Human Rights gone mad?

[fibi]

Originally Posted by Bagpuss

Forget all the fuss of getting him to court and all the costs involved, just give me a gun and I'd save everyone the trouble.

I will gladly hold your ammunition for you Bagpuss

[WillowTheWhisp]

Did anyone see the cartoon in this morning's Daily Mail?

[entwisi]

Aye, made me giggle did that.

[Busman747]

I can understand Hamza and his lawyers trying every trick in the book (and a few new ones) especially after hearing that the presiding judge will be Judge Beaumont. He recently presided over a very similar case............


Race hate cleric jailed for nine years

Sentence on Muslim preacher 'excessive'

Tania Branigan
Saturday March 8, 2003
The Guardian

Abdullah el-Faisal, the Muslim cleric convicted of soliciting the murder of non-believers and stirring up racial hatred, was jailed for nine years yesterday.

But his defence counsel, Jerome Lynch QC, called the sentence at the Old Bailey "harsh" and said Muslims might see it as undermining their community. He said that the preacher would appeal.

"We don't have any time for his views, but this seems excessive," said Trevor Hemmings of the civil liberties campaign Statewatch, comparing it with shorter sentences for hate crimes by far-right extremists.

"The message that this sends out is that if you are black or Asian and say something out of order you get jailed for nine years and deported, but if you are on the right you can go out tooled up with knuckledusters and get half of that."

El-Faisal, 39, was convicted last month on three counts of soliciting murder, in the first prosecution of its kind for 100 years, and three counts of inciting racial hatred. He was the first Muslim cleric to be tried in the UK for his preaching.

"Allah is the only judge," a supporter called from the public gallery as Peter Beaumont, the common serjeant of London, jailed El-Faisal and recommended he be deported after his sentence. El-Faisal is a Jamaican citizen but his wife and three children are British.

"You not only preached hate but urged[listeners] to kill those who did not share your faith," Judge Beaumont said.

"This country has a tradition of free speech, but that right is preserved by making sure one person's right to speak what he or she believes does not endanger someone else's right to live or worship in peace and safety."

He said that, as a cleric, El- Faisal had a responsibility to "young and impressionable people" at a time of tension, but "instead of calming fears, you fanned the flames of hostility.

"It rang hollow for you to say that none of the young men to whom you preached went off to fight in Afghanistan or Chechnya or Kashmir. No one, least of all you, will ever know."

The police have failed to find evidence that El-Faisal knew convicted terrorists or that any of his listeners went to fight abroad.

Judge Beaumont imposed a total of seven years for soliciting murder, to be followed by a total of two years for inciting racial hatred, saying they would be served consecutively to indicate society's abhorrence of El-Faisal's comments.

During the trial the court heard that El-Faisal told audiences the way forward was "the bullet, not the ballot" and urged them to learn to fly planes, drive tanks, load guns and use missiles.

In one speech he told them: "People with British passports, if you fly into Israel, it is easy.

"Fly into Israel and do whatever you can.

"How do you fight a Jew? You kill a Jew."

El-Faisal said he was merely interpreting and updating the Koran, and his comments applied only to non-believers who persecuted Muslims.

In letters to the judge, supporters of El-Faisal described him as a kind-hearted man who made a huge contribution to the community.

Outside the court, Mr Lynch - who had described his client as "misguided, not malicious" - said El-Faisal was sanguine and viewed the decision as the will of God. He would serve Allah in Jamaica when he was deported.

"I have to question the necessity of having him as a double category A prisoner," Mr Lynch said. "There are plans to appeal. We will be looking at various aspects in terms of the conviction and the sentence."

He added: "There is a reasonable prospect that many Muslims will regard this as harsh even if they don't share his views and will see it as yet another attempt to undermine the Muslim community.

"Every right to free speech has a responsibility not to endanger others, but if that is the sole criterion we will never progress. Every speech that seeks to change the way things are is bound, is it not, to infringe the rights of others?"

Possible grounds for appeal would include the decision to charge El-Faisal without warning him first, as other preachers had been asked to alter their sermons, and the fact the judge did not direct the jury on what constitutes a war. El-Faisal said he was inviting Muslims to fight in legitimate wars.

A spokesman for the Muslim Parliament, which condemns El-Faisal's comments, called the sentence "severe".

He said: "People who kill people on the road get two years. This seems ridiculous and does not fit the crime."

My heart goes out to poor Abdullah, after all, his friends say that he is "a kind hearted man" and he was only interpreting and updating the Koran....??
Lets hope that Judge Beaumont stays on this form in July when Hamza overcomes his toenails to go before him!

[WillowTheWhisp]

Updating the Koran? Who gave him the right or authority to update the Koran?!?

[Acrylic-bob]

Nobody. It is merely another specious argument used in justification of the indefensible.