its legal fight to stand for elections reached the Supreme Court.
Leading the five nominees under Ang Ladlad's banner is its national secretary of seven years, Bemz Benedito, who is transgender and also works for Senator Loren Legarda, herself a vice presidential candidate and Ang Ladlad supporter.

"We are running a common platform of equal rights, not special rights," said Benedito.
Topping Ang Ladlad's five-plank agenda is support for the Anti-Discrimination Bill that would criminalize discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill has been filed multiple times in the Philippines Congress to no success.

The four other items on Ang Ladlad's platform are:

• Support for LGBT-related and LGBT-friendly businesses

• Setting up of microfinance projects for poor and disabled LGBT Filipinos

• Setting up centers that could provide legal aid and counseling services for poor and aging LGBT Filipinos

• Support for the repeal of the Anti-Vagrancy law, a tool that Ang Ladlad says has been exploited to extort members of the LGBT community.

Absent is same-sex marriage, which has slowly become legalized in other parts of the world. "We've done surveys -- we're going to lose on this one," said Ang Ladlad founder Danton Remoto, pointing to the predominance of Catholicism. "We're not going to push this. We focus on human rights first."
Also absent from the platform is a gender recognition bill, which would recognize transgender people and allow them to legalize the names they identify with.

On the Commission on Elections' (COMELEC) Web site, Benedito and another Ang Ladlad candidate, Naomi Fontanos, are listed under their male birth names. But Benedito prefers the female "Bemz," as opposed to her birth name, "Bembol Aleeh," and Fontanos -- chair of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) -- is listed as "Tito Paulo."
"That's our struggle," said Benedito. "Even if our members have gone through gender reassignment surgery, they are not allowed to change their names to male or female, [unless] there is a typographical error."

One of the biggest challenges Ang Ladlad faces are the "immoral" and "abnormal" labels that the Commission on Elections and an official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) have used against them.
"My faith is always direct to God, and I believe he's also created us," said Benedito, a Roman Catholic who once studied at an all-boys Catholic school. "It's not up to these priests [to say] what is moral and what is not."
Speaking with CNN by phone on Tuesday, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, Jr. stood by his earlier well-publicized comments against Ang Ladlad's inclusion on the ballot.

"Personally, I'm not in favor of the party, because it's a group that's of abnormal human persons, according to what we accept as the order that the Creator has made for human persons," said Deogracias, who chairs the CBCP's public affairs permanent committee. "Human society -- we have male and female, so whatever is outside is abnormal. As with any other people, they are members of society. We respect them, we can tolerate them, we are compassionate, but we cannot sanction what they are doing."

In a separate phone conversation earlier, CBCP's media office director Pedro Quitorio said the body has not yet issued a formal statement on Ang Ladlad.

As recently as a month ago, the Commission on Elections had denied Ang Ladlad's registration twice in four years -- first for a lack of members and then on moral grounds. In its latter dismissal, the commission cited Ang Ladlad's tolerance for "immorality which offends religious beliefs" and then quoted the Bible, the Koran and then the Law Department's definition of the civil code.

Is Ang Ladlad the world's only gay political party?

In 2007, an Israeli, Hagai Eyad, announced the formation of the Magi, or "Gay Party in Israel," to run for the Knesset after plans for a Jerusalem gay pride party were quashed. The effort did not materialize, and no party ran.

Between 1999 and 2005 the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, founded by Juan Elys [elsewhere spelled "Uys"], existed as a political party in South Africa, according to EISA, a South African-based nonprofit organization which promotes credible elections, human rights and democracy in Africa.

"The denial of Ang Ladlad's registration on purely moral grounds amounts more to a statement of dislike and disapproval of homosexuals, rather than a tool to further any substantial public interest," the court said in its ruling.

The party has had barely a month to campaign. "So, wherever we go, we say, 'Number 89,'" Remoto said, referring to its placement on the long ballot with 186 other "party-list" groups, which together would comprise one-fifth of the House of Representatives.

Ang Ladlad, which estimates 25,000 members, has received an "outpouring of support" from politicians, as well as from nuns and priests who cannot outwardly express it, Remoto said.
"Whether they win or lose, what's important is, they're on the ballot, and people are given the chance to vote for them and other parties," Senator Chiz Escudero said by phone of Ang Ladlad.

Escudero, an independent, rallied the party to endorse presidential candidate Senator Benigno Aquino and vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay. Such a combination is a mixed-ticket, considering Aquino belongs to the Liberal Party, and Binay is on the PDP-Laban ticket as Aquino rival and former President Joseph Estrada's running mate.
Remoto pointed to corruption as the Philippines' main problem and referred to Aquino as the "Mr. Clean of Philippine politics." Binay, the mayor of Makati, has a track record as a human rights lawyer and a gender rights agenda in his platform, Remoto added.

That Ang Ladlad may be the only gay political party in the world hasn't been disputed so far.

Sam Cook, communications and research director, of the New York-based International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, said he was not aware of any other.

The Washington-based Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute, which supports LGBT candidates to all levels of office, said there has not been an equivalent in the United States, where same-sex marriage and military policy toward gays have generated significant debate.

"Well-known openly gay candidates and elected officials in the U.S. have almost always been affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties, with the Democrats fielding far more out candidates than Republicans," Denis Dison, vice president of external affairs, wrote via e-mail.
Public perception of gays in the Philippines has changed in the past 20 years, said Remoto, who teaches at Ateneo de Manila University.

"We made homosexuality a topic everyone can discuss openly," he said.

CNN

Australia burka armed robbery sparks ban debate

An armed robbery allegedly carried out by a man wearing a burka has sparked a row in Australia on whether the full-face Islamic veil should be banned.

Opposition Liberal Sen Cory Bernardi said the robbery showed the burka was "emerging as the preferred disguise of bandits and ne'er-do-wells".
Both PM Kevin Rudd and Liberal leader Tony Abbott dismissed the comments and said they would not support a ban.

The row follows similar debates on the burka in European countries.
Last week, Belgian politicians voted for a ban which would outlaw the full-face veil in public.

Mr Bernardi, senator for South Australia, made his comments after a man was held up at gunpoint in a car park in Sydney on Wednesday and robbed of a bag of cash.
The victim said his attacker had been a man wearing sunglasses and a burka, meaning he could not be identified.
Writing in his blog, Mr Bernardi said the burka was "un-Australian" and should be banned on safety grounds and for the good of society.

"To me, the burka represents the repressive domination of men over women which has no place in our society and compromises some of the most important aspects of human communication," he said.

"It also establishes a different set of rules and societal expectations in our hitherto homogenous society."

'Confronting'
Mr Abbott said party member Mr Bernardi was "entitled to a personal view" but that he did not personally support the idea of a ban.
"I think a lot of Australians find the wearing of the burka quite confronting and I wish it was not widely worn," he told ABC News.
"But the point is we don't have a policy to ban it and we have always respected people's rights in this area."

Mr Rudd has accused the opposition of expressing contradictory views on the issue.
"He [Bernardi] goes out there and says that's what he wants to do. Mr Abbott then says it's not their policy," he told the Seven network.

"They are walking both sides of the street.''
Belgium's lower house of parliament voted unanimously last week for a law banning the public wearing of any clothing that obscures the identity of the wearer.

If passed by the country's senate, the ban would be the first move of its kind in Europe. France is close to introducing a similar ban.

BBC News

Body of Ukrainian Jew missing since Hitler's birthday found in Kiev

Ukrainian authorities over the weekend found the body of a 25-year-old Jewish man was reported missing more than three weeks ago. It is not yet clear whether local authorities are treating the murder as an anti-Semitic incident.
Aryeh-Leib Misenzon's body was found mutilated and dumped in a Kiev neighborhood late Friday night. Chabad officials identified him as the young man who has been missing since April 20, the anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birthday.

Kiev Police believe Mizenson was kidnapped and murdered, and that his assailants mutilated his body soon after.
Local authorities have asked to delay his funeral pending further investigation, but Chabad has demanded that his body be turned over to his family for a proper Jewish burial.

Haaretz

POLICE, PROTESTERS CLASH AT FIRST-EVER LITHUANIAN GAY MARCH

Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters in Lithuania's capital Vilnius on Saturday, as homosexual rights campaigners held their first-ever rally in the Baltic state. Officers moved in to disperse around 2,000 counter demonstrators at the end of the Baltic Pride 2010 march, as they hurled stones, bottles and fire-crackers from behind security barriers and shouted "Down with Homonazis". Nineteen protesters were arrested, police said. Gay rights campaigners had Friday won an appeal against a court decision to ban their parade in this overwhelming Catholic and former communist EU nation of 3.3 million people, where homosexuality is largely taboo. "We've made a decisive step towards greater tolerance," Vytautas Valentinavicius, one of the organisers, told AFP. Around 300 people took part in the march, with a heavy police presence protecting them from the protesters. "I feel like I've taken part in an historic event," said Ieva, a medical student, marching with her partner Monika. "My friends know I'm a lesbian, but not my parents. The pressure of the traditional model is really strong. But they'll see the photos and that we're just ordinary people. I hope that it'll be easier to tell them," she said. Participants marched under a huge rainbow banner -- a global symbol of gay rights -- and carried placards reading "Human Rights Are My Pride" and "Different Families, Same Love". Same-sex relations were decriminalised in Lithuania in 1993 -- two years after the country won independence from the crumbling Soviet Union, which had banned homosexuality. But opposition remains entrenched.


"Homosexuality is not part of our traditional values. It's something imported into our country. They should keep it to themselves and not flaunt it," said mother of three Lina Saluckiene, as protesters prayed earlier outside Vilnius' cathedral. Opinion polls indicate that most Lithuanians consider homosexuality a perversion, and many gays in the Baltic state live a double life. "I have several gay friends who hold senior posts," said Ramune Zvirblyte, an administrator at Vilnius University. "I'm here for them. They didn't dare come here because they were afraid of being recognised. They were scared they'd face prejudice in their professional life," she said. Besides representatives of Lithuania's gay community and local supporters, the rally drew foreign participants including members of the European Parliament and Birgitta Ohlsson, Sweden's European affairs minister. "I'm glad to be here. It's important to support others," said Stiofan McFadden, a campaigner from Scotland. After the hour-and-a-half march near Vilnius city centre, participants were escorted to waiting buses to avoid running into their opponents. Lithuania's gay rights record has regularly been faulted by local and international campaigners, the European Union and global watchdogs such as Amnesty International. In 2007 and 2008, local authorities banned EU-sponsored anti-discrimination events -- Lithuania joined the bloc in 2004 -- and have also repeatedly barred local campaigners from holding public gatherings. The story was nearly similar this year.
On Wednesday, a court suspended Vilnius city hall's approval of the march, after Lithuania's chief prosecutor said he had evidence that hardline anti-gay groups were planning potentially violent protests. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite slammed the ban, saying there was a constitutional right to peaceful assembly and it was up to the authorities to ensure public order. The ban also sparked international criticism. On Friday, Lithuania's top appeals court overturned the ruling, citing the country's obligations under European human rights law.

AFP

GERMANY'S MERKEL URGES FIGHT AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Saturday for fresh efforts to counter anti-semitism and to remember the Holocaust on the 65th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi regime in World War II. "Fighting anti-semitism at the root is a challenge for the whole of society, even if the vast majority of people do not think in an anti-semitic way," she wrote in a long piece in the Suddeutsche Zeitung daily. Merkel vowed that she would "always" fight against anti-semitism even if that led to "insulting letters about being a 'puppet of the Jewish conspiracy' and worse". She encouraged Germans to talk unflinchingly about World War II and the Holocaust, when Nazi Germany masterminded and carried out the murder of six million Jews. "It is essential for the understanding of our identity and of our future to talk about Nazism and the extermination of the Jews," she wrote. Denying that the Holocaust took place is illegal in Germany. The Chancellor is due to attend a Victory Day parade in Moscow's Red Square on Sunday -- though French President Nicolas Sarkozy and reportedly Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi have cancelled due to the European financial crisis.


AFP

BNP wipe out - THANK YOU

It is almost unbelievable. But the stain of far-right politics has been wiped off the face of Barking and Dagenham. Not only was the BNP thoroughly beaten in the general election, the council lost 12 councillors.

This means the number of councillors left on Barking & Dagenham council went from 12 to 0 overnight.

We cannot thank those who made this possible enough. Huge respect goes to Nick Lowles, Matthew Collins, Sam Tarry, Caroline Alabi and all those who have worked so tirelessly organising activists against the BNP in the Borough for many months.

And huge thanks to almost 1,300 people who have volunteered valuable time over the course of the election - in Barking & Dagenham (where we put out 130,000 pieces of literature), and in Stoke-on-Trent - where the BNP were also humiliated.

We have had brilliant support from pensioners, black and Asian voters, white voters, young voters, women and men. On Monday 385 people delivered 55,000 leaflets and even on polling day we had 175 people out knocking up the vote.

We also had huge moral and financial support from hundreds of thousands of people across the country, and fantastic support from the Mirror which kept us all going.

As ever our celebrity supporters have been magnificent, from Billy Bragg, Eddie Izzard and Speech Debelle, to the casts of The Bill, Hollyoaks and Emmerdale, plus too many more to mention.

Thank you one and all - you've done a wonderful thing.

Daily Mirror -  Hope Not Hate

Nick Griffin Claims On Camera That The Man Bob Bailey Attacked Threatened To Kill Him

South African police foil white extremist bomb plot

Arms caches seized and five people arrested amid fears of attack on black townships before World Cup

Police in South Africa say they have foiled a plot by white extremists to bomb black townships ahead of the World Cup.
Five suspects linked to rightwing groups were arrested in police raids that uncovered major caches of explosives, illegal guns and ammunition.
Fears of racial violence flared up last month after the murder of the white supremacist Eugene Terre'Blanche. Some members of his group, the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (Afrikaner Resistance Movement, or AWB), swore revenge, warning warned foreign tourists and footballers to think twice about their safety at next month's tournament.
Nathi Mthethwa, the police minister, said officers had "swept" a number of areas soon after the 11 April expiry of a three-month firearms amnesty.

He said arrests made in the administrative capital, Pretoria, concerned people who were "manufacturing arsenals of destruction". He added: "They were going to test some of their explosives in any black township."

Zweli Mnisi, a spokesman for Mthethwa, said the five arrests had been made in Pretoria and the western town of Worcester and had a "strong linkage to rightwing operations".
He added: "Police, through our intelligence, swooped on large cache of firearms, including explosives, illegal guns, ammunition. At this stage we won't divulge much as it may compromise investigations. We commend our members for the sterling job."

In 2002, the then president, Thabo Mbeki, blamed extremists for 10 bomb blasts that killed a woman and wounded two others. Nine of the bombs exploded in Soweto, a black township near Johannesburg. But, Mthethwa added, threats of a race war had been blown out of proportion, particularly by British tabloid newspapers. "There is no such thing as a race war," he said. "But we're not taking anything for granted.

"Nobody will disrupt the World Cup … They won't do that because we are monitoring everything in the country."
South Africa has around 44,000 police officers dedicated to the month-long event, which is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans from around the world.

Mthethwa insisted: "Our readiness ranges from personnel to state-of the-art equipment, information communication technology and co-operation with the security agencies from the 31 participating countries."

But the national police commissioner admitted today that a possible World Cup visit by the US president, Barack Obama, is causing a major security headache.

"One challenge is the American president, who is coming, not coming; coming, not coming: it is 50-50," General Bheki Cele told parliament's portfolio committee on police.

"Our famous prayer is that the Americans don't make the second round," Cele said, to laughter from MPs and police officials. "We are told that if it goes to the second or third stage, the US president may come. At the moment we have 43 heads of state provisionally confirmed. That 43 will be equal to this one operation."

Anneli Botha, an expert on terrorism at South Africa's Institute for Security Studies, said she did not think white extremists would target the World Cup because they were unlikely to attack foreigners. But Botha said police had to prepare for any possibility.
The Guardian

MET OFFICER SUES FORCE ALLEGING RACIAL DISCRIMINATION (uk)

A black Metropolitan Police officer is suing the force alleging his career was held back due to racial discrimination. Supt Paul Wilson, 51, claims he was sidelined after he highlighted bias in the Met in a 2008 race inquiry report for the Metropolitan Police Authority. Mr Wilson, a former chairman of the Met's Black Police Association, will go to an employment tribunal next week. The Met said it "does not recognise the position Mr Wilson describes" and "will robustly defend the claim". Mr Wilson joined the Met in 1979 and is currently responsible for Safer Neighbourhood Teams in Lambeth.

Lawrence inquiry
He claims he faced bias after he wrote the race inquiry report commissioned by the Metropolitan Police Authority following several high profile race claims against the force. The officer, who will appear before the tribunal in West Croydon, gave evidence at Sir William Macpherson's inquiry following Stephen Lawrence's murder. A Met spokesman said: "Supt Paul Wilson is bringing an employment tribunal claim against the Met citing race discrimination over the handling of his professional development review for the reporting period 2008/09. "The Met does not recognise the position Superintendent Wilson describes and will robustly defend the claim." A spokesman for the Employment Tribunal confirmed that Mr Wilson has lodged a claim of racial discrimination.
BBC News

TWO SONS OF FORMER BISHOP OF ROCHESTER INJURED IN RACIST ATTACK (uk)

Ross Nazir-Ali, 30, and his brother Shammy, 34, suffered minor injuries in the assault outside a kebab shop. The pair did not need medical treatment after the attack in Rochester and the incident is being investigated by Kent Police. Details have been passed to a hate crime unit which will offer support to the brothers and give them updates on the inquiry. No arrests have been made after the incident last Saturday, a police spokesman said. Ross Nazir-Ali told the Sun newspaper: ''We were in a kebab shop in Rochester when about 20 guys came up to the window. ''One guy called me gay, then others shouted racist abuse. When we left the shop, they chased us round a corner. One punched my brother and I in the head. I thought he was going to kill me but they then ran off.'' A police spokesman said: ''Kent Police were contacted on Saturday May 1 at 8.30pm following an assault which took place in Cossack Street, Rochester. ''Two men, aged 30 and 34, suffered minor injuries as a result of the incident and did not require any medical treatment. ''An investigation into the assault is under way and officers have taken details of the incident from the victims. ''Details have also been passed to the Medway Hate Crime Unit who will provide support and reassurance to the victims as well as giving regular updates on the progress of the investigation.''

Pakistani-born Dr Nazir-Ali stepped down as the 106th Bishop of Rochester last year after 15 years in the position. He was the first non-white bishop in the Church of England and during his tenure he courted controversy with some provocative remarks. He received death threats in 2008 for saying in a Sunday newspaper that Islamic extremists were creating ''no-go areas'' for non-Muslims in Britain. He was also quoted as claiming that the Church was not doing enough to convert Muslims to Christianity. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said his decision to step down would create ''a real gap in the ranks of English bishops''.
The Telegraph

Lithuania overturns ban on gay pride parade

Lithuania's first gay pride parade can go ahead as planned on Saturday, an appeals court has ruled.

Earlier this week, a lower court outlawed the parade after the chief prosecutor argued that anti-gay groups could cause violence.
But the appeals court ruled that the state must ensure the right to peaceful assembly.

Correspondents say that homosexuality is seen as taboo by many in Lithuania, a majority Roman Catholic country.
The original ban was criticised by President Dalia Grybauskaite, some European governments, and the international rights watchdog Amnesty International.

Organisers of Saturday's Baltic Pride 2010 march have welcomed the ruling, which is final.

The parade in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, is expected to draw 350 participants and an even larger crowd of opponents, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Some 800 police officers will be on hand to maintain order, and have been instructed to confiscate harmful objects as well as tomatoes and eggs, the Baltic Pride organisers said on their website.

The ruling issued by the top Vilnius appeals court said: "The state has a duty to ensure the right to peaceful assembly, even of people whose opinions are not popular or represent minorities."

Lithuania, an EU member since 2004, has repeatedly been criticised by rights groups for widespread intolerance toward sexual minorities.
BBC News

SLOVAK ROMA OUTRAGED BY FAR-RIGHT POSTER CAMPAIGN

Posters for the SNS show a dark-skinned man with tattoos and a golden necklace, accompanied by the slogan "Do not feed those who do not want to work." The SNS, a government coalition partner of Prime Minister Robert Fico, has been running low in opinion polls before the June 12 vote. SNS leader Jan Slota's campaign was "disgusting," Frantisek Tanko of the Union of Slovak Roma told reporters. "We hear nothing from Mr Slota but 'Roma are dirty and steal'." Up to 10 percent of Slovakia's 5.4 million people are Roma. Most live on the margins of society in squalid settlements with limited access to education, electricity and running water. In many communities, unemployment runs at well over 50 percent. The euro zone member was criticized by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in March for eroding the treatment of Roma. The SNS has frequently criticized both the Roma and the country's half-million-strong Hungarian minority. Slovak media firm euroAWK, a unit of Germany's media group AWK whose ad space was used for the campaign, said it would cover up all 29 of the controversial posters in the region of the capital Bratislava. Other firms continued to place the posters in other regions. The SNS said the billboard referred to all Slovaks exploiting the welfare system. "Those who scream the man on the billboard is Roma, or a Gypsy, are racists. How did you come to the conclusion he's a Gypsy?" party Vice-Chairwoman Anna Belousovova said. Fico, whose leftist SMER party is seen as the election front-runner, said last month that boarding schools were the only way to break a cycle of exclusion in which most Roma grow up without any hope of joining mainstream society.


Reuters

POLLING QUEUES LEAVE HUNDREDS UNABLE TO CAST VOTE (uk)

There were angry scenes around the country tonight after hundreds of voters were unable to vote when polling stations closed at 10pm despite queueing for hours, casting a shadow over the results of the election. Up to 200 would-be voters in Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg's constituency of Sheffield Hallam were left disenfranchised and a number made their way to Clegg's house to protest. The polling stations affected included parts of the London boroughs of Hackney, Peckham, Lewisham, as well as Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle. Police were reportedly called to deal with disturbances in Islington South after voters began demanding the right to vote, while in Lewisham, police attended a polling station after 300 people were still unable to vote by the deadline of 10pm. Some voters in Hackney – where voters had five votes – said they were turned away after queuing for over an hour-and-a-half. A staged sit-in prompted a visit by the police. One angry would-be voter speaking to Sky News outside Clegg's home said: "It was totally frustrating. It's my right to vote. At 6.45 [the queue] was too long to vote. I made the effort. I came back early. It had been totally inadequately manned." Another said he had left work early to vote and arrived just after 9pm but the long "choc-a-bloc" queues meant the polling station closed before he was able to get a ballot paper. The group said that they estimated as many as 150 to 200 people were queuing and were unable to cast their vote by the deadline at 10pm, but were told it would be illegal if polling station staff took any more votes. They claimed people were returning on a "continual basis" because of long queues but returned to find it was still there. "People were coming along seeing the queue and coming back on a continual basis," said one man. He added: "Why didn't they get more people down?"


David Wheeler, who was turned away at Gleadless Valley polling station in Sheffield, said: "There were hundreds of us queuing up in the rain, but they closed the doors at 10 bang on the dot. We tried to argue with them, told them we had the right to vote, but they said they had been open since seven. About 100 of us were turned away." Emma Dickson, the Green parliamentary candidate for Islington North, said queues at a polling station at a primary school had begun to build at 7.15am. "At 7.15 they were already coming through the playground and into the street. There were queues all day and the council didn't put on any extra staff and polling staff didn't seem to be in any hurry. By 10pm everyone was in the school building and at that point there were 36 to 40 people waiting." Dickson said that 1,500 new voters had come into the area after moving into the newly converted flats at the old Arsenal stadium but that only two or three staff were manning the ballot. She said a request was made to the chief executive of the council to take votes but keep them separate in case of a legal dispute but this was refused. But other polling stations were kept open to deal with the backlog. Lewisham reportedly extended the poll by half an hour, while a polling station in Birmingham reportedly called in people queuing and then locked the doors. Apologies were already being issued tonight for the chaos. Angus Walker, returning officer for Sheffield city council had apologised by 11.30pm. He said: "We anticipated increased demand but not this much. We could not issue ballot papers after 10pm in Ranmore. We were not prepared to compromise the election." He added: "We are deeply sorry that it happened." Deputy Labour leader Harriett Harman admitted legal challenges could follow. It is not clear how many voters were unable to vote but reports from various areas suggest numbers well into the hundreds. Andrew Boff, the Conservative mayoral candidate for Hackney said that although around 150 were unable to vote, the number could be twice that after many had given up waiting and after the situation started "getting ugly."

The Guardian

Griffin's future in doubt as BNP campaign implodes

The British National Party (BNP) failed in its efforts to break into the political mainstream when it suffered a  succession of defeats in its key target seats.

The far-right party, led by Nick Griffin, was wiped out in its east London council stronghold of Barking and Dagenham, where its entire complement of 12 councillors lost their seats. In the parliamentary constituency of Barking, Mr Griffin came a poor third. The party had claimed it was on track to win 24 seats on the council, as well as win its first Westminster seat there.

The rout at the hands of the Labour Party, which followed a concerted local campaign by the Hope Not Hate anti-fascist coalition, raised immediate questions about the position of Mr Griffin. In the general election, the extremist group increased its share of the national vote to 1.9 per cent (562,979 votes) but it failed to gain a single MP from 300 candidates. In Stoke South, its other key parliamentary target, its deputy leader, Simon Darby, came in fourth. The party's nationwide tally of 34 councillors also fell – from 34 to 12.

There were calls last night on far-right websites for Mr Griffin to resign after a troubled campaign that started with allegations of a plot by senior members to depose him, and culminated with television footage of one of his most senior lieutenants trading punches with an Asian man in a street brawl.

The BNP leader was pushed into third place in Barking by Margaret Hodge, the tourism minister and Labour incumbent, who doubled her majority to more than 16,000 votes. She told Mr Griffin to "pack your bags and go". The 65-year-old added: "The message of Barking to the BNP is clear: get out and stay out. You are not wanted here and your vile politics have no place in British democracy."

Mr Griffin, however, vowed not to resign, saying: "I would say this to the people of Britain: it is going to be too late for Barking but it is not too late for Britain. Get rid of your masters before they get rid of us."

Labour took control of all 51 seats on Barking and Dagenham council, one of London's most impoverished boroughs, completing a strong performance for the party in the English council elections as it rebuilt its town-hall presence. In 2008, Labour suffered its worst municipal result, coming third behind the Liberal Democrats with a net loss of 331 seats.
In this year's council elections, with 125 out of 164 council polls declared, it had seized back control of eight councils – including Liverpool, St Helens and Doncaster – and won an extra 249 councillors.

The Conservatives lost eight councils and 78 councillors, but overall remained the largest party in local government, with 55 councils to Labour's 25. The Liberal Democrats completed their disappointing election performance with a net loss of two councils, including its flagship local authority Liverpool to Labour for the first time since 1998. Nick Clegg's party, which also lost Sheffield to no overall control, lost 62 councillors. However, the narrowness of the margins of victory in council wards – where seats can often be decided on a difference of a few dozen votes – means that legal challenges are likely over the polling-stations queues that prevented some from voting on Thursday night

The Independant

BNP CANDIDATE SAYS NEO-NAZI INSIGNIA ON FACEBOOK WAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM (uk)

A BNP election candidate claims a hoaxer is behind neo-Nazi insignia festooned on a Facebook page set up under his name. An anti-BNP group claimed Colin Marsh’s Facebook page contained SS and neo-Nazi group Combat 18 insignia. Party leader Nick Griffin called for his candidate to be thrown out of the far-right group in an appearance on Jeremy Vine’s BBC Radio 2 show. “It’s totally ridiculous and all made up,” said Mr Marsh, who is standing in the Weaver Vale constituency, which contains large parts of Runcorn. The former Royal Navy sailor added: “It’s sickening, I’ve never seen anything like that before. It definitely wasn’t me. “Somebody has gone into Facebook and done it. The BNP have looked into it and they are quite satisfied that it wasn’t me. “I ended up going into hospital over the weekend because of this. “I suffer from angina and can’t have major shocks.” The Facebook account, called Col Marsh Eastcheshirebnp, was taken down hours after the story broke in The Sun. “Nick Griffin was right to say what he did, he’s bound on saying that and that’s what he should have said,” added Mr Marsh, who has no plans to stand down over the controversy. “It’s too late to back down so I would have to sit anyway. “There’s a lot of people saying stick with it, I’ve had a lot of support from the electorate in Weaver Vale. “It’s something I would be so proud of if I was chosen to represent them.” Maurice Cousins, deputy editor for Nothing British About the BNP, an anti-BNP campaign group, said: “Colin Marsh is a vile neo-Nazi sympathiser with values inimical to Britain’s liberal democratic way of life. “Despite Nick Griffin’s claims to have axed neo-Nazis from the party, Colin Marsh shows you the true face of the BNP it doesn’t want you to see.”


Runcorn and Widnesweekly news

FAR-RIGHT PARTY HEAD: PROTECTIVE CORPS MAY BE REESTABLISHED (Czech Rep.)

The leader of the abolished far-right Workers' Party (DS) Tomas Vandas will renew the activities of the DS protective corps by May 7 unless the Czech Interior Ministry takes steps towards the dissolution of the guards of the centrist Public Affairs (VV) party, he told CTK Tuesday. The Public Affairs allegedly formed guards that monitor the situation in dangerous locations in Prague. The guards have no special powers but were created within the election campaign. The VV guards, formed after the example of the Workers' Party units, decided to replace the police, Vandas said. He said the Workers' Party was dissolved in February for the same reason and its candidates now run in the elections for the Workers' Party of Social Justice (DSSS). The Constitutional Court ruled that the DS spreads fears of foreigners, creates feelings of danger and that its programme promotes xenophobia, chauvinism and includes racist allusions. Vandas claimed that political competition in the Czech Republic is unjust. He said the DS protective corps will be prepared to monitor the situation in Krupka, north Bohemia, on May 7 where two DSSS election candidates were brutally attacked on Sunday. Vandas recalled that the court's verdict against the Workers' Party has not yet taken effect. The guarding units of the Public Affairs operating in the first and fifth Prague districts were today criticised by Interior Deputy Minister Lenka Ptackova Melicharova (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) and by the Green Party.


Prague Monitor

Dudley Muslim Association brands English Defence League as liars and bigots

THE leader of Dudley Muslim Association has accused the English Defence League of provoking religious hatred over his group’s plans for a new mosque in the town.

Chairman Dr Khurshid Ahmed said far-right protesters, who staged a mock call-to-prayer in a rooftop protest on Monday, had been “un-English” in their lack of respect for the law.
He said: “This was not a protest – this was wilful incitement to religious hatred by playing that loud call-to-prayer.
“The people of Dudley have nine mosques and have never experienced a call as loud as that – or anywhere in Britain.

“Our call to prayer can only be heard within the parameters of the mosque.”

Dr Ahmed said the truth had been distorted for political ends over the planned mosque in Hall Street, which Dudley Council challenged unsuccessfully in the High Court.
And he said misinformation had been spread about the cost and scale of the project, which he claimed had been wrongly dubbed a “super-mosque”.

The Association said it had always been open in speaking to Dudley Council officials about possible alternative sites, and admitted the authority had brought a new proposal to the table.

But the plan for the new mosque has not yet been formally scrapped, the Association confirmed.

It is understood the council is suggesting an expansion to the current mosque in Castle Hill.

Black Country News

Ku Klux Klan leader guilty of murder (USA)

A Ku Klux Klan leader has pleaded guilty to murdering a woman recruit, a day after an initiation rite in the US state of Louisiana in 2008.

Raymond Foster, 45, of the Louisiana town of Bogalusa, was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder of Cynthia Lynch.

A former KKK member testified that Foster shot Ms Lynch, 43, after she told him: "I want out", AP reports.

Foster apologised to the victim's mother, and his own family, in court.

"I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me," he said.

Ms Lynch was shot dead in November 2008 a day after initiation rites in rural Tammany Parish, about 50 miles (80km) north of New Orleans.

Photographs taken by a witness at the intitiation ceremony show the group in white Klan outfits.

In one photo, Foster uses a sword to "knight" Ms Lynch; in another, they are shown embracing.

Disabilities
The victim's mother, Victoria Lynch, said outside the court that she forgave the killer.

"I feel sorry for both him and the entire family. It's something that never should have happened to a child like Cynthia.

"I'm relieved because Cynthia has got her justice and maybe now she can rest in peace."

Mrs Lynch said her daughter was born with a number of disabilities and had no formal education or holding a job, Louisiana's WWLTV reported.

The trial was stopped shortly after the first witness took the stand so Foster could make his plea.

BBC News

Baptist minister George Rekers denies rent boy claim (USA)

A US Baptist minister and leading anti-gay campaigner has defended himself against allegations that he holidayed in Europe with a male prostitute.

George Rekers was photographed at Miami international airport last month with a young man whom he allegedly met through a gay website called Rentboy.com.

Mr Rekers said he hired the man as a travel assistant and "was not involved in any illegal or sexual behaviour".
He said he only realised the man's profession once the trip had begun.

The photograph, published by the Miami New Times, shows the pair arriving back in Miami from a 10-day trip to London and Madrid, with Mr Rekers pushing their suitcases on a trolley.

'Nothing inappropriate'
In a statement on his website, Mr Rekers called the report "slanderous", saying he required an assistant to lift his luggage because of an ongoing condition following surgery.

"There was nothing inappropriate with this relationship," he wrote on his blog, ProfessorGeorge.com.

Mr Rekers also apparently replied to a Facebook message from the blog Joe.My.God.

He wrote: "If you talk with my travel assistant... you will find I spent a great deal of time sharing scientific information on the desirability of abandoning homosexual intercourse, and I shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him in great detail."

Mr Rekers sits on the board of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (Narth), an organisation dedicated to changing the sexuality of gay people.

A statement released by the group said it was taking the accusations seriously, but that it would not allow "personal controversies" to detract from their work of "assisting individuals dealing with unwanted homosexual attractions".
"We are always saddened when this type of controversy impacts the lives of individuals, and we urge all parties to allow a respectful and thorough investigation to take place," the statement added.

Mr Rekers has testified as an expert in favour of a gay adoption ban in Florida. His published works include Growing up Straight: What Families Should Know about Homosexuality

BBC News

BNP vote increases, but fails to win seat

After nearly 600 results, the BNP has increased its share of the General Election vote but failed to win a seat.

The party increased its share of the overall vote by 1.83% to 514,819, but despite fielding more than 300 candidates, has failed to return an MP.
In Barking, east London, a key battle ground for the BNP, the party's leader Nick Griffin slumped to third place.
He said his party was "resilient". Mr Griffin was told to "pack your bags and go" by Labour's Margaret Hodge.
Labour MP Ms Hodge held the mainly white constituency of Barking, taking 24,628 votes - more than 16,000 more than any other candidate.

'Stay out'
She said the message from Barking to the BNP was clear: "Get out and stay out."
She added: "This is really a great moment in our history, a never-to-be forgotten moment for both the good and decent people of Barking and Dagenham."

Mr Griffin was heckled throughout his speech with chants of "Off, off, off" and "Rubbish".

But, raising his voice over the jeers, he said: "I would say this to the people of Britain: it is going to be too late for Barking, but it is not too late for Britain.

"Get rid of our masters before they get rid of us."


In an e-mail to supporters he wrote: "This election, regardless of the results, is the watershed for this party.

"Our growth and resilience is truly inspiring.

"The BNP has arrived and will be knocking on the doors of power sooner than some ever imagined!"

Weyman Bennett, the joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism (UAF), said: "The BNP's vote has been paltry. This just shows that the party's increased exposure has exposed them for what they are.

"The BNP fielded more candidates than ever and yet the party has gone backwards."

The result comes after a year of increased national exposure due to Mr Griffin and colleague Andrew Brons being elected to serve as MEPs, and the leader's appearance on BBC's Question Time.

BBC News

BNP hopes of a breakthrough dashed as party defeated in target seats

Nick Griffin failed dramatically in his bid to gain a Westminster seat this morning when he suffered a resounding defeat in the British National Party’s east London stronghold.

Margaret Hodge, the Labour incumbent, won by a majority of more than 16,000 to deflect the BNP leader’s challenge in what she labelled the most important moral fight of her life.
In a humiliating defeat, Mr Griffin was relegated to third place in Barking, trailing behind Conservative candidate Simon Marcus. The BNP’s share of the vote dropped by two per cent, the result of an extensive campaign to mobilise voters against the threat of the far right.

Ms Hodge, the Culture Minister, achieved a seven per cent swing, winning more than 24,000 votes and 55 per cent of the vote.
She said: “The message of Barking to the BNP is clear: get out and stay out. You are not wanted here and your vile politics have no place in British democracy. Pack your bags and go.”

She said voters had chosen democratic politics built on fairness over “a fascist politics built on division, prejudice and hatred”.

“We have not just beaten but we have smashed the attempts of extremists.”

The BNP had considered Barking a stronghold after exploiting local concerns about immigration and housing to win twelve seats in the local council in 2006.

However, following a disastrous election campaign, Mr Griffin received 6,620 votes – one third as many as Ms Hodge.
There were indications of a national collapse in the BNP vote after it failed to make headway in its other target seat, Stoke Central. It also looked likely to lose seats on the Barking and Dagenham Council, despite beginning the campaign with hopes of gaining a majority.

Mr Griffin blamed high voter turnout for his defeat and said that it was the “last chance for Barking”.

His voice drowned out by booing, he said: “This was the last of London. Within the next five years the indigenous people of London will be a minority in our own capital city. This is a wake up call, not just for London. This is a wake up call for the whole of Britain.”

Mr Griffin said he would not resign, despite the crushing defeat, however elements in his party are certain to demand answers about the disastrous performance.
There was a heavy police presence at the count in Goresbrook Leisure Centre, in Dagenham, as large numbers of BNP supporters turned out to support their leader.

The BNP’s campaign has been was plagued with trouble and infighting. In the first week, Mr Griffin faced an alleged plot by BNP officials to overthrow him. He also told police that a colleague had threatened to kill him after an investigation into the political “conspiracy”.

On Tuesday, the head of the party’s online operation resigned and took the website down with him. Simon Bennett, 41, directed BNP traffic to his personal site, which contained a lengthy diatribe against Mr Griffin and other senior figures.
The next day Robert Bailey, the party’s London organiser and Romford candidate, was videoed assaulting an Asian youth who had spat on him.

UKIP candidate Frank Maloney said he would make a complaint about Ms Hodge to the Electoral Commission, claiming she had spoken to voters inside polling booths.

At the same venue, incumbent Labour MP Jon Cruddas faced an anxious wait with a close run poll with his Tory opponent. However Mr Cruddas, widely tipped as a leadership contender, won his seat in Dagenham with a majority of 2,000 votes.

Times Online

Nick Griffin concedes defeat as BNP fails to take Barking from Labour

British National Party leader Nick Griffin last night conceded defeat in his high profile bid to win a Parliamentary seat in east London, some two hours ahead of the count being complete.

He was taking on Labour minister Margaret Hodge in Barking, where his far-right party has 12 councillors, and had devoted much of his organisation's resources to winning votes from white working class Labour supporters worried by a surge in immigration.

Interviewed at 2am however, Griffin - who has a seat in the European Parliament - said: 'I'm being realistic. Margaret Hodge is clearly going to hold the seat.'
He went on: 'The real prize is the council. Had we had a normal turnout I'm quite confident we'd have taken the council.'

Votes for Barking and Dagenham borough council are due to be counted later today.

Bizarrely, Griffin suggested that Labour were going to win unfairly purely because they had managed to encourage a high turnout in Barking, which he said disadvantaged the BNP.

Responding to BBC TV footage from Wednesday which showed a BNP campaigner fighting in the streets of Barking with Asian youths after one spat at him, Griffin claimed the mainstream parties had encouraged attacks on his supporters.
The BNP leader famously once called for the cause of nationalism to be advanced with the aid of 'well-directed boots and fists'.

But she conceded that the surge of immigration into the borough - which she suggested resulted from half of local council houses being sold under right-to-buy, and many then being rented out to other councils to house homeless immigrants - had led to concerns.

Unemployment, largely resulting from the local Ford factory reducing staffing from 40,000 to 4,000 in recent decades, had also worried residents, she said.

Mrs Hodge said: 'My wake up call came in 2006 when the BNP succeeded in getting seats on the council, and I realised then that I had to change what I was doing, and the Labour Party locally had to change.

'Local people here have real needs and real concerns about the pace of change with immigration.

'You can either take those issues and exploit them for evil purposes, which is what the extreme right is trying to do, or respond to legitimate needs and fears in a positive way, and build a strong community for everybody, whatever their background.'
Mrs Hodge remained anxious however to defeat the BNP strongly. In 2005 the BNP only narrowly missed out on coming second, with the Tories beating them into third place by just 27 votes - and Mr Griffin remained hopeful he would come second last night.
Daily Mail

PENALTIES AGAINST FC DYNAMA MINSK OVER NEO-NAZI BANNER DECISIDED ON MAY 6 (Belarus)

The Disciplinary Committee of the Belarusian Football Federation (BFF) has postponed its decision until May 6 on penalties against FC Dynama Minsk over the display of a large neo-Nazi banner by fans during a recent home game, BelaPAN reports. At a May 3 meeting, the Disciplinary Committee decided to "request additional information," said the BFF press office. Standing among Dynama Minsk fans, a group of more than a dozen men held the banner for much of the club’s April 28 game against Vitsyebsk FC at Dynama Stadium in downtown Minsk. The banner bore the image of Rudolf Hess, historically known as “Adolf Hitler’s deputy in the Nazi Party” and widely venerated by neo-Nazis. The banner said, “Your Life For Us. 04.26.1894 – 08.17.1987. This Is An Example Of Faithfulness.” If the incident is found to meet the definition of an administrative offense or a criminal offense, the perpetrators may be barred from the stadium until the end of the season, which has recently begun, and the club may be fined up to 10,000 times the Base Rate, or 350 million rubels ($118,000).


naviny

Ku Klux Klan leader guilty of murder (USA)

A Ku Klux Klan leader has pleaded guilty to murdering a woman recruit, a day after an initiation rite in the US state of Louisiana in 2008.

Raymond Foster, 45, of the Louisiana town of Bogalusa, was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder of Cynthia Lynch.

A former KKK member testified that Foster shot Ms Lynch, 43, after she told him: "I want out", AP reports.

Foster apologised to the victim's mother in court.

"I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me," he was quoted as saying by AP.

BBC News

D-Day in the UK as Britain again faces the Nazi threat

Decision day once again in the United Kingdoms as the General Election has arrived and you can guarantee that many a goose-stepping BNP supporter will be watching it in anticipation, as this could herald the beginning of the Fourth Reich. (not likely)

But who knows what will be going through their minds, will it be visions of a British SS, or the emptying of whole ethnic communities mirroring the emptying of the ghettos in Der Fatherland.

Or could it be a version of a perfect country that only ever existed in the Ealing Studio movies of the 1930’s and never existed in reality.

Personally I tend to think that most of them have no ability to imagine what it could be like and the ones that do they are going envision it in one colour, White.

So I thought I would post a video to all these people who are going to vote for Herr Griffin and the BNP.

WAKE UP !
DON’T VOTE BNP!

Asian men and BNP candidate Bob Bailey clash in Barking

A fight broke out between a British National Party parliamentary candidate and some Asian men as party members were out campaigning in east London.

Some men earlier swore at leader Nick Griffin and threw fruit at him and he was taken away from the scene.



The candidate for Romford, Bob Bailey, was filmed shouting out to men in Ripple Road when one of them swore and spat at him and Mr Bailey punched him.
Police were called after 1500 BST to the fight between the two groups.

'Campaign of hatred'
At the time Metropolitan Police said they were called to the incident but no-one had been arrested at the scene.
Later however, police said an 18-year-old man attended Barking police station and alleged common assault against another man.

The Barking Community Safety Unit is to look into the matter.

When asked about the fight Mr Griffin told BBC London the fight was the result of a "campaign of hatred and dehumanisation against any group of people, in this case us".

He said: "I think people have to realise that the people have spoken, this is a democratic vote and everyone has to go along with that, whether its us, our opponents or people on the streets, and if there are a few crazies or thugs on the streets I'm sure the police will deal with them quite quickly.

"The more people in the media talk this up as an issue, the more silly kids on the streets will be inclined to take the law into their hands."
Candidates for Romford are: Independent: Philip Hyde; Conservative: Andrew Rosindell; Independent: David Sturman; English Democrats: Peter Thorogood; Labour: Rachel Voller; British National Party: Robert Bailey; UK Independence Party: Gerard Batten; Liberal Democrat: Helen Duffett; Green: Gary Haines.

BBC News