Netherlands: Gays try to exploit minors, get extorted by Moroccans

The minors who extorted money from gays in the area of Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands, apparently did so to dozens of victims. Five victims lodged complaints by the police, but according to the local branch of the gay interest organization COC, many of the victims don’t dare go to the police.

According to Peter Verhaegh, chairman of the COC in Bergen op Zoom, the victims tried to contact minor boys on the internet. Since that’s criminal, many victims are reluctant to lodge complaints, he said Friday.

Verhaegh says that anonymous reports show that the Moroccan perpetrators had victims from all over the Netherlands and Belgium. Dozens were victimized.

The men contacted the three 16-year-olds via chat-sites. Two of them are currently in custody. In the area of Bergen op Zoom they were then confronted with the printouts of the chats with the minors and threatened that those would be handed over to the police.

The victims were then forced to draw out money and in some cases hand over their watches and phones too. In some cases they lost 750 euro.

Source: Trouw (Dutch)

UK: EDL members arrested in mosque bomb plot

Via Daily Mail:

Seven men were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to blow up a Bournemouth mosque.

The men, six of whom are members of the England Defence League, were taken to Poole and Southampton police stations for questioning before being released without charge.

Among those arrested was EDL member John Broomfield, 27, who was pulled from his stationary vehicle after armed police opened fire on his van in Corfe Castle village.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

A spokesman for Dorset Police said: ‘Dorset Police can confirm that as part of an investigation surrounding threats to a Bournemouth mosque a total of seven people were arrested for conspiracy to cause an explosion.

‘Following an investigation police can now confirm these people have been released without charge.’

He added: ‘One of the people arrested was detained safely by armed officers in the Corfe Castle area.

‘We’ve been working very closely with the Muslim community and our local safer neighbourhood teams have been providing advice and reassurance throughout.

‘At this stage there is no indication whatsoever that any of the mosques in Dorset are under threat of attack.’

(…)

Broomfield, the head of the Dorset EDL, said yesterday: ‘While travelling home from work I was stopped and arrested by armed police.

(…)

Of the alleged plan to blow up the mosque, he added: ‘There has been no conspiracy, there has never been any conspiracy.

(more)

Leicestershire: Increase in report abuse against Muslims

Via BBC:

Muslims in Leicestershire are facing increasing abuse, according to figures from the police.

Between April 2008 and March 2009, officers recorded 25 offences against Muslims but in the following 12 months, the figure rose to 42.

Most incidents involved verbal abuse but there was a small number of cases in which veils were pulled off.

Police said they treated all types of hate crime as a priority and urged victims to report any problems.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

(…)

Rehana Sidat, from Leicester, who wears the niqab, said: “I think there are two things going on. There is more Islamophobia, people are becoming more intolerant.

“But also more people are reporting this sort of thing, having more confidence to bring it to the police.”

(more)

Germany: Proposal for Turkish police to deal with Turks

When I first saw the headline, I assumed the proposal was about sending in German police agents of Turkish background. Following an article in on FrontPageMag, I went back to the original article. The proposal was indeed to bring in Turkish police officers from Turkey, but it is incorrect to say that everybody supports the idea. Both the local Turkish community and local politicians think the idea is absurd.

In fact, it’s not only absurd, it’s a statement by the police that those Turks are not really German. I’m surprised that nobody called out the police union out on their racism.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

Even before the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) police switched from green to blue uniforms, people were familiar with dark blue police uniforms. But the uniforms said ‘politie’ instead of ‘polizei’: since the mid 1990s, the NRW police work together with the Dutch police. You could see that when Dutch police agents accompanied their German colleagues, for example, patrolling demonstratively through the Christmas markets. Foreign police officers are present also during international football matches – not just during World Cup 2006, when 320 foreign police agents came.

Erich Rettinghaus, State Chairman of the German Police Union (DPolG) in NRW, wants to include Turkey in this system: Uniformed police agents from Turkey would patrol the so-called ‘problem neighborhoods’ together with German police agents, in order to take care of Turkish youth. “This is not a capitulation of the German police nor a type of failure, but a constructive attempt at new common ground,” says Rettinghaus. “This is a good approach for acceptance from both the Turkish and German side.”

Deniz Güner, NRW Chairman of the Turkish community in Germany thinks differently: “We thinks this is a totally wrong approach, as far as integration is concerned.” The people that the Turkish police are supposed to reach are not foreigners but locals. The idea to bring police from Turkey, from abroad, to neighborhoods with a high proportion of immigrants, is therefore absurd. “We require the opposite: people of immigration background should be increasingly recruited into the police.”

This position is supported by NRW’s new interior minister, Ralf Jäger (SPD). “We need more police officers of immigrant background.” In NRW, about 7% of the new recruits every year have an immigration background. Of the 1,100 agents, there are 80 such police agents. Of the future 1,400 agents, there will be 100 police agents of immigrant background in the service. Jäger says that they think this is sustainable. In Hamburg and Hessen, the ratio of immigrants in the police will be increased to 20% in the upcoming years. And in Berlin, there’s already an ‘intercultural competence test’, to check knowledge of foreign languages, as part of the recruitment procedure.

Konrad Freiberg, chairman of the Federal Union of Police (GdP), stresses the importance of being acquainted with colleagues of immigrant background. Foreign police, he says, are ‘really absurd’. “Naturally there are problems in certain neighborhoods, and with certain ethnic groups. But German police should cope with that.” Otherwise, in cities such as Berlin, you’ll need police officers from many countries, not just from Turkey, but also, for example, from Poland.

Rainer Wendt, national chairman of the DPolG, points out, however, that the NRW proposal would be ‘experimental’. “The proposal just says: let’s try it.” It is important to have support from academic research in order to gain insights into the advantages of the proposal. This would be done by the NRW police academy. Wendt says that once they have the findings, they would see where the proposal should be implemented. But that is unlikely: this attempt would not be suitable, says the NRW interior ministry.

Ehrhart Körting (SPD), Berlin’s Interior Senator, is against bringing in Turkish police agents. “Due to the monopoly of authority of the states in Germany, sovereign authority should only be exercised by German police,” he said.

Körting says he doesn’t see a solution in bringing in Turkish police. 115,000 Turks live in Berlin, making it one of the largest Turkish communities outside Turkey. Körting says the Red-Red coalition senate should put more emphasis on the intercultural competence of the civil service and police. Therefore, more recruiting should be done among immigrants. 8-10% of the new recruits in recent years have a migration background.

Sources: WELT, Berliner Morgenpost, h/t PI

Ibiza: Mosque closed for student beating

Via Al Arabia (h/t Women Against Shariah):

Spanish authorities closed a mosque in the island of Ibiza and arrested its imam after charging him with beating several Muslim students in the mosque school, local press reported.

The Spanish Civil Guard closed the main mosque in the town of Sant Antoni, located in the Mediterranean island of Ibiza, and arrested its imam Kharin , who is of Moroccan origins, on charges of mistreating and beating 12 students at the School of Arab Culture, the Spanish language newspaper Diario de Ibiza reported.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

Sant Antoni local police started conducting investigations about the imam after receiving several complaints from parents who reported that their children were being beaten with a stick on their heads, arms, and backs while taking their Arab culture lessons in the mosque’s school.

Muslims on the island were taken by surprise although most of them declined to talk to the press amid reports that the police cautioned them against doing so in order not to tarnish Spain’s image as far as liberties and freedom of faith are concerned.

Those who agreed to speak to the press expressed their disappointment about the closure of the mosque where they take their children in order to learn the Quran and Arab history and culture.

(…)

All the Spanish interviewees, including officials, agreed that the mosque was never a nuisance, which raised more concerns about the reason of its closure, especially with the approach of the holy month of Ramadan.

“We never had problems with the Muslim community,” said José Ramon Serra from the provincial government.

(more)

Manchester: Mall introduces squat toilets

Via Daily Mail:

From next week, shoppers in Rochdale who push open the cubicle door expecting the reassuring sight of a modern, clean lavatory could instead be faced with little more than a hole in the ground.

Bosses of the Greater Manchester town’s Exchange mall have installed two as part of an upgrade costing several thousand pounds after attending a cultural awareness course run by a local Muslim community activist.

A familiar sight in parts of the Middle East, and still sometimes seen in France and Italy, the toilets require users to squat above them, rather than sitting.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

With one in ten of Rochdale’s population of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin, centre managers say they have been told some members of the local Asian community prefer them for cultural reasons.

News of the introduction of squat toilets was met by disbelief, however.

‘This strikes me as a classic case of excessive pandering to a politically correct minority,’ said Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley.

‘We in Britain are rightly proud of our toilets, and the onus is on people who come to this country to appreciate them for what they are.

‘It’s absolutely ludicrous – Thomas Crapper would be turning in his grave!’

The Exchange shopping centre is in the process of refurbishing its ladies’ and gents’ toilets, and the changes were made after managers went on a cultural training course.

It was hosted by Ghulam Rasul Shahzad, a retired Rochdale Council training officer who runs courses for the groups including the police on cultural understanding and community cohesion.

(more)

France: Rioting after police kill suspected robber

Via DW-World:

Rioters torched cars, looted shops and shot at police in the French Alpine city of Grenoble Saturday after police shot dead a man who allegedly held up a nearby casino the night before.

The riots began around midnight in the Villeneuve suburb of Grenoble, after a memorial to 27-year-old Karim Boudouda, the alleged robber, who was a Villeneuve resident.

The violence flared when police tried to intervene in the attack of a streetcar held up by brushfire, police spokeswoman Brigette Julien told the AFP news agency. A group of about 30 youths had attacked the tram with baseball bats and iron bars, forcing out passengers.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

After police arrived, the youths began burning cars, setting between 50 and 60 vehicles ablaze. Gunfire ensued, with police returning fire four times.

(photo, AFP)

No one was injured in the riots, according to police, who arrested two men aged 18 and 20 for burning cars and three others for attempting to loot shops.

(more)

—————

“This is Beirut. I swear, it’s Beirut!” exclaims one Villeneuve resident at the sight of police cars passing with sirens blaring. In the night sky a police helicopter passes above the buildings, with lights and infrared to film the crowd. The riot police try to circle elusive small groups of youth who are breaking everything in their path. A dozen of them, some with their faces masked with a while T-shirt, destroy two bus-stops with baseball bats.

“The youths told me: You killed one of ours. In any case, you’re a dirty race, we’ll kill you too,” a policeman deployed to Villeneuve says, confirming the hatred against the police expressed by many local youth. “Anybody European, we’ll shoot down,” he says he’s heard.

Local residents of all ages, elderly and children, took to the streets to watch the violence, and to express their anger. Passing the riot police, one elderly woman shouts: “Go home!”.

“The cops, when you need them, they’re never there, zero. And when you don’t need them, they come. All of this is because of them,” says a young woman in a blue djellaba, who took to the street late at night, while the police were shooting flash-balls in the air to disperse the groups.

“All the mothers, they came and they saw the bodies on the ground. What does it all mean. The children are shocked. The cops are dogs,” adds a woman in thirties wearing the full veil.

A group in their sixties laments: “The youth are messing around. they have nothing in their heads. We don’t need another death, it serves nothing,” one of them throws out.

Source: TF1 (French)

Update via Daily Mail:

Locals accused armed officers of overreacting by gunning down Boudouda, allegedly as he tried to give himself up.

A Grenoble police spokesman said: ‘There has been a very fierce reaction. As mourners gathered in a park to hear Muslim prayers for the dead man late on Friday night, trouble broke out. By Saturday morning tear gas was being used on the youths.

At about 2.30am a handgun was used to fire shots at the police. A youth was arrested, which seemed to make matters worse. The trouble went on until morning.’

(more)

Norway: Rejected refugees riot to protest living conditions

Police have arrested 23 people on suspicion of arson after last night’s fire that destroyed Lier asylum centre in Buskerud.

The fire started in three separate buildings that were far apart almost simultaneously, and preliminary investigations show traces of inflammable liquids.

Inmates already knew what was going to happen, as several refugees had packed their belongings, according to VG.

Jan Erik Skretteberg, regional director of SOS Rasisme, says he can understand why the fire was started, claiming there are many frustrated people who don’t get enough food or vitamins. There isn’t enough hot water in the showers, and a complete lack of mental health services.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

“Several residents have warned previously it was only a matter of time before someone either harms of kills himself because of conditions at the institution. Not only do they live under severe mental pressure, but living conditions at the centres are also not fit for human beings,” he says.

Trouble at both the Lier, as well as Fagerli asylum centre in Nannestad in Akerhus municipality started early yesterday morning. Rioters destroyed fixtures and fittings, broke windows, and started smaller fires. Both facilities are now uninhabitable.

The centres house refugees who are awaiting deportation, after their asylum applications have been a final rejection. Some have been living there for four years.

(more)

———–

In an interview Tuesday afternoon, after the riots but before the center was burned down, the leader of the Kurdish asylum seekers was interviewed by Drammens Tidende.

“I’m the one who started it. I threw the first stone,” an Iraqi man told Drammens Tidende when we visited the Lier natioanl reception yesterday afternoon.

Several others earlier said the same, but when the Iraqi came, we quickly got the message from the others that he’s the leader.

He’s kept to the background towards the press for a long time, but makes direct contact and wants to talk.

When he talks, the others fall silent.

“I’m the leader of about 35 Kurds here in the center,” says the man, who’s been there for a year and two months.

The man claims that he was the spokesperson with the police during the night. He can come up with names, and agrees to being photographed from the back.

“But don’t photograph the face. I don’t want to be a famous man,” he says.

We walk around the center. Almost all the glass windows in the administration buildings and dormitories are broken. We step over glass everywhere. Stones are strewn on the lawn and inside the buildings.

In one place the asphalt is torn up – apparently to obtain more ‘ammunition’.

Next to the main building, a garbage shed burned down, and in front of the building a car of the center is without windows.

Nevertheless, we can’t find remorse by the man.

“No. We wrote a letter to the Directorate of Immigration (UDI) and met the boss here three times in the past month. We’ve complained about the conditions. We’re treated like animals. But nothing happened,” says the man.

“Therefore violence is the only and best way. There were no journalists here yesterday. Now all the journalists re here and are asking what’s happening and wondering how we’re doing,” he explains.

“We don’t like violence. But see no other solution. And if it doesn’t get better, this is just a first warning of what can happen.”

Q: There was also trouble in the reception center in Nannestad. Were you in contact?

“Yes. We speak to each other all the time.”

———–

Drammens Tidende met several desperate people in the reception center. All said they’d like to go home to their homeland – but that it was too dangerous. Therefore they have to stay in Norway.

“If I go home, I’ll be killed,” said one.

“I’d rather be here than to go home to prison,” said another.

Each of them tells of bad food, not enough food, not enough warm water in the showers, that the internet connection is bad, that they get 100 kroner a week to live on and that they get bad medical care.

“We feel like slaves without a social life. There are people who have been here for four-five years,” says the leader.

Another men says he stole a cola when he was on a tour of Drammen.

“We get juice, juice and juice. I hadn’t tasted a cola for several months. In the end I took one,” says the man.

“We can’t sleep at night. There are many who have to take pills to sleep a little. And there are many who tried to take their lives. You can see the attempts on people’s arms,” says the leader of the Kurds.

“Why can’t we get permission to work, earn money and pay taxes? Now we just sit in the center all day. Have no money to do anything.”

The leader shows us his room to see the conditions he lives by. But the police prevented Drammens Tidende from going into the premises.

“We live five to a room. We are people but are treated like animals.”

Several other people made contact and told the same stories, but didn’t want to be in the paper. They feel treated in an unworthy manner, and think that the conditions in the waiting center are the reason for the riots.

———–

An Iraqi resident, who didn’t want his name in the paper, shows Aftenposten.no the damage to cars, buildings and sheds. He’s been in the Lier center for three months.

“I’m glad for the violence. It’s the best way to get attention in Norway. Now everybody knows what’s happening here, that we just get 100 kroner a week, and that everything we can do is to eat and sleep,” he says.

He participated in the riots during the night, and thinks it’s the only way to change his hopeless situation.

He shows Aftenposten his bedroom, a narrow, small room of 15-20 sqm, shared by five grown men. Some metal lockers for clothes and personal property. Five beds and a desk with a television is all that’s there. The TV, says the Iraqi, was obtained by the residents, they didn’t get it from the center.

Another resident says that they’ve been in Norway illegally for years, and says that he’s been here since 2002. Some of them have been in the Lier center since it was opened five years ago.

“Look at him down there,” one points to a thin man sitting alone under a tree.

“He always sits there, all alone, and speaks to the tree. People go crazy living here, there’s nothing to do besides eating and sleeping,” says the man, originally from Somalia. He’s been in Norway for the past nine years and says he’s a ‘Dubliner‘ and in theory should go back to Italy.

Sources: The Foreigner (English), Drammens Tidende, Aftenposten (Norwegian)

Switzerland: Police head wants jihadists better monitored

Another 15 or so specialised police are needed to combat jihadism on the internet, the head of the Federal Police Office believes.

In an interview with the German-language Sonntag newspaper on Sunday, Jean-Luc Vez says jihadists are using the web for a range of purposes, including launching calls for violence, making propaganda and recruiting new members.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

He told the paper that both the intelligence service and the criminal police need more specialists.

The Police Office believes that in Switzerland there are “a few dozen persons” who really need to be “closely monitored”. Vez said that this is being done “within the limits of the available resources and the legal framework”.

This is not always easy, he pointed out. A judge has to give permission for a mosque to be monitored, but it is extremely difficult to provide the judge with the concrete indications required for this permission to be granted.

“Something needs to change here,” Vez said. He admitted that it is not known what is being preached in mosques.

(more)

Source: SwissInfo

Copenhagen: Criticism of imam proposal to mediate in gang attacks

The Danish People’s Party (DPP) is demanding that the government intervene in the case of the Netto supermarket branch which had to close due to violence and threats against the employees. Sharp criticism of the mediation efforts between Netto, imams and gang leaders.

The DPP is demanding the government act, and asks Justice Minister Lars Barfoed (K) to intervene in the case of the Netto branch in Blågårdsgade in Nørrebro (Copenhagen), which had to close last week after violence and threats against the employees.

This article was prepared by the Islam in Europe blog – islamineurope.blogspot.com

“This is an appeal saying that it’s important that the government and the Copenhagen municipality will get their act together and do something about the troublemakers in Nørrebro,” says the justice and integration spokesperson Peter Skaarup, who wants more gang members in jail, better options for deporting criminal foreigners and better police efforts in Nørrebro.

“It is important that the police recaptures the area and show that they’re the ones who decide,” says Peter Skaarup.

He also lashed out at imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen, who proposed to mediate between Netto and immigrant groups in Nørrebro, with the informal gang leader “Little A” in the lead.

“For me it looks like a completely crazy idea, that imams and extreme groups will decide anything. It’s not their department and it should never be, either,” says Peter Skaarup.

Politicians in the Copenhagen municipality were also outraged at the imam’s attempt at mediation.

“It’s a dangerous development and deeply problematic to have religious people solve problems, and I don’t want to participate in Little A’s, Abdul Wahid’s or Jønke’s [Hell's Angels spokesman] media circus. They don’t contribute anything,” says Lars Aslam Rasmussen, a representative of the Social Democrats on the council.

He stresses that the perpetrators who caused fear among Netto’s employees are a hard core, which is not within educational reach.

“It’s the police, who will deal with them,” he says.

“I can’t understand that any special imam will get involved in this. Why would a religious man and a local gangster, who plays fandango in the area, solve a conflict,” Lars Berg Dueholm (Liberals) told Berlingske Tidende.

Manu Sareen, representative for the Social Liberals, called the mediation attempt a “difficult issue”.

“It’s always good when people sit down and want to solve problems on their own. But it’s not just any citizens involved in this conflict. I’m afraid it will send a signal to other people that “it’s us, who set the agenda, it’s us who decide’. We’ve unfortunately seen it before, when the youth began to search people in Nørrebro. It’s a slippery slope, which concerns me,” he says.

———–

Local in Nørrebro shake their head in response to the proposal to put the head of the Blågårds Plads gang in the position of peace broker in Nørrebro.

Resident spokesperson in Mjølnerparken, Mohammed Aslam, summarizes as such the proposal to position one of the gang conflict’s most central people – Little A. – as one who would try to bring peace and tolerance to Nørrebro.

“If ‘Little A’ now decided to lay down all crime and get a freshs start in life, then it’s good. But if that’s not the case, it seems very strange, that he would act in the role of peace broker,” says Mohammed Aslam.

In an interview to Politiken on Saturday, ‘Lille A’ said that he’s given the vandals order to act properly. At the same time Imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen suggests that ‘Lille A.’ (Abde Benarabe) will be involved in trying to bring calm to the Netto business.

Abde Benarabe has been charged in several crimes, including shooting in Christiania and an assault with a tuning fork. But he’s never been convicted of anything.

According to the police, Hells Angels had plans to kill Little A. when his big brother – ‘Big A.’ – was convicted for violence and extortion in the Copenhagen court last year. The murder attempt was frustrated when passer-bys acted.

Instead of including Benarabe in the negotiations about Nørrebro’s future well-being, the head of the Father’s Group in Nørrebro, Khalid Alsubeihi, suggests to establish a parents council who would advise disadvantaged families on their criminal children.

———–

Imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen wants to go forward with his proposal for a peace meeting between gang leader Abde Benarabe (Little A.) and Netto, the imam said after massive criticism of the proposal to put one of the most central figure in the Copenhagen gang conflict in the position of a peace broker in Nørrebro.

The meeting is supposed to stop further violence and harassment against the employees of the Netto shop in Blågårdsgade, but just the debate about the meeting has been good, says the imam.

“The purpose of all of this was just to get Netto to feel safe again and reopen the shop, which will all want,” says Wahid Pedersen.

“And Abde (Benarabe) clearly said that the community in the Blågårds Plads area support Netto, so in this way the debate about the meeting has been beneficial,” he says.

The row started more than a week ago, when a cashier presumed to close the cash register where some local youth stood in line, due to technical problems. They cashier was beaten up (see video here), and since then their colleagues had been harassed on the street.

Q: You have no problem at all about making a notorious gang leader into a peace broker in public?

“Now he’s certainly not convicted of anything, people should remember that. But my primary aim was something else, namely to get people around Blågårds Plads to show that they support Netto,” says Wahid Pedersen.

Q: And so you have no problem with giving a man, who’s associated with organized crime, the title of ‘peace prince’?

“It might be that such a title would contribute to obligating him. But again: my aim was to involve the community here and get the parties to talk, so we could all get Netto back in the area,” says Wahid Pedersen.

Netto the police and the municipality will meet on Tuesday to discuss the situation.

Source: Berlingske Tidende 1, 2, 3 (Danish)