Man charged in connection with Thurnby Lodge pig’s head incident

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A 23-year-old man has been charged in connection with an incident where a pig’s head was left at a community centre being used as a Muslim place of worship.

The man was arrested at around 9:15pm yesterday (Friday December 28) and has tonight been charged with religiously/racially aggravated harrasment, alarm or distress under section 4 of the Crime and Disorder Act. He will appear in court in the New Year.

Three people, a woman age 40-years-old and two men aged 37 and 46, arrested earlier in the day on Friday remain on police bail pending further investigations.

The incident happened on Boxing Day at around 7.30am in the morning at the Community Centre on Thurncourt Road in Thurnby Lodge.

Officers would like to thank members of the community for their assistance in this investigation.

Leicester Police news report, 29 December 2012

Posted in UK

George Galloway condemns council’s rejection of Newham ‘mega mosque’ plan

Posted on by Bob Pitt

George Galloway at Newham Respect meetingGeorge Galloway took to the stage last night to re-launch his Respect party in Newham and try to force a local election after the council rejected plans for a so-called mega mosque.

Mr Galloway vowed to put a petition up on the Downing Street website, as soon as parliament resumes after its Christmas break, demanding Newham Council changes its decision on the mosque or changes its leadership.

Mr Galloway, a former MP for Bethnal Green and Bow and now the MP for Bradford West, said he believed Newham is ready for a political revival after Newham councillors voted down a planning application for a mosque holding more than 9,000 people in Canning Town, run by followers of the controversial Tablighi Jamaat movement.

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Qaradawi makes fervent plea for unity in Egypt

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EGYPT SYRIA PROTESTProminent Islamic cleric Dr Yousuf Al Qaradawi has urged Egyptian Christians to remain united and help build a new Egypt.

Delivering the Friday sermon at Al Azhar University Mosque in Cairo yesterday, he called on all Egyptians, Muslims and non-Muslims, rival political factions, the ruling elite as well as the opposition, to unite in the interest of their nation and to realise the goals of the January 25 revolution.

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Three arrested in Thurnby Lodge religious incident investigation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Police have arrested three people in connection with an investigation into a religiously motivated incident, which happened in Thurnby Lodge on Boxing Day, Wednesday December 26.

Officers were called at approximately 7.30am on Boxing Day, after a pig’s head was found outside a door leading into the Community Centre, in Thurncourt Road.

The centre was being used by a local Muslim group the day the head was left.

Three people, a woman age 40-years-old and two men aged 37 and 46, were arrested in connection with the incident today, Friday December 28, and are currently in police custody.

Leicester Police news report, 28 December 2012

See also Daily Mirror, 28 December 2012

Posted in UK

Arsonist faces 20 years in prison for attack on Toledo Islamic centre – but this doesn’t address wider problem of anti-Muslim hatred

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Randy LinnRandolph Linn is behind bars after pleading guilty to federal arson and related crimes committed at the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, but local Muslim leaders are concerned there may be more people like him out there.

Linn, a 52-year-old truck driver and ex-Marine from St. Joe, Ind., was initially charged with one count each of intentionally damaging religious property and using fire or explosives in commission of a felony for the Sept. 30 arson attack. A third charge, of using a firearm to commit a crime of violence, was added by a grand jury Dec. 18.

He pleaded guilty to all three counts in U.S. District Court in Toledo on Dec. 19 as part of a binding agreement and could be sentenced to 20 years in prison in April. He will also be required to pay a $250,000 fine and restitution that may exceed $1 million.

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‘We are not some slaves who can be passed around from one owner to another’ – Mahdi Hashi’s father speaks out

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Mahdi HashiThe family of a former Haverstock School pupil say they are shocked and relieved after the FBI revealed he had been captured in Somalia and charged with serious terrorism offences in New York.

The New Journal reported last month on serious concerns for the welfare of Mahdi Hashi who had not been seen or heard from since the summer. It was feared that the 23-year-old, who grew up in Camden and lived in Gilbeys Yard, Chalk Farm, was being held captive in an African prison camp.

It followed a controversial decision by Home Secretary Theresa May to revoke his citizenship over alleged links to “Islamic extremism”.

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Athens – the only EU capital city without a mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt
Golden Dawn anti-Mosque poster

Golden Dawn poster

Mark Lowen has an interesting piece at BBC News on the struggle by the Muslim population of Athens to build the first mosque in the city.

As things stand, Muslims are forced to pray in cramped underground prayer rooms, in breach of the law and facing the threat of attacks by the anti-migrant fascist party Golden Dawn.

“It is a very big tragedy for us Muslims that there is no mosque here,” Syed Mohammad Jamil of the Pakistan-Hellenic Society is quoted as saying. “Greece produced democracy and civilisation and the respect of religion – but they don’t respect our Muslims to provide us with a regular, legal mosque.”

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