Two weeks after the CPS announced that it would not prosecute a Sussex bonfire society for burning a caravan bearing effigies of a Gypsy family and the number plate ‘P1KEY’, activists have decided to form their own Gypsy Bonfire Society to inform people about anti-Gypsy racism. Twelve members of the Firle Bonfire Society were arrested
Theme: Climate
Plymouth: former BNP member banned from takeaway
Following his drunken, racist behaviour in May, former BNP member, Gavin Hewett, has been given a night-time ban from every takeaway in Plymouth for five years. On Sunday 23 May, Hewett went into Ali Baba’s takeaway, threw his BNP membership card across the counter and told the proprietor to ‘go back to your own country’.
Royal Mail and racial bullying
On 25 May 2004, Mahmood Siddiqui, a 59-year-old postal worker at the Royal Mail sorting office in Harlow, was awarded £178,542 in compensation for racial discrimination by an employment tribunal. Mahmood had suffered four years of racist abuse at the hands of his white colleagues which the tribunal found was ‘vicious and sly’. He was
Racist murder in Ashford, Kent
Two White men have been charged with the murder of Bapishankar Kathirgamanathan, a 24-year-old Sri Lankan-born restaurant worker. Kathirgamanathan had been walking home across a footbridge, on 22 April 2004, when he was assaulted in what police are regarding as a racially-motivated attack. During the attack, Kathirgamanathan sustained severe head injuries and died two weeks
Justice for Jay Abatan – ‘an uphill struggle’
The family of Jay Abatan, a Black man who was murdered in Brighton in 1999, are still waiting to see the report into Sussex Police’s failed investigation into his death. On 17 May 2004, Peter Bottomley MP, Jay’s family and lawyers will meet representatives of the new Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to discuss the
Mubarek family win inquiry into Zahid’s murder
After years of campaigning by the Mubarek family, David Blunkett has announced that a judicial inquiry will be held into the racist murder of Zahid Mubarek at Feltham Young Offenders Institute. The inquiry will investigate and report to the Home Secretary on Zahid’s death and the events leading up to the attack on him, and
Xenoracism reaches Russia
Foreigners and ethnic minorities in Russia are facing a barrage of racially motivated violence encouraged by extreme-Right political groups, Russia’s ‘war against terrorism’ and official indifference to racist crime. She was knifed eleven times while her father was beaten senseless with baseball bats, chains and knuckle-dusters. Nine-year-old Khurshida Sultanova, from Tajikstan, was the latest victim
Slovakia’s bankruptcy
In just a few weeks, Slovakia will join the European Union. But already, with rioting in the impoverished Roma communities of eastern Slovakia, the country is reeling from the effects of ‘restructuring’. Good news for the Slovak government. South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai has announced that it will build its first European factory in Zilina,
Racial harassment on the rise in Scotland
Asylum seekers, refugees and settled migrants in Scotland have experienced a 75 per cent increase in racial harassment since April 2003. According to a report by Positive Action in Housing (PAIH), a Scottish housing charity, 28 per cent of its clients have suffered racial harassment. This represents an increase of 75 per cent on last
Conference heralds new anti-racism initiative in South West
Over 500 people packed out Plymouth’s extensive Guildhall for a conference to launch The Monitoring Group’s Rural Racism Project. For the South West of England, an assembly of 500 people talking about racism is a major success in itself. That the conference, held on Wednesday 11 February, heard some excellent speeches and is the launch