Former Postman Spared Jail Over Terror-Related Online Videos

A former postman who set up YouTube channels of speeches given by an extremist Islamist preacher and who sent a letter to one of the killers of murdered soldier Lee Rigby has been spared jail.

Sajid Idris, from Cardiff, was described as a “devotee” of firebrand cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed, known as OBM, who ran the radical group Al-Muhajiroun and who is banned from the UK.

Idris, a 36-year-old father from Splott in the Welsh capital, had been due to go on trial on Monday, but changed his plea.

He admitted uploading speeches by OBM to four different YouTube channels.

He was sentenced to 21 months, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to four charges of distributing a terrorist publication, contrary to the Terrorism Act 2006.

The charges were dated between November 1, 2013 and December 4, 2014.

A search of Idris’ address in 2014, at that time in Grangetown, uncovered a special delivery letter sent to Michael Adebolajo, one of the killers of Fusilier Rigby who was murdered near Woolwich Barracks in south-east London in May 2013.

Officers also discovered old business cards for radical preacher Anjem Choudary, and, in the attic, a banner saying “Sharia 4 Europe”.

The YouTube videos, which were mainly audio-only recordings, discussed things such as the establishment of an Islamic caliphate, and told listeners they should oppose democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

His Honour Judge Paul Dodgson said: “There is no doubt when one looks at the contents of these four channels, represented by the four counts, that you and those like you were at that time inciting others within our country to perform acts of violence for terrorist purposes.

“You lived in our society and yet it was a society which you were encouraging others to fight and obliterate.”

A bearded and shaven-headed Idris appeared to quietly mutter to himself as the sentence was passed at Kingston Crown Court.

But the judge said the fact the YouTube videos did not have accompanying graphic images, and that they were set in the context of the publication of religious beliefs, meant the offending was “at the lower end” of the range.

He said: “These were not videos designed solely to recruit terrorists, but rather were speeches encouraging the listener to follow a religion, a consequence of that being perhaps the need to fight and engage in violence.”

He added that a series of factors, including Idris’ lack of previous convictions, his guilty plea, and that his bail was cancelled in 2015 after his initial arrest all went some way to reducing his sentence.

He said: “I cannot be satisfied that you pose a present danger to the public.”

He added that in this case there is “a realistic prospect of rehabilitation” and acknowledged the negative effect a jail term could have on Idris’ young daughter and the tragedy the family had experienced following the death of their 11-month-old son.

A charge against Idris’ wife Sadia Malik, 38, of distributing a terrorist publication was dropped.

Detective Superintendent Jim Hall, from Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit, which, alongside Counter Terrorism Police North East, arrested Idris in 2017, appealed to people to continue to be vigilant and report anything they were concerned about when it came to suspected terrorism.

He said: “Nobody is better placed to detect something that is out of place in their communities than the people living in them. To effectively combat the terrorism threat, the police, businesses, Government and the general public need to work together.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Martin Snowden, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, said: “Those operating online should know that they are not anonymous and can expect to be prosecuted if they are involved in this type of activity.

“Tackling extremist material is an essential part of protecting the public and preventing offences that may incite or encourage acts of terrorism.”

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Categories: Al-Muhajiroun, News, Omar Bakri Mohammed, Sadia Malik, Sajid Idris, Sharia 4 Europe

Murder of Pawel Adamowicz, Mayor of Gdansk, Should Be a Wake Up Call

The murder of Pawel Adamowicz, the mayor of the Polish city Gdansk, should send shockwaves trembling through Europe. It should also be a wake-up call about where toxic political discourse is taking us.

Adamwicz, a liberal mayor known for his vociferous and uncompromising defence of migrants, refugees, women and LGBT rights, was stabbed at a charity concert. His assailant is a 27-year-old with a record of violent crime and after the stabbing supposedly told the crowd he blamed Adamwicz’s former political party for his jailing in 2014.

Adamwicz was abhorred by the far-right for his socially liberal outlook and while no evidence exists implicating far-right motivations for the attack, it’s understood that Poland has experienced a rise in social tensions and increasing normalisation of hate speech.

Europe’s liberal values is under siege and though many would like to assume the pressure is being exclusively applied externally from reactionary Islamist movements and regimes, it also exists at home with the intolerance and bigotry of the far-right. Increasingly they have shown themselves not averse to assaulting liberal politicians or threatening them with such.

Politics has polarised society and created these divides in which those belonging to the other side are traitors and not worth reconnecting with. The politics of community and solidarity, in which we build common bonds with each other has been lost. It would be foolish to deny this issue does not exist on the left given the increasing bouts of anti-Semitism as well as the growing disconnect with blue-collar workers across many western societies. But the discourse around migrants and refugees, in painting them as threats to civilization has facilitated the targeting of liberal activists and politicians as traitors for risking national security by opening the borders to these people.

Britain has seen the dangerous consequences of allowing unchecked right-wing populist language to pervade our politics. The murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by a far-right sympathizer cannot be seen in isolation from her staunch defence of immigration. Her words, “more in common” have been immortalised in migrant campaigning, but it’s a reminder of how language matters. The People’s Vote campaign is technocratic, elitist and disconnected from the blue-collar working-class communities of the north which have been left behind by globalisation as London has enjoyed excess prosperity. But that does not excuse the terrible language around Anna Soubry which led to her harrowing abuse as she was essentially harassed by a far-right mob led by James Goddard.

Even if you were prepared to ignore this, you cannot ignore the hate crime that rose after Brexit, aimed at EU migrants and Muslims. These were not small spurts but astronomical spikes that was all about generating a hostile environment for minorities. The EU referendum had been toxic in its depiction of immigration and the far-right was euphoric in its abuse.

This is about remembering the basic principle of human rights, democracy and civil liberty, and how they work as the moral trident governing our political systems. But the far-right has threatened this repeatedly, abusing our democracy, seeking to undermine our commitment to human rights and liberties, and in doing so have contributed to the moral decline in our political discourse. They are content to watch children drown off boats fleeing war and will harangue anyone who makes a defence of that.

There are some who have sought to use the shadow of the far-right hanging over our politics as an argument against another referendum on Brexit. They might, shamelessly, cite Adamowicz’s murder as proof of that. But it’s clear the far-right will behave abusively whatever the outcome. The murder of a popular liberal politician in Poland should convey a warning to everyone that we must reel in our discourse because it has strayed too far into toxicity. It is fertilising Europe with hatred against minorities and those who seek to defend them.

In times like this we should celebrate those who have a steadfast commitment to human rights. We should be glad for charities like Action Aid, Afghanistan and Central Asian Association, Refugee Action and others who seek to make new homes for asylum seekers and help them connect with new communities. This is the best defence of our human rights.

Article by Rabbil Sikdar

The post Murder of Pawel Adamowicz, Mayor of Gdansk, Should Be a Wake Up Call appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: killing, Liberal Values, Mayor of Gdansk, Opinions, Pawel Adamowicz

Boris Johnson admits he would repeat comments about niqab-wearing Muslim women

Boris Johnson, the former Foreign Secretary, has admitted that he would repeat his Telegraph comments which compared Muslim women wearing burqas and niqabs “look like letterboxes” and compared them to “bank robbers”, drew comparisons to Donald Trump.

During a phone-in interview on LBC, on January 14, Ghassam, from Lewisham described the moment his niece, who is now sixteen, and wears the niqab, was assaulted on a bus when a man attempted to remove her face veil, and then strangled her mother when she tried to intervene.

Mr Ferrari then asked the former Foreign Secretary: “Do you agree that you brought about an unfortunate rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric?” to which, Boris Johnson replied: “I don’t, and I would be appalled if that were the case.”

Mr Johnson was asked if Ghassam’s niece was either a letterbox or a bank robber, to which, in some confusion, he replied that she was neither, because of her niqab, such a statement again demonstrates how the niqab and burqa, whilst distinct in the practice of veiling, are often seen as interchangeable forms of clothing.

The former Foreign Secretary, expressed, in no uncertain terms, that he disagreed with the notion that politicians should ‘watch their words’, having banged his hand on the desk to emphasise the point. He did, however, admit that he would seek to avoid offence if ‘possible’.

During the exchange, Mr Johnson added that ‘many’ Muslim women had expressed for his Telegraph column, published on August 5, 2018. At Tell MAMA, we saw a temporary spike in reports following its publication.

The Times newspaper highlighted, how, our service saw 21 reports, of which, 14 women wore the hijab, and seven wore the niqab, compared to five reports in the previous week.

On August 9, 2018, we published an article headlined, “Pensioners loudly echo Boris Johnson’s niqab comments in doctor’s surgery”. Days later, on August 15, we highlighted the Islamophobic abuse directed towards two Muslim women in the Exeter area. The two women, who are sisters, were shouted at and called ‘letterbox’ days apart, despite both women wearing the hijab. A Muslim woman, who wears the niqab, was called a ‘post box’ by construction workers, on August 22.

The threats against a Muslim woman last May, who wears the niqab, was fearful that Johnson’s comments would embolden some to make similar threats again.

Given the disproportionate and intersectional impact, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred have on Muslim women, the need for politicians and media outlets to consider how inflammatory coverage and rhetoric can have a negative impact on political discourse is a concern we have continued raise, notably in our annual report for 2017.

An independent panel later cleared Boris Johnson of breaching the Conservative Party code of conduct last month, despite calls from the party hierarchy to apologise, which included the chairman Brandon Lewis and PM Theresa May.

Even before Mr Johnson’s comments, we called on the Conservative Party to hold an inquiry into Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred in June 2018, a position we made clear following the London Mayoral Election in 2016.

 

 

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Categories: Burqa, hate crime, Hate Speech, News, Niqab

Misogyny Should Be Made a Hate Crime, Group of MPs and Campaigners Say

Misogyny should be made a hate crime, a group of MPs and campaigners have said.

MPs Jo Swinson, Stella Creasy and Peter Bottomley, former home secretary Jacqui Smith, women’s rights campaigner Helen Pankhurst and Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping are among those to have signed a letter, sent by gender equality charity the Fawcett Society, urging police to help them criminalise it.

The letter was sent to Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick and National Police Chiefs Council chair Chief Constable Sara Thornton.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of the Fawcett Society, said: “We have to recognise how serious misogyny is. It is at the root of violence against women and girls.

“Yet it is so common that we don’t see it. Instead it is dismissed and trivialised.

“By naming it as a hate crime we will take that vital first step.”

Analysis of crime figures by the Fawcett Society estimated there were around 67,000 incidents of hate crime based on gender last year – with 57,000 of those being targeted at women, the charity said.

Ms Smethers added: “This data should be a wake-up call to all of us, but it is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Women are routinely targeted with abuse and threats online and in our streets.

“We know that black women, Muslim women and Jewish women are particularly affected. The way we tackle hate crime must reflect that.”

In a statement responding to the letter, Chief Constable Thornton said recording misogyny as a hate crime “cannot be prioritised when policing is so stretched”.

She added: “The core policing that the public tell us they care about most is seriously stretched.

“We do not have the resources to do everything that is desirable and deserving.

“There are well reasoned arguments for recording misogyny as a hate incident, even when no crime has been committed, but it cannot be prioritised when policing is so stretched.

“Protecting women and girls from violence, harassment and sexual or domestic abuse continue to be priorities for the police.”

Others who signed the letter include the Green Party’s deputy leader Amelia Womack, Women’s Aid chief executive Katie Ghose and executive director of Citizens UK Matthew Bolton.

Ms Ghose said: “Domestic abuse does not just happen in a cultural vacuum. The everyday sexism that women experience daily – from the catcalls on the street through to being groped and sexually harassed in public places – creates a culture where it is ok for men to demean women.

“In short, it normalises abuse.

“For far too long, women have not had the confidence to report men’s violence and harassment to the police for fear of not being believed or taken seriously.

“It is clear that recognising misogyny as a hate crime gives survivors greater confidence that our criminal justice system will treat all forms of violence against women and girls more seriously.”

Hate crimes and incidents are defined as those perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a personal characteristic.

Five strands are monitored centrally: race or ethnicity, religion or beliefs, sexual orientation, disability, and transgender identity.

Police in Nottinghamshire, North Yorkshire, Avon and Somerset have already adopted misogyny or gender as a form of hate crime for recording purposes.

In November Ms Dick said “stretched” police forces should focus on violent crime rather than recording incidents of misogyny that are not crimes.

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Categories: hate crime, Jo Swinson, misogyny, News, Peter Bottomley, sexism, Stella Creasey