Five Britons are facing charges of "distributing threatening material" and "stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation". The men allegedly distributed leaflets calling for the "death penalty" for homosexuals outside a mosque in Derby, as wellas inserted the leaflets in private mailboxes, reports the BBC.
Three more men, all from Derby, have been charged with stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation. Ahjaz Ali, 41, Umer Javed, 37 and Mehboob Hassain, 44, are accused of distributing threatening material.
Two other men were charged on the same grounds on Thursday. The charges relate to the distribution of a leaflet, The Death Penalty, in Derby last year. The leaflets were distributed outside mosques in Derby city centre in July 2010. They were also posted through letter boxes in the city.
Alie, Hussain and Javed are also charged with several counts each of sending communication of threatening messages and displaying signs of writing with abusive or insulting messages.
The case will be a landmark prosecution and the five men are the first charged under the new "gay hatred laws." Crown Prosecution Service attorney Sue Hemming tells the Press Association, "This is the first ever prosecution for this offence and it is the result of close working between the Crown Prosecution Service and Derbyshire Police."
All five will appear at Derby Magistrates' Court on 14 February.
Praise the lord for the EU's human rights laws and/or our recently departed left-leaning Labour government.
Posted by: Liberator Émigré Éire | 31 January 2011 at 18:08
And I wonder if these men's religious beliefs had anything to do with their desire to execute gays. Perhaps inspired by the Koran? Most religions, as they are taught by religious leaders, are the fundamental sources of homophobia.
Posted by: Jerry | 01 February 2011 at 06:30
Anybody find me somebody to [HATE]! I've just found five!
Posted by: Bubba | 01 February 2011 at 10:37
HEY MISS GARY! How is my favorite closet queen?
LOLz @ so-called "straight" men trolling gay blogs. Are you leaving comments on the shirtless boys too?
Posted by: FQ | 01 February 2011 at 16:09