BNP leader cleared of race hate

[sav]

BNP leader Nick Griffin and party activist Mark Collett have been cleared of inciting racial hatred after a retrial at Leeds Crown Court.

Mr Griffin, 46, from Powys, Wales, had denied two charges of using words or behaviour intended to stir up racial hatred in a speech in Keighley.

Mr Collett, 26, of Leicestershire, was cleared of four similar charges.

The pair were charged in April 2005 after the BBC showed a secretly-filmed documentary "The Secret Agent" in 2004.

Mr Griffin smiled and nodded as the foreman of the jury read out the unanimous not guilty plea.

His wife Jackie burst into tears in the public gallery and there were cheers from BNP supporters, which were then muted by the judge.

Outside court, Mr Griffin and Mr Collett were greeted with chants of "freedom" by supporters waving the union jack.

The party leader said: "What has just happened shows Tony Blair and the government and the BBC that they can take our taxes but they cannot take our hearts, they cannot take our tongues and they cannot take our freedom."

Mr Griffin said his co-defendant had worked "incredibly hard" for the BNP but had been living under the threat of a prison sentence since the age of 23.

BBC 'cockroaches'

Mr Collett, the party's head of the publicity, said: "This is the BNP - two, BBC - nil."

He branded the BBC "cockroaches" and added: "The BBC have abused their position. They are a politically correct, politically biased organisation which has wasted licence fee payers money to bring two people in a legal, democratic, peaceful party to court over speaking nothing more than the truth."

During the trial, the jury heard extracts from a speech Griffin made in the Reservoir Tavern in Keighley, on 19 January 2004, in which he described Islam as a "wicked, vicious faith" and said Muslims were turning Britain into a "multi-racial hell hole".

At the same event, Mr Collett addressed the audience by saying: "Let's show these ethnics the door in 2004."

In his closing argument, Nick Griffin's barrister said his client's speech was a "campaign speech of an official and legitimate party".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/6135060.stm

[Dr Mindbender]

None of this surprises me anymore - The courts and the police have a history of sticking up for the fascists... :angry:

Ironic really that Abu Hamza went down on the same charges. The judges only seem to care when you're a threat to the status quo of the middle-britain WASP hegemony.

[sav]

I watched that documentary, and the mind boggles as to how the court came to a not guilty verdict.

[Y Chwyldro Comiwnyddol Cymraeg]

Hes not from Powys he only lives there. I read an article about it it was the bbc undercover that reported him. he is the biggest bastard in britain at thr moment

[Dr Mindbender]

Originally posted by [email protected] 10, 2006 04:06 pm
Hes not from Powys he only lives there. I read an article about it it was the bbc undercover that reported him. he is the biggest bastard in britain at thr moment
The other leader John tyndall was far worse. he was once quoted that immigrants coming into the country on boats should be machine gunned. He also started his own private army in England called the 'Spearhead brownshirts' which was modelled on hitler's hitler youth, right down to the black straps and red armbands.
The bastard is now dead and hopefully rotting in hell, hopefully.

[Y Chwyldro Comiwnyddol Cymraeg]

I saw a pic of him on the ANL web site in full natzi uniform, Swastika nd all.

[commiecrusader]

This is so stupid. Abu Hamza deserved to go down for it and so should every single member of the BNP. It is a public declaration of racist and fascist ideology to provide any form of financial or political support to these arseholes. Being a member should be enough to go to prison for inciting racial hatred, as by being a member your aim is to facilitate the expression and enactment of these racist and fascist views and policies. It's not even incitement, it's facilitation!

[Sean]

Scum like BNP serve a purpose to power in that the whole question of whether or not he should be imprisoned or not is merely the media mascarading some dickhead as a genuine debate on racism.

Noone in the mainstream will ever touch an honest arguement about big business forcing members of impoverished nations to find work for scraps elsewhere (and we'll be doing it eventually in the UK and Ireland).

Griffin needs a good swift kick in the teeth, and no mistake though. But when that happens I won't cheer it as a victory against racism. Racism is institutionalised.

[Patchd]

"What has just happened shows Tony Blair and the government and the BBC that they can take our taxes but they cannot take our hearts, they cannot take our tongues and they cannot take our freedom."

Who the fuck does he think he is? William Wallace? Anyways, this doesn't surprise me, like what Ulster socialist said; the British courts have a tendency to stick up for fash scum. Man, this guy needs to be assassinated.

[Mujer Libre]

Originally posted by Taig
Griffin needs a good swift kick in the teeth, and no mistake though. But when that happens I won't cheer it as a victory against racism. Racism is institutionalised.
True that- which explains why he was found not guilty. Can you imagine if say an Asian person was up there talking about "showing these Anglos the door?" There's this "us and them" mentality that dictates that the country belongs to white people... Ugh.

Check out the white privilege thread too. :P

[drain.you]

seeing all the union jack flags makes me sick to the stomach. fucking all wearing poppies.
'show these ethnics the door'
fuck them. i'm half and half, according to their website, i am destroying english heritage and shouldnt exist. bastards.

[Seven Stars]

bnp can eat shiot aqndd die

[Marion]

Much as I hate fascists, it's pretty clear that the reason the prosecution failed (twice) was because it was a crap case. The vast majority of the jury in the first case and all the jury in the second case felt he was not guilty, and I'm sure they were not all right-wing or in on some conspiracy or felt that the BBC was always biased. Unfortunately, Griffin and Collett were most definitely guilty of trying to incite religious hatred but not racial hatred as they were attacking (mainly) Muslims. Yeah, there definitely is institutional racism and our legal system is bourgeois, but I don't think that disguises the fact it was a shit case to take.

Lee Jaspers was on Channel 4 trying to make the case that the words should be interpreted in the context of the fact the BNP are a fascist party (which they are), but it's pretty difficult to make a case arguing that the BNP were inciting racial hatred when the words in question do not mention race at all. To be honest, Jaspers looked a bit of an arse (but then so did Tatchell who was arguing slightly against him as well).

Of course, I'd have voted for them being guilty as hell (although technically they weren't), but that doesn't change the fact that it was a crap attempt at a prosecution which has merely given the BNP a platform. What is most worrying is whether this opens the door for stricter laws against people attacking religion which can then be used as a means of shutting down rational criticism of the role religion plays in society. Sounds like Gordon Brown may be trying to make political capital out of the case in some such way.

[Mujer Libre]

Originally posted by BNP turd
"Let's show these ethnics the door in 2004."
How is that not incitement to racial hatred?

It's racially based and it's calling racists to action.

[Marion]

Yeah, would certainly agree with you that that was the single statement which was most likely to lead to any prosecution as it focussed on race (had forgotten that statement when originally posting so cheers for reminding me of it). The difficulty is that, IIRC (please correct me if I'm wrong0 the law is not against inciting people to racial hatred, but inciting them to racial violence

Don't get me wrong, I think that particular statement is an incitement to racial violence, but I think it is very difficult to prove (as its very difficult to prove "incitement" to any violence unless you've got really concrete evidence). Any defense lawyer worth their salt would claim that "showing someone the door" could be interpreted in non-violent ways, e.g. let's defeat them politically at the polls. It wouldn't be enough to rabbit on like Jaspers did about how BNP elections lead to increase in racial attacks (which is believable) but you'd need to show how those actual words were an incitement in themselves.

[sav]

Heh, I was just reading through the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. Although this hasn't come into effect yet, this case would have been weak regardless.


Originally posted by Racial and Religious Hatred Bill
29B (4) In proceedings for an offence under this section it is a defence for the


accused to prove that he was inside a dwelling and had no reason to


believe that the words or behaviour used, or the written material


displayed, would be heard or seen by a person outside that or any


other dwelling.

Griffin was being secretely filmed, and therefor had 'no reason to believe that words or behaviours used .. would be heard or seen by a person outside'.

[Physco Bitch]

The BNP can get found not guilty as many times as they like, people how are not on their side and especailly the people on their side all now what they are like. We don't need some judge to tell us anything else. Seen as population in the BNP party has slowly been growing in the past few years (supposedly) , what would happen to all the people how are not British? I don't need an answer to now that one, but what about people who were born here , and seen as I am also a "half cast" what would happen to all of us? We now what they are. As for their supporters standing outside the court with Union Jacks and poppies, well I think that just degrades and spits in the face of the people of Brition because most of the people they are racist against are actually British, fine their parents or grandparents might not have been but they are still British. As for prision sentances I think they should all go to prision, I now it would mean not allowing people to live the way they want - but considering the ground Brition stands on in racial terms this isn't going to help. We are supposed to be an open nation to all people, so that we can all live equally. I am so annoyed with the party by themselves that i could write a long , long page on what I think of them. But I have to go out now and i would just be going of subject. :angry: