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High Court Judge Says Farrakhan Ban "Unjustified"
LONDON, Oct 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The British High Court ordered home secretary David Blunkett to reconsider the long-running ban that prohibits Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan from visiting the United Kingdom, news agencies reported Monday.
Justice Turner said last November's decision by then home secretary Jack Straw to maintain Farrakhan's exclusion must be quashed because there had been a failure to establish "objective justification" for the ban, according to U.K. online newspaper
Guardian Unlimited.
The judge, giving reasons for a decision he reached in July, said, "It was not my decision that the claimant now be admitted to the U.K. - merely that the decision taken on November 20 be quashed."
The judge said a "stay" on his ruling should remain in place until the government has indicated, probably by the end of the week, whether it intends to appeal against his ruling.
Farrakhan, now aged 67 and battling cancer, was first banned in 1986 by the government of Margaret Thatcher. Successive administrations have argued that they were entitled to continue the ban because of fears that Farrakhan's presence could allegedly lead to public disorder, based on his alleged negative statements about Jews.
Straw first indicated he would continue Farrakhan's exclusion in July 1998 - just after Nation of Islam members were involved in an incident at the Stephen Lawrence inquiry. He later personally confirmed that decision and then maintained it in November, saying that Farrakhan had expressed "anti-Semitic and racially divisive views".
But Justice Turner ruled Monday that maintaining the ban could not be justified, saying, "There is a complete absence of evidence before the court of racial, religious or ethnic tension between the black Muslim and Jewish communities in the United Kingdom existing at the date of the decision letter," the
Guardian reported.
However, Blunkett responded, "I continue to think that Mr. Farrakhan, were he to come here, would be a threat to public order. I'm frankly astonished at the judge's decision. We intend to seek leave to appeal."
Hilary Muhammad, a spokesman for Farrakhan, welcomed the full ruling.
He said the Muslim leader now preached a "message of atonement, reconciliation and responsibility," Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Outside the court, Sadiq Khan, Farrakhan's solicitor, said, "The followers of the Nation of Islam and ordinary people in London and the U.K. want to hear what Mr. Farrakhan has to say, whether they accept or reject his teachings. Enough is enough - he should be allowed in."
He added, "There is no evidence that there have been any problems of this kind in the 47 years of his ministry either in the U.S.A. or anywhere else he has been."
Nonetheless, the British government insisted it would appeal the court ruling ordering it to reconsider its long-running ban on Farrakhan visiting the country.
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