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French
Minister Calls for Crackdown on Racist Websites
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PARIS, July 17 (IslamOnline &
News Agencies) - French Justice Minister Dominique Perben said
Wednesday, July 17, 2002, he would ensure racist websites such as
those run by groups close to President Jacques Chirac's would-be
assassin, feel the full weight of the law, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
reported.
"I am especially aware of hate
speech and racist speech. We must not tolerate a certain number of
violations [that have occurred]. There may be a generalization of
racist comments that is extremely dangerous," he told a news
conference.
"I am in favor of all those who
commit crimes facing the courts... If I have to, and if I feel it is
necessary, I will remind the prosecutors' offices of their duty to
pursue [such matters]," he added.
Maxime Brunerie, the man arrested
over the suspected assassination attempt of Chirac during the July 14
Bastille Day parade, allegedly posted a message on a website run by
the British neo-Nazi group Combat-18 the day before the attack
reading: "Watch the TV this Sunday, I will be the star."
Similar French groups also with links
to Brunerie - the GUD (Defense Union Group) and Radical Unity - also
operate Internet sites that espouse racist and xenophobic views.
The League Against Racism and
Anti-Semitism (LICRA) and at least one French politician have also
called for such groups to be banned.
Brunerie, 25, is currently in a
psychiatric ward for tests, while experts determine whether he was
criminally responsible for his actions.
According to the British daily
newspaper, The Independent, Brunerie was celebrated by
Combat-18 on their website as a revolutionary hero.
He placed a message
in English on the site the day before his assassination attempt in
Paris. It read: "Watch the TV this Sunday. I will be the star.
Death to ZOG, 88!" ZOG, short for Zionist Occupation Government,
is the code name for the "Jewish-led conspiracy" that
neo-Nazis believe runs the world and threatens the future of the white
race. The figure 88 is the code for HH (the eighth letter of the
alphabet) and stands for Heil Hitler, the Independent
reported.
The same internet
site - The Mark III Blood and Honor site - has been bombarded with
messages from other neo-Nazis all over Europe, said the paper, all
claiming that Brunerie is a revolutionary hero for the Neo-Nazi cause.
The professedly
democratic French far-right party with which Brunerie was linked -
Bruno Mégret's Mouvement National Republicain (MNR) - has condemned
his actions, said the Independent, adding that another far-right group
associated with the MNR, Unité Radicale, has announced its
"support" and "comradeship" for the failed
assassin.
According to the BBC’s online news
service, Combat-18, the highly secretive organization, has attracted
notoriety in the past, particularly after it claimed to have organized
fighting at the England-Ireland football match at Lansdowne Road in
1995.
Whether it did or
not, the group's name, which is based on Adolf Hitler's initials - the
first and eighth letters in the alphabet - raised its public profile,
said the BBC.
In 1997, the
underground group was back in the news after Danish police seized
three letter bombs hidden in videocassettes and destined for London
addresses. Combat-18 was believed to have been behind the operation.
Far-right rivals were
targeted, but celebrities including former swimmer Sharron Davies,
also found themselves on the hit-list.
When left-wing
actress Vanessa Redgrave received threats from a group believed to be
Combat-18, Scotland Yard installed alarms and safety devices at her
home.
Members of the group
are believed to have also called the U.K. government "Zog",
and base their philosophy on hard-line racism and opposition to
immigration.
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