Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Locking Up the EDL

Guramit SinghThe legal strategy suggested for Guramit Singh of the English Defence League assumed that Mr. Singh was being charged for what he said in his BBC radio interview. However, that appears not to be the case, based on news stories that appeared in the British media today.

The case against Mr. Singh is based on what he said at the EDL rally in Peterborough on December 11. For those who are interested, the six-minute speech that got him in trouble is available on video. The language is quite salty, and I don’t want to ask Vlad to do another bleep-job, so you can click the link if you want to hear it.

You’ll notice that Mr. Singh realized that he might well be arrested for what he was saying. You’ll also notice that he said nothing about race, and saved his vehement condemnation for the ideology of Islam (or Islamism), and not Muslims.

He said some very insulting things about Mohammed, but Ol’ Mo has been pushing up sand dunes for 1400 years, so how can he possibly be offended? The Crown has no case.

But that won’t stop them from throwing the book at Mr. Singh to make an example of him. The authorities are determined to break the EDL, and the politically correct “hate speech” statutes are pliable enough to do the job.

The first article is from the BBC. It doesn’t mention the name of the arrested man:

Man arrested over Peterborough protests

A 28-year-old has been arrested and bailed in relation to protest marches in Peterborough.

The English Defence League (EDL), which says it opposes Islamic extremism, Unite Against Facism [sic] and the TUC, demonstrated on 11 December.

The man, from Nottingham, was arrested over the offence of intentionally causing religiously-aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.

He has been bailed to return to police in Cambridgeshire in February.

Peterborough Today, however, names Guramit Singh:
Police arrest EDL protest’s leader

ONE of the leaders of the English Defence League (EDL) has been arrested after police received complaints about his speech during their protest in Peterborough on 11th December.

Guramit Singh (28), from Nottingham, was arrested yesterday (22nd December) on suspicion of intentionally causing religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.

Cambridgeshire Police received two complaints after Mr Singh, an unofficial leader and spokesman for the EDL, gave a speech during the EDL’s two-hour protest in the city on Saturday, December 11.

Mr Singh was addressing around 1,000 EDL supporters and hundreds of onlooking members of the public during his speech, which was delivered outside Peterborough Magistrates’ Court and has since been uploaded onto YouTube.

A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Police said: “A 28-year-old man from Nottingham was arrested on suspicion of intentionally causing religiously aggravated harassment alarm or distress, under section four of the public order act 1986.

“He was questioned in Nottingham and has now been bailed.

“Police are investigating whether any further criminal offences were committed during protests in Peterborough.

“The arrested man will return to a police station in Cambridgeshire in February.”

The EDL held its protest claiming to be against Islamic extremism and its perceived rise in England.

It’s important to remember that Guramit Singh and Tommy Robinson are not the only EDL members who have faced charges; others have been convicted and sentenced. Richard Price and Collum Keyes have been hit with fines and/or jail time, and the ASBOs on them will keep them from participating in EDL activities for ten years.

Ten years is a long time — by the time these ASBOs expire, England will be under full sharia.

From the Beeb again:

Travel ban for English Defence League Birmingham men

Richard Price, 41, and Collum Keyes, 23, were given Anti-social Behaviour Orders (Asbo) restricting their protests to Birmingham until 2020.

Police said it was the first time the ban had been applied to anyone linked to the group, which says it is against Islamic extremism and terrorism.

The pair previously pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct at a march in May.

They had also pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour during the protest in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and were sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court on Friday.

‘Clear signal’ Judge Lord Parmoor sentenced Price to 12 weeks in prison and fined Keyes £150.

He said both men travelled with the group to foment disorder and gave them a 10-year Asbo to stop them taking part in or controlling any protest more than 10 miles away from Birmingham city centre.

They have also been banned from distributing any material for the group or encouraging others to attend protests outside the city.


Hat tips: DF for the articles, Nick for the video.

10 comments:

goethechosemercy said...

Order is an evil thing when it comes at too high a price.
Let the British authorities think on that during and after this pro-Islamic crackdown.

Nick said...

Some thoughts on Mr. Singh's legal situation.

Nick said...

This appears to be the legislation describing the offence Mr. Singh is charged with - see link. This now forms Section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986 - see link.

In Hoc Signo Vinces† said...

In hoc signo vinces

The UK is/has been a police state in the making since 1979 when conservative thinking was intoxicated with the ultraliberal pseudo-individualism that stripped the individual of all associations and self-identity that protect him from totalitarianism.

In Hoc Signo Vinces† said...

In hoc signo vinces

Note: the year of the Public Order Act 1986.

sulber nick said...

The solution is inherent in the problem, perception of which is a prerequisite of its resolution.

A statement of the obvious perhaps but it's one I always bear in mind when contemplating establishment efforts to keep at bay the growing opposition to its way of doing things. The arrest of Mr Singh is an example of one of those efforts.

I wonder how many meetings were held to discuss the pros and cons of Mr Singh's arrest - for surely the politicians had a say in it. Imagine the contorted arguments woven in political correctness - I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall.

But it surely makes sense to those that hitch a profitable ride on the back of a problem to discourage perception of that problem as a problem for fear a solution may be sought. The establishment and all its hangers-on ride on the back of the problems that their adherence to what I call 'the equality idea' is causing. Of course they don't want us to see it like that - hence their 'joy of diversity' (read 'equality') campaign.

So they'll have weighed the odds carefully and have obviously concluded that it was in the interest of the equality idea that Mr Singh be arrested and (presumably) prosecuted.

Wow!

kloutlichter said...

I suggest that the next time the edl have a demo,that every person in the demo stands with the mike and says one sentence about Big Mo and his clan.It would be interesting to see what the authorities would do.Better still each person goes behind a screen changes into a Burkha,comes from behind the screen and then to the mike to say his peice.If a thousand did that it would be interesting.

kloutlichter said...

It would also be good fun if people were to wear customised screen print burkhas.You could have the cookie monster,or a sexy lady in a bikini,or a ninja,a policeman,Big JC,John wayne,chewbacca,the george cross,the list is endless.

sulber nick said...

I'm amazed that the establishment thinks that the arrest of Mr Singh works in its favour! How did it work that one out?

The arrest of Mr Robinson is one thing, but the arrest of Mr Singh!?

They couldn't have brought more attention to the problematic nature of England's multicultural (equal) society if they'd tried - the newsworthyness of it is perfect: Sikh spokesman for EDL arrested for something he said about Mohammed whilst addressing EDL meeting.

Yet they risked that in order to cobble together what appears to be a pretty flimsy case.

I don't see the sense in it.

Rufus said...

The EDL are not defending England, rather they are defending Zionism. Thay are a joke - a very sad and pathetic joke.

http://newsfromatlantis.blogspot.com/search/label/EDL