Scottish Soccer Fans: Amsterdam Police Abused Us
Fans of the Scottish soccer team Celtic, have collected video material about the violence they encountered from Amsterdam police before their team played against Ajax Amsterdam.
They said that they knew that the Ajax supporters had a bad reputation, but not that the police did also. Even the Scottish police are shocked by the behavior of the Amsterdam police.
A group of Ajax fans stole a Scottish flag and ran away, followed by the owners of the flag. The police intervened, aided by tens of undercover policemen whom the Scottish fans thought were Ajax hooligans. Earlier that day, 50 Scottish fans were attacked in a coffee shop by 200 Ajax hooligans.
From the security camera in the café, it can be seen how they broke windows with hammers and attacked the Scots. In the picture posted on the official website of the Celtic team, one can see how two undercover cops hold a Celtic fan while a third one knees him in the stomach.
In another picture, a policeman holds a man while a dog bites his leg. A Scot is hit and wounded by a police car and his leg is broken in three places. He didn’t ask for help out of fear of the police and only agreed to be treated in a Glasgow hospital. He was one of tens of wounded among the Scots. BadNewsFromTheNetherlands Via: Volkskrant.nl
OECD issues warning on French economy
France is lagging behind other European countries in reforming its economy and needs to take comprehensive steps to restore its competitiveness, a stark report from the OECD, the club of rich countries, has warned.
In one of the most wide-ranging critiques by an international institution of France’s competitive weaknesses, the 87-page report sent a clear message to President François Hollande’s Socialist government that it has not done enough to overhaul Europe’s second-largest economy.
The Paris-based organisation said France had seen “no significant improvement” in its external position since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008.
“Over several years, many European countries have accelerated the adoption and implementation of essential reforms. This adjustment has not happened in France,” the report said.
Sweden Democrat retracts ‘parasite’ jibe
Published: 13 Nov 2013 11:56 GMT+01:00
The deputy leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats party Jonas Åkerlund has backtracked on comments he made in an old interview where he labelled immigrants as “parasites” and that he wanted to deport 500,000 foreigners.
Åkerlund,64, made the statements on his party’s community radio show back in 2002. He gave his views on a monthly radio slot using the false name ‘Viktor’ where he spoke widely about immigration and refugees.
“We should return 500,000 of the most obvious and worst parasites…those who are in Sweden for no other reason than to exploit us financially,” said Åkerlund 11 years ago.
He added that deporting foreigners would boost Sweden’s economy and suggested that most of the bullying carried out in Swedish schools was done by immigrant children.
“It was 11 years ago. I was not so mature at the time,” Åkerlund, who was 53 when he made the comments, told Aftonbladet.
He added; “I was not so mature politically…but I said many terrible things at that time that I don’t stand behind today.”
The leader of the Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Åkesson, said his deputy’s choice of words back in 2002 was “unacceptable.”
NOTE: In Sweden, a mosque was brought before the Swedish justice system for selling antisemitic tapes that incited violence towards Jews. The then Chancellor of Justice, Göran Lambertz, refused to bring charges of incitement against the mosque because, ”that’s how they behave in the Middle East” (paraphrased).
Neo-Nazi politician in court over ‘racist’ CDs
Published: 13 Nov 2013 16:47 GMT+01:00
A top neo-Nazi politician appeared in a Berlin court on Wednesday facing incitement charges after police found CDs with racist music on, in his military shop. He claimed he never knew they were there.
National Democratic Party (NPD) Berlin branch leader Sebastian Schmidtke denied accusations that he was intending on distribute the CDs – something which has landed him with charges of representation of violence and incitement of the people.
Police found the discs in 28-year-old Schmidtke’s military artefacts shop in March 2012, the Berliner Morgenpost regional newspaper reported.
He told the court on Wednesday that the suitcase containing the CDs, which had been stashed under the counter, did not belong to him and that he had never looked inside it.
But according to two policemen present at the time of the search, Schmidtke admitted to owning the case when it was discovered, said the Berliner Morgenpost.
‘Capital of rubbish’: Germans blast Madrid
Published: 12 Nov 2013 17:39 GMT+01:00
A leading German newspaper has labelled Madrid “the capital of rubbish” as the city’s street cleaners’ strike enters its second week with no end in sight.
“Madrid has no money left, not even for cleaning the streets,” Germany’s influential Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper wrote on Tuesday.
The daily said people in Madrid are “suffering their way through the garbage strike”.
More importantly though, the FAZ said the Spanish capital was enduring the failed leadership of city mayor Ana Botella.
The paper recalled Botella’s comments that people in Madrid had got used to a standard of cleanliness that was a “a bit too high”, and mentioned that the mayor had said the city’s cleaning firms could adapt to the new lower salaries and limited staff numbers.
The paper then sank the boot into a city with “the blues” after its failed Olympics bid and with projects like the massive Eurovegas casino project in flux.
The comments from the German paper com as unions put adherence to the Madrid cleaners work stoppage by street cleaners and public park gardeners in the Spanish capital at 97 percent.
