By IRNA,
London : The Muslim News has criticized the weakness of recently passed British religious incitement laws following the failure to prosecute the extreme right-wing British National Party (BNP) over a leaflet, which blames Muslims for the heroin trade.
“It just shows that incitement to religious hatred legislation is inadequate and the BNP members use the loophole to target Muslims.” said Muslim News editor, Ahmed Versi.
“If the leaflets were targeted at other ethnic communities like the Jews and Black people then the perpetrators would have been charged for incitement. Muslims, in contrast, are free for all,” Versi said.
“Such incitement language results in attacks against Muslims and mosques as the leaflets blame all Muslims for drug peddling,” he warned.
No legal action will be taken over extremist leaflets that use an image of heroin addict Rachel Whitear to link heroin use to Muslim communities.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said last week there was insufficient evidence to charge the BNP leaflet, which urged people to “heap condemnation” on Muslims and said it was “time for them to apologize” for the drugs trade.
Criticism was also expressed by Muslim police officers, who demanded an explanation as to why the police had not provided adequate advice to the CPS, which led to no action being taken over against the BNP.
The leaflets have been distributed since March to hundreds of addresses in northern and central England, smearing Muslims as being “almost exclusively responsible” for the heroin trade, 95 per cent of which it says comes from the Afghanistan and Pakistan region.
The National Association of Muslim Police (NAMP) said the CPS had effectively allowed the people in question to continue distributing the material.
In a statement obtained by the Muslim News, Deputy Chief Constable for Lancashire Constabulary Mike Cunningham said that the leaflet was “inflammatory in nature” and the police were “concerned that their distribution in Lancashire could damage community cohesion.” “Whilst we understand that this advice is based on established case law, we roundly condemn the contents of these leaflets and those distributing them,” Cunningham said.
The BNP has frequently been accused of using loopholes in British laws to target Muslims, who unlike Jews and Sikhs, are not covered by the country’s race relations laws.