Bulgarian far right demonstrates outside Muslims’ trial
Volen Siderov, leader of the fascist party Ataka, addresses supporters in Pazardzhik
Hundreds of nationalists rallied in a southern Bulgarian town on Monday in support of the prosecution of 13 religious leaders accused of spreading radical Islam in a case causing communal strains in the Balkan country.
Freudian slip at the Daily Mail
This is the headline to an article in the Daily Mail reporting claims that Israel has destroyed a Sudanese weapons factory in a bombing raid. The article itself suggests that “the raid acted as a ‘dry run’ for a forthcoming strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities”. The subeditor’s substitution of “Islam” for “Iran” in the headline tells us a lot about the general mindset at the Mail.
Australian soldiers receive ‘formal reprimands’ over violent, racist Facebook posts about Muslims
Defence has reprimanded two military personnel and counselled 13 others over violent and racist comments posted on Facebook in the wake of last month’s Islamic protests in Sydney.
The action, which has been welcomed by the Islamic Council of NSW, comes a month after a group of Australian soldiers from Townsville-based 3rd Brigade were caught joking on Facebook about using sniper rifles and machine guns on Muslim men who protested in Sydney on September 15.
Walthamstow: Anti-EDL campaigners defy march ban
Campaigners against the far-right English Defence League (EDL) defied a protest ban by marching through Walthamstow after scuffles with police this afternoon.
Officers struggled to contain a crowd of several hundred who broke away from a legal static protest outside the former EMD cinema in Hoe Street at around 1.30pm. Protesters pushed through a cordon and marched several hundred metres down to the junction with Selborne Road, where police reinforcements eventually stopped them.
Protestors outnumber attendees at Wilders lecture in Malmö
Anti-racists demonstrate against Wilders in Malmö
While protesters outnumbered those attending a speech by controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders in Malmö in southern Sweden on Saturday, the event passed off without incident.
“Our intelligence told us that we should be prepared for trouble,” a Malmö police officer told The Local. But at the end of the event a colleague assured The Local that the day “had passed without incident with just minor disturbances”.
The frequent critic of Islam was a guest of the anti-Islam Swedish “Freedom of the Press Society” (Tryckfrihetssällskapet) and addressed an audience of approximately 100 people at a venue in Malmö’s western harbour. Outside a crowd of around 300 gathered to protest at the presence of the leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom.
EDL supporter gets suspended sentence for encouraging people to petrol bomb takeaway
A former hospital worker involved with a far-right political group used Facebook to encourage people to petrol bomb an Indian takeaway at the centre of a major child abuse probe.
Carlisle Crown Court heard how Alan Clarke’s reckless comments on the social networking site led to him being sacked by bosses at the city’s Cumberland Infirmary.
He admitted using Facebook to collude with others in a way that could have encouraged people to commit criminal damage – namely by attacking the Spice of India takeaway in Botchergate, Carlisle.
Nazi graffiti at Thiers mosque
La Montagne reports that on Wednesday night three swastikas were painted on a disused building situated in the parking lot of the mosque at Thiers in central France. The graffiti was discovered by members of the Thiers Franco-Turkish association on Thursday morning shortly before Eid prayers. A complaint has been lodged with the police.
Drunken thug fined for abusing police at Sunderland anti-mosque protest
A man arrested in connection with an EDL protest against a newly-approved mosque has been fined after he admitted swearing at riot police.
Gary Donaldson, 32, had been drinking at the Chesters Pub in Chester Road in Sunderland, when he was confronted by officers with video cameras.
Sunderland Magistrates’ Court heard how Donaldson screamed expletives into the camera and became aggressive towards the officer holding the device. He was one of 13 people arrested during the protest on October 6, 2012.
EDL leader set to spend Xmas in jail
The leader of the far-right English Defence League is set to spend Christmas in prison after a judge rejected an application for bail. Stephen Lennon, 29, who also uses the name Tommy Robinson, was arrested at Heathrow Airport on October 20 on suspicion of possessing a false passport. He tried to use a passport in the name of “Andrew McMaster” to enter the United States on September 10 this year, Southwark Crown Court heard.