Category Archives: UK

Babar Ahmad’s family speak out over extradition ‘double standards’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The family of Babar Ahmad have spoken out following the Government’s decision to block the extradition of Gary McKinnon on human rights grounds.

Mr McKinnon, 46, who suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, was facing extradition and a lengthy jail sentence after he admitted “hacking” into US government computers but claimed he was looking for evidence of UFOs.

Home Secretary Theresa May today blocked the move citing McKinnon’s illness as the primary reason for not sending him to the United States.

Last week Tooting residents Babar Ahmad and Syed Talha Ahsan, who also suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, were extradited to the US on terror charges despite being detained without trial for more than five years.

But the family of Mr Ahmad, reacting to today’s news, accused the Government of “double standards” and “old-fashioned racism”.

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Rotherham residents stay clear of town centre for fear of EDL

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL Rotherham (4)Residents revealed they were too frightened to go into Rotherham town centre when hundreds of marchers took to the streets.

The town came to a standstill as around 300 English Defence League supporters from across the country descended on the town on Saturday.

They were heavily marshalled by police on foot and horseback as they marched through the streets chanting anti-Islam songs.

Around 200 people also took part in a peaceful Unite Against Fascism rally and march – staged to celebrate multiculturalism – in the town centre.

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Norwich churches speak out against EDL march

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Leaders of all the main Christian denominations in Norwich have spoken out against a march by the English Defence League in Norwich organized because a city church has been barred by Norwich City Council for anti-Islam material. Church leaders from the Church of England, Roman Catholic, Methodist and Baptist churches, Salvation Army, United Reformed Church and the Quakers have united to issue a joint statement against the march.

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Muslims protest against hate speech on YouTube

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Google HQ protest

Up to 3,500 people have protested outside the headquarters of Google in central London over an anti-Islam film. Buckingham Palace Road in Victoria was closed for three hours by the demonstration.

The protesters called for the trailer for the US-made film, Innocence of Muslims, to be removed from YouTube, which is owned by Google. Google has said the video is “clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube”.

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Woman gets community order for ‘vile’, unprintable Facebook messages about Azhar Ahmed

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Amy WilbyA girl who posted offensive comments in response to a man’s Facebook rant about dead soldiers, has been sentenced by a court and told she can’t hide behind the “virtual world” of the internet.

Amy Wilby, 20, admitting posting grossly offensive messages on the social networking site, when she appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court in Huddersfield. Her comments were made in response to Azhar Ahmed’s rant that “all soldiers should die and go to hell”, made two days after the deaths of six British soldiers in Afghanistan.

Wilby’s comments are too extreme to print in full in a family newspaper. But they saw her slapped with a community order after District Judge Marie Mallon told her that she could not hide behind a “virtual world” when airing her views.

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Mehdi Hasan takes on David Aaronovitch over ‘Innocence of Muslims’ and Charlie Hebdo cartoons

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mehdi_HasanMehdi Hasan, political director of The Huffington Post UK, called for a crackdown on the culture of Islamophobia and argued freedom of speech was not an “absolute right” during a debate on Thursday.

Speaking opposite Times columnist David Aaronovitch at a HuffPost/Polis debate, on the right to offend, Mr Hasan argued free speech was being “fetishized” and claimed many free-speech campaigners in the west were guilty of “brazen hypocrisy. ”

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UEA’s Islamic Centre to remain open

Posted on by Bob Pitt

UEA Islamic CentreControversial plans to close the Islamic Centre at the UEA have been put on hold, and plans have been lodged to renew temporary permission for it to remain on campus until 2014.

The university planned to shut the centre and adapt the existing multi-faith chaplaincy building to meet the needs of its Muslim students. But following protests by students, the university has decided to keep the centre open. The building is used for Friday prayers by Islamic students at the UEA, plus members of the local community.

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