anarchy.org.au // Sedition

The anarchy.org.au website was re-launched last weekend along with a new anarchist zine called Sedition which you can download from the site. Sedition is a joint by Jura Books in Sydney, the Melbourne Anarchist Club and Organise! in Adelaide. Jura has organised a launch party for March 10; I dunno if Organise! will organise! anything.

Of related interest:

The Bastard Archive hosts a collection of text related to anarchism. We’re a small group of volunteer archivists who are making our collection of self-published and small run publications available to anyone with access to the world wide web. We offer human readable and computer printable text for convenient download.

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Richard Wolstencroft @ Melbourne Free University

Or; Fascism &/Or Libertarianism…

On Thursday March 1, local filmmaker and “transcendental fascist” Richard Wolstencroft will be speaking as part of the Melbourne Free University’s program ‘Controversies On Film’:

Week 3: 1.3.2012
Richard Wolstencroft, Australian Filmmaker and Festival Director
Plenty of Reasons to Stop Worrying and Love Pornography: Can Pornography Save Cinema?
Screening: Richard Wolstencroft’s The Last Days of Joe Blow (2012)

I’ve blogged about Wolstencroft on a few prior occasions, mostly on account of his fascist politics. The last time I did so at any length was in January of last year. That post — Richard Wolstencroft ~versus~ Richard Wolstencroft — concerned Wolstencroft’s decision to take legal action against blogger Shane Lyons, who had allegedly defamed Wolstencroft by (re-)publishing comments Wolstencroft had made on his Facebook account. I’m unsure precisely what happened with regards these legal proceedings. Suffice it to say that the blogs in question no longer exist. Previously, in late August/early September 2010, Crikey film critic Luke Buckmaster took note of Lyons’ criticisms, and Wolstencroft was provided with an opportunity to defend his record and to slam Lyons’.

Perhaps the most controversial of Wolstencroft’s views are historical. For example, Holocaust denial and Nazi apologetics:

In any event, I was hoping to put some questions to the organisers of the film program @ MFU but alas, what with charting Peter Watson‘s meteoric rise to political stardom and just as sudden crash, I’ve run out of time. It may be that nobody cares, but if you do, feel free to comment, and I’ll respond in more detail when I return from Tel Aviv.

Posted in Anti-fascism, Film, Student movement | Tagged , | 19 Comments

Who is Peter Watson?


Above : Peter Watson holds a copy of his zine The Spearhead (Warwick Daily News).

*sigh*

Given the nature of much of the media commentary that’s been generated in the wake of his forced resignation from the ALP, there’s likely not much point reviewing Peter Watson’s political (d)evolution over the last 5 or so years — but then again…

For the record, and to the best of my knowledge, Peter’s downfall began with the publication of an article in Brisbane’s Courier Mail on February 20 (soon edited in light of breaking news). This article cites several comments by a ‘Peter Watson’. Thus:

Yesterday, The Courier-Mail reported that a teenage Labor candidate has been forced to resign after being linked to online rants about homophobia and neo-nazis.

Peter Watson, 19, was stood aside as Labor’s candidate for the safe conservative seat of Southern Downs even though the party insisted he was not responsible for some of the highly offensive material.

Among posts under the name “Peter Watson”, homosexuals are labelled as “degenerates” who should be “wiped out”.

“Homosexuality and pedophilia go hand in hand with each other,” the post states.

“To deal with one you must deal with the other in order to wipe them from society.”

In another post under the name “Peter Watson aka Stalinist”, the contributor insists he has masqueraded as a neo-nazi to “get information out of the enemy”.

“I gave the information about the stupid neo-nazis to my comrades and they dealt with the neo-nazis,” it states.

“Now most of those neo-nazis are in jail or bashed thanks to my lie.”

There is also a post in which a “Peter Watson” promises to give out information on fellow Labor Party members as part of his “long battle against the commies in the branch here in Warwick”.

One post from 2007 also talks about dressing up as Soviet soldiers to fight the US.

“We all attack each other with water guns, rocks, sticks,” it says.

All of these comments (bar one) were posted on my blog, on August 6 and November 13, 2007 and March 26, 2009 and credited to ‘Peter Watson’ (2009) or ‘Peter Watson aka Stalinist’ (2007). They are among literally hundreds of such comments made by Peter.

The source for these quotes are (in order of their appearance in the article):

1.

Peter Watson
124.186.237.164
Submitted on 2009/03/26 at 9:15 pm

I am not lunatic and nor am I mad. The ideas that I am putting forward are really logical if you think about them. They are based on years of studying and thinking about the current situation and system that are facing the Australian people. The reason why you think that I am mad is because my ideas are totally different to … your ideas. I never said “mad discussions”. The reason why I refer to Drew as comrade is because he is a very good friend to have in the battle against international anarchism and the capitalist-intelligentsia regime which currently controls Australia through proxy forces in the legislature, executive and in the legal system. I was being serious when I was talking about the local gym and Drew’s decision to become involved in his local gym for young men. You people have no idea how serious I am when I talk about these and other matters at hand. Just wait until I prove my self and then all you people will be scared. Yes, I am homophobic. Homosexuals disgust me with their decadent attitudes to life and their life styles. They are really bad for our society and they need to be dealt with by the powers to be. The homosexuals are the true social degenerates. It is a proven fact that most paedophiles are homosexual. Homosexuality and paedophilia go hand in hand with each other. [T]o deal with one you must deal with the other in order to wipe them from society. They are social degenerates destroying our society’s values. We must come up with a final solution to solve these problems. You people think that I am trying to be funny or be a comedian. Well, I am not. In fact, I am more serious th[a]n most people think. Just wait until the new world order when we achieve power.

2.

Peter Watson aka Stalinist
cpwcpw.wetpaint.com
[email protected]
61.69.212.253
Submitted on 2007/11/13 at 4:14 pm

I only acted like a Neo-Nazi to get information out of the enemy. It worked big time.

3.

Peter Watson aka Stalinist
cpwcpw.wetpaint.com
[email protected]
61.69.212.253
Submitted on 2007/11/13 at 9:55 pm

Yes I know. I told the Neo-Nazis that I was the president of a “Australian Worker’s Party” and heaps of them joined. I gave the information about the stupid Neo-Nazis to my comrades and they de[a]lt with the Neo-Nazis. Now most of those Neo-Nazis are in jail or bashed thanks to my lie.

4.

This quote — in which Peter promises to give out information on fellow Labor Party members as part of his “long battle against the commies in the branch here in Warwick” — is the only one cited not to be taken from my blog. Instead, it appears on the neo-Nazi ‘Whitelaw Towers’ blog (the responsibility of Sydney resident Peter Campbell and Toowoomba local Jim Perren, middle-aged men with long histories of fascist advocacy). The comment is in response to a post dated March 4, 2009.

5.

Peter Watson aka Stalinist
bbpeterwatson.blogspot.com
[email protected]
61.69.255.50
Submitted on 2007/08/06 at 5:27 pm

[snip] Actually friends and I do that around Warwick. Half of my friends and I dress up as Soviet soldiers and I get to be the Soviet president leading and directing the Soviet attack. Matthew gets to be the US president and his friends dress up as US soldiers. We all attack each other with water guns, rocks, sticks etc. We also play spy games.

In addition to spamming my blog with nonsense and contributing to numerous other marginal politically-oriented websites — including, notably, Stormfront and Vanguard News Network — one of the first sites Peter himself created was at cpwcpw.wetpaint.com. This site served as the home of first the ‘Communist Party of Warwick’ then the ‘Stalinist League of Australia’, from November 9, 2006 to July 9, 2008.

After this date, Peter made many further comments on my blog.

On March 19, 2009, for example, Peter wrote in praise of the Nazi Strassers, writing HAIL STRASSER; later that month, on the same date as he posted his diatribe on homosexuals, Peter stated that he “would not be rejoining the Australia First Party”; on May Day he expressed appreciation for YouTube channel ‘genocidal88’, a channel maintained by a local Hammerskin and used to promote neo-Nazi propaganda; on June 25 Peter dismissed local KKK member ‘Hobbit’ and claimed to have been banned from the Australian New Nation forum (a White nationalist website established by remnants of the ‘White Pride Coalition of Australia’, including the authors of ‘Whitelaw Towers’); on July 9 he stated that he was a “National Socialist” — and had been since the beginning of that year.

In 2010 Peter (‘supremerat’) commented on a YouTube video. He stated that he wished that whining Jews would be gassed to death.

In November 2011, Peter helped to distribute copies of The Spearhead about Warwick. This enterprise earned him an article in the local paper and a rebuke from concerned locals.

It was sometime in 2011 (or possibly 2010) that Peter began re-imagining himself as ‘Australian New National Action’, a successor organisation to Dr James Saleam’s ‘National Action’, a fascist groupuscule born in the 1980s. According to its Contacts page, ANNA was responsible for producing The Spearhead zine.

At the beginning of 2012, Peter made a major statement of his political vision, viz:

Peter Watson
[email protected]
114.73.102.210
Submitted on 2012/01/03 at 12:11 am

Australia needs a strong man to solve its problems. A man who will crush lefties, politicians, non-whites, homosexuals and other sexual deviants, undesirables, troublemakers, the middle class inner city elite and traitors to the Australian nation. A man who will stand up to foreign imperialism and international capitalism. A strong man who will unite Australians under one banner against the enemies of our nation both internally and externally. A great man who will eliminate and do away with our stupid weak democracy and impose his will upon us. I would be more than willing to get behind him and die for the movement. Liberal democracy has been a failure and must be destroyed. The opposition, who are the enemies of Australia, must be smashed and thrown into concentration camps. A man who will destroy multiculturalism and all other forms of social liberalism and who will restore White Australia at all costs. Australia needs a modern day Fidel Castro, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini or a General Franco. Or the Australian Defence Force could take power in a military coup and execute the Federal Government and establish a military junta. How about it, His Excellency President of the Republic of Greater Australia and Major General of the Australian Defence Force Peter Watson Conquerer of Asia and the Pacific Defeater of International Capitalism Generalissimo and Supreme Leader?

This comment was posted after Peter had been nominated as the ALP candidate for Southern Downs and many weeks prior to his removal from that position and expulsion from the party.

Its open embrace of fascism has not been commented upon in the media.

Further evidence regarding Peter’s political views of the last year or two (and thus following his formal entry into adulthood) are to be found on Stormfront (where he posted using a variety of handles) and on the VNN forum where Peter adopted the handle ‘V.K.’. In fact, it would appear that Peter continues to post on VNN, even appealing to fellow users to vote in his favour in an online poll regarding the fairness of his expulsion from the ALP, denying allegations by fellow neo-Nazis that he is a traitor, and expressing fears that his writings in The Spearhead may make him a target for violent retribution. In one thread, Peter also claims to have been fined $500 for the crime of ‘public nuisance’, viz, abusing Aborigines in the street.

Finally, this is the image Peter uses to illustrate his MySpace page:

*shrugs*

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, History, Media, State / Politics, Student movement | Tagged | 5 Comments

Malas noticias paras los boneheads: Spanish (Celtiberian) Hammerskins Unlawful. Still.

[February 17, 2012] A court in Madrid has upheld an earlier, 2009 decision to outlaw the Hammerskins in Spain on the basis of their promotion of hatred and violence. Established in 2000, 15 members of the franchise were sent to prison in July 2009 following a police investigation and arrests in March 2004.

[machinetranslation:]

The Supreme Court affirms the conviction for conspiracy to 15 members of neo-Nazi group Hammerskin
February 20, 2012

The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeals filed by the 15 members of neo-Nazi group Hammerskin against the judgment of the Provincial Court of Madrid who were sentenced to terms ranging from one and a half and two and a half years in prison and declared illegal group for “promoting hatred and violence”…

Oddly, the Spanish boneheads were infiltrated by a Spanish journalist, ‘Antonio Salas’, whose experience formed the basis of his book Diario de un skin. You can read an interview (in Spanish) with Salas about the Hammerskins and related stoopid here.

Extract:

“¿Hay voluntad política real en España de atajar el tema de la extrema derecha?

Solo cuando un nuevo asesinato, como el de Lucrecia Pérez, Aitor Zabaleta, etc, sensibiliza a la opinión pública, y esta presiona a los políticos, estos reaccionan. Entonces, y gracias a la presión mediática, se buscan medidas precipitadamente, se proponen soluciones, y se lamentan las víctimas. Después, cuando la presión mediática mengua, los políticos desplazan su atención a temas que den más rédito mediático. La próxima vez que los nazis maten a un aficionado, a un inmigrante, a un gay, a una prostituta, o a un judío, los políticos se rasgarán las vestiduras, como si fuese la primera vez que ocurre. Pero algunos periodistas llevamos años denunciando esta realidad.”

[machinetranslation:]

Are there real political will in Spain to tackle the issue of extreme right?

Only when a new murder, like Lucrecia Perez, Aitor Zabaleta, etc, the public awareness, and this puts pressure on politicians, they react. Then, thanks to media pressure, is precipitately seeking measures are proposed solutions, and mourn the victims. Then when the media pressure wanes, politicians shift their attention to issues that give media more revenue. The next time that the Nazis killed an amateur, an immigrant, a gay, a prostitute, or a Jew, politicians will tear their hair, as if for the first time it occurs. But some journalists have spent years denouncing this reality.

Members of the Australian franchise (the Southern Cross Hammerskins) and their supporters will be gathering in Brisbane in April to celebrate Hitler’s birthday by getting drunk and listening to ‘orrible live muzak aka ‘Hammered Festival’ (April 21).

Silly buggers.

Posted in Anti-fascism, State / Politics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Nikita Kalin : (another) anarchist anti-fascist murdered in Russia

I just received word that several weeks ago a young anarchist and anti-fascist from Samara, Russia named Nikita Kalin was murdered. Below is the text produced by avtonom.org. See also : Russian nationalists march in Moscow, Clara Weiss, wsws.org, November 11, 2011 | Attempted murder of anarchist anti-fascist in Moscow (September 5, 2010) | [For Dion] The life and death of Ivan “Bonecrusher” Khutorskoy (November 18, 2009).

The story will likely be ignored by English-language media. The tone for much coverage of anti-fascist struggle in Russia is perhaps best expressed in Jake Rudnitsky’s February 2006 article for The eXile on ‘Scared Skins’. The yuppie scribbler writes: “Had I had the good sense to call [National Bolshevik ideologue] Edward Limonov before embarking on this fool’s errant, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble. Limonov told me, “I have no interest in these guys. They’re irrational.” After all my efforts to secure an interview, I can safely say, he’s right. Ukrop’s name says it all, really. AntiFA is the dill of Russia’s extremist politics: bland, irrelevant, and easily ignored.”

For its part, before signing a formal agreement with the Indian government to sell it uranium in December 2011, the Australian government’s decision to sell uranium to Russia was cemented over the dead body of Russian anarchist Ilya Borodaenko. Borodaenko was murdered in July 2007 by neo-Nazi thugs (‘hooligans’ in the lexicon of the Russian state) at the behest of local authorities, keen to destroy the environmental camp which Ilya had joined and which had been established at Angarsk, a small industrial town in south-eastern Siberia, established in 1948, and home to The International Uranium Enrichment Centre.

Anarchist anti-fascist murdered in Samara, Russia – friends and family need support!

9th of February, 6:30 in the morning in area of institute “FIAN” a janitor found body of Nikita Kalin, born in 1991. 8:00 police arrived, and 11:00 AM police contacted mother of the murdered. According to mother, Nikita was stabbed 61 times, besides this his ribs were fractured multiple times, and head was wounded as well. No property was stolen. Currently a suspect of the murder is arrested, blood of Nikita was found in clothes of the arrested.

It is obvious, that Nikita was attacked with a group, and police also told to mother off the record, that detained suspect is a national socialist activist, and refuses to name any suspects. Besides brutality of the murder, investigation has still not questioned mother of Nikita, or his friend who was the last person who saw it. Due to this, we suppose that there will be an attempt to cover the case, as it often [happens] in Russia. However, suspect has already hired a lawyer.

We suspect, that investigation is working on interests of the arrested, and thus support is necessary. At this point, a human rights organisation has provided a lawyer, but funds are still needed for funeral costs.

Nikita was from a simple working class family, and never hide his anti-fascist and anarchist views.

In case you want to help friends and family of Nikita with funeral costs, you may donate to Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow:

http://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Donate

In photo, Nikita is in a local meeting against election fraud, holding [placard] “We do not need no authority! Liberty or death! Our candidate is self-governance!”

Forwarded by Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow
abc-msk A riseup D net
http://www.avtonom.org/abc (Russian)
http://wiki.avtonom.org/en/index.php/Anarchist_Black_Cross_Moscow (English)
http://www.facebook.com/abcmoscow
http://www.twitter.com/abc_moscow
http://www.myspace.com/abcmsc
P.O. Box 13 109028 Moscow Russia

In addition to being murdered by neo-Nazis and other Russian fascists, antifa in Russia also encounter state repression. A recent (February 2012) case:

Friends and comrades! —-

We, the anti-fascists and anarchists of Nizhny Novgorod (Russia), appeal to concerned people around the world. The political police (the Center for Combating Extremism or Center “E”) have fabricated a criminal case against our comrades. Anti-fascism has been outlawed in our city. We need your solidarity and support! —-

What are the charges against our friends and comrades? —-

Five young men, our friends, have been charged with organizing an “extremist community” under the exotic name of “Antifa-RASH.” According to our illiterate police, this strange acronym stands (in English) for “Red anarhia skinheads” [sic] and should be translated from their broken English slang into Russian as “red anarchy of skinheads” (a combination of all the fears of ordinary law-abiding citizens.) Artyom Bystrov, Albert Gainutdinov, Pavel Krivonosov, Dmitry Kolesov and Oleg Gambaruk are alleged to have formed this organization in order to carry out assaults on people espousing ultra-rightwing views and to incite hatred against them and against wealthy people…

Posted in Anarchism, Anti-fascism, Death | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Who is Arthur Kemp? …continued

Huh.

Harry’s place has a follow-up post on the continuing saga of Arthur Kemp and a rather embarrassing cowboy hat.

Or something…

The post — Former BNP Man Uses Copyright and Libel Laws to Stifle “Nazi” Picture — is in turn a x-post from the Index on Censorship Blog.

Arthur Kemp, the British National Party’s former foreign affairs spokesman and webmaster has forced several internet service providers (ISPs) to remove images of him apparently posing next to Nazi memorabilia from left wing and anti-fascist blogs. Kemp, originally from South Africa, claims the image is faked, and is being circulated maliciously by his ex-wife.

In his efforts to suppress the image, Kemp has employed a range of the tools available to the online censor, using takedown notices containing claims of copyright infringement and defamation…

Funnily enough, Kemp has recently been pictured with another South African fascist named ‘Bep’:

One of the founding members of the Herefordshire British National Party branch is a convicted terrorist. South African, Lambertus Nieuwhof (or ‘Bep’ as he is more commonly known), is a previous member of a white supremacist group that planted a bomb in a mixed-race school in 1992. Bep, who was part of Eugene Terre’Blanche’s Afrikaner Resistance Movement, apparently received a 12 month suspended sentence for his part in the bomb plot.

Well, he was. That img too appears to have been removed from the 3 Counties Anti-Fascist Alliance blog. See : Local fascists terrorist links, 3cafa, February 17, 2012.

See also : Who is Arthur Kemp? (February 15, 2012) | nutzis are W E I R D : Arthur Kemp / BNP (August 30, 2009).

Bonus Gri££in!

Posted in !nataS, Media, State / Politics, That's Capitalism! | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Peter Watson on homosexuality and paedophilia

Stone the bloody crows.

FTR, Peter Watson’s comments on homosexuality and paedophilia — as made famous in a Courier Mail report — were originally published as a comment on my blog on March 26, 2009 (not 2007 as some media maintain).

Here it is:

Peter Watson says:
March 26, 2009 at 9:15 pm

I am not lunatic and nor am I mad. The ideas that I am putting forward are really logical if you think about them. They are based on years of studying and thinking about the current situation and system that are facing the Australian people. The reason why you think that I am mad is because my ideas are totally different to … your ideas. I never said “mad discussions”. The reason why I refer to Drew as comrade is because he is a very good friend to have in the battle against international anarchism and the capitalist-intelligentsia regime which currently controls Australia through proxy forces in the legislature, executive and in the legal system. I was being serious when I was talking about the local gym and Drew’s decision to become involved in his local gym for young men. You people have no idea how serious I am when I talk about these and other matters at hand. Just wait until I prove my self and then all you people will be scared. Yes, I am homophobic. Homosexuals disgust me with their decadent attitudes to life and their life styles. They are really bad for our society and they need to be dealt with by the powers to be. The homosexuals are the true social degenerates. It is a proven fact that most paedophiles are homosexual. Homosexuality and paedophilia go hand in hand with each other. [T]o deal with one you must deal with the other in order to wipe them from society. They are social degenerates destroying our society’s values. We must come up with a final solution to solve these problems. You people think that I am trying to be funny or be a comedian. Well, I am not. In fact, I am more serious th[a]n most people think. Just wait until the new world order when we achieve power.

* “Drew” is John Drew, former member of Dr Jim Saleam’s Australia First Party and middle-aged leader of the now-defunct Patriotic Youth League, the yoof wing of AF, recently re-branded as the Eureka Youth League.
** Peter is also quoted by news.com.au as follows: “One post from 2007 also talks about dressing up as Soviet soldiers to fight the US. “We all attack each other with water guns, rocks, sticks,” it says.” This comment — and not the comment above — was made in 2007 (August 6, 2007, to be exact).

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, History, Media, Sex & Sexuality, State / Politics, Student movement | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Peter Watson for Warwick LOLWUT?!?

Update : Huh. The hullabaloo over Peter Watson’s fitness as the ALP candidate for the seat of Southern Downs in next month’s Queensland state election would appear to derive from comments he made on homosexuality.

These comments appeared on my blog on March 26, 2009.

The ah, funny thing is, Peter’s homophobia is only one of a number of other rather, um, controversial views he has expressed in the last few years, notably a belief in ZOG and White supremacy.

On February 27, 2011 on the VNN forum Peter (“V.K.”) wrote: “When I was at high school (I was expelled March last year), there were different kinds of males. There was the jock, emo, nerd and average. Because I am not all there in the head I never fitted in at school. I was the one who was bullied by the jocks, thought of as an idiot by the nerds, hated as a Nazi by the emos and considered strange by the average males.” http://www.vnnforum . com/showthread.php?t=124231&page=2 His postings also claim (March, 2011) that he was fined $500 for public nuisance after abusing some local Aborigines and that his racist views were well-known among the local population. Of his political history he writes: “The Stalinist League ceased to exist in Septemb[e]r 2009. I joined Australia First in April 2006 but was expelled in July 2006. I joined the Australia First Party in December 2009 and left in April 2011 over a disagreement with the Queensland Secretary and the Party’s state officials. All of that is public knowledge. Every single person in the nationalist movement knows of my history. I have been on the internet since April 2006.” http://www.vnnforum . com/showthread.php?t=125214

All very sad and unpleasant really…

*Oh, and Dr Cam re-publishes some of his correspondence with Peter here.

======

Strewth.

Queensland Labor eh?

I had no idea ’til today, but apparently late last year cheeky Interwebs monkey Peter Watson was appointed Labor’s candidate for the seat of Southern Downs ahead of next month’s state election. And today, poor old very young Peter has been purged from the party of labour, supposedly on account of some rather dubious postings on the ah, Internets. AAP:

Queensland Labor candidate resigns
February 20, 2012

A YOUNG Labor candidate has stepped down for allegedly posting offensive remarks linking homosexuality with pedophilia.

Peter Watson, 19, resigned as candidate for the rural seat of Southern Downs, a statement from Labor’s state secretary Anthony Chisholm said [tonight].

Mr Chisholm’s statement says he accepts Mr Watson’s resignation but failed to explain the allegations against him…

The ABC also can has drama.

FTR, Peter landed on the political map way back in November 2007, when as the President, Secretary, Treasurer and likely sole (human) member of the ‘Stalinist League of Australia’ his views on the 2007 federal election were canvassed by Comrade Cam Smith for Crikey, viz: “Peter Watson, the 15 year old founder and president of the Stalinist League of Australia, says that the SLA are advocating a vote for the SLA first, the Socialist Alliance second, and the International Nerd-Gothic conspiracy last. The International Nerd-Goths are controlled by his science teacher and are responsible for, amongst other things, killing Stalin and having Peter banned from the library at his school. The SLA has had limited success in student council elections and doesn’t appear to be running any candidates federally.”

A schoolboy prank which was rather amusing at the time (and even earned Peter a place on Joe Hildebrand’s blogroll), between then (to be precise: June 2007) and now Peter has spammed my blog many hundreds of times, sometimes using his real name but just as often employing a pseudonym. A few of his comments are included in the Courier Mail account of the scandal.

Otherwise, Peter’s political evolution has been from Stalin to Hitler, and his precocious political ambitions expressed on a range of different online forums. Following the switch from extolling the virtues of one Great Man of History to the Other, Peter became a virtual presence on Stormfront and the even coarser neo-Nazi forum Vanguard News Network (Peter joined in May 2009 as “V.K.”). Indeed, Peter is relatively well-known among local nutzis, who are often as confused by him as the ALP apparently came to be. On VNN on May 16 last year, local neo-Nazi HSN Nick wrote:

Seriously , who gives a shit what someone has written on the net ? P will get to know what its all about when he starts meeting folk in the real world . He gave me the shits to begin with , but with the right influence I think he will grow up alot . remember he’s only a young fella , give a him a few years and he’ll probablly be more to most folks on here’s liking .

Nick will no doubt be partying hard at the Hammered Festival in Brisbane in April… but will the ex-Labor candidate from Warwick be joining him?

Finally, Michael McKenna in The Australian writes:

Confessed White Australia nationalist drops bid for ALP seat
February 21, 2012

A QUEENSLAND Labor candidate and party official has been forced to quit the election campaign over his support for white supremacists.

Teenage Labor candidate Peter Watson, who was contesting the seat of Southern Downs held by former opposition leader Lawrence Springborg, was last night unrepentant about his views that were discovered on the “White Law Towers” blog.

Mr Watson, 19, who is a traffic controller on the Darling Downs, west of Brisbane, is the secretary of the Warwick branch of the ALP.

He told The Australian last night that he has never hidden his racial-based views about Australia. “I don’t hide anything, I am proud of what I believe in,” he said.

“I regard myself as a white nationalist, not a supremacist, and that 40 years of multiculturalism has destroyed this country.

“My views were the same as the trade union movement in the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, particularly with the White Australia policy.”

Labor insiders last night questioned how Mr Watson was not vetted by the party organisation before his uncontested endorsement to run as a candidate last December.

Mr Watson said he had not widely shared his views within the party but a local newspaper had alleged he wrote the blog.

“I didn’t create the website, I just made some comments on it in the past few years . . . supportive of white nationalism,” he said…

In reality, Whitelaw Towers is authored by Jim Perren (Toowoomba) and Peter Campbell (Sydney, as ‘Victor Whitelaw’).

Posted in !nataS, State / Politics, Student movement | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Free Jock Palfreeman!

March 15, 2012 has been declared a day of action in solidarity with imprisoned anti-fascist Jock Palfreeman. Among other things there will be a rally outside of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in London (186-188 Queen’s Gate) @ 11.00am. Green Left Weekly has published an Open Letter from Jock which I’ve re-published below.

On February 18 in Sofia, “Some 1000 participants joined the so-called Lukov March, a procession deemed to be neo-Nazi, whose organizers defend it as patriotic”. On the same date in Dresden and earlier on February 13 neo-Nazi gatherings were disrupted by large numbers of protesters. On February 13, an estimated 13,000 people formed a chain around the centre of the city while 2,000 others confronted perhaps 1,600 neo-Nazis and 5,000 police at the central railway station.

Dear Comrades,

As of around August 2011 I have been convicted without right of appeal in the highest court of Bulgaria. I was left with a 20-year sentence in a maximum security prison.

However, what did change in the court’s decision was that unlike the first court’s verdict, the court of appeal ruled that there were Roma present and there was a “physical fight between the Roma and the group of boys”.

Seeing as the Roma were 2 and the “group of boys” were 15 the use of the word “fight” is being stretched. The neo-nazis from South Division Levski Ultras have denied that there was a “fight” with any Roma and even deny that Roma were there at all.

Yet the appeal court, although contradicting the neo-Nazis on this point, went on to claim that the statements from the neo-Nazis were truthful. Strangely the crux of the prosecutor’s arguments was that there was no fight between the neo-Nazis and Roma and there weren’t even Roma there, hence the accusation against me that I attacked them without cause.

This was also the excuse given by the investigator and prosecutor for not bringing the Roma to court as witnesses. Now, however, the court has ruled that Roma were there and that yes there was a physical fight between the Roma and neo-Nazis, but the court stops short at discrediting the neo-nazis as witnesses and made no attempt to find these “new” witnesses.

Until today the only evidence used to prosecute me were the statements from the neo-nazis themselves. There is no other [corroborating] evidence or witnesses to the indictment or court findings that I “for no reason attacked 15 men with the intent to kill them”.

I have not changed my explanation of events from the beginning, and they remain the same after four years of being kidnapped by the Bulgarian state. I witnessed the 15 neo-Nazis all attack two Roma due to the colour of their skin. I intervened to defend the two Roma. The 15 neo-Nazis then attacked me and I defended myself.

For these reasons and many more we are trying to revitalise the solidarity movement with my case and all the connotations that my case involves, i.e. racism, violent neo-Nazi gangs and their mates who defend them the corrupt police, corrupt courts and the corrupt prison system.

The neo-Nazis wouldn’t be able to attack people on the streets if it wasn’t for the protection afforded them by the police and courts. It’s telling when hundreds of the state’s agents are needed to stop me, a lone individual. However against their hundreds I have morality, I am right and they are in the wrong and this is why it takes so many of them.

I am putting out a call to action to all those opposed to racism both on the street and in its institutionalised form of fascism. This March 2012 organise yourselves to the Bulgarian embassies or consuls in your cities. Let the Bulgarian state know that the matter is [not] yet settled and that you don’t recognise the court’s decision to incarcerate me and protect the racists.

I am also trying to transfer to Australia to be closer to my family and to escape the persecution against me by the prison administration at the behest of those connected with my case. Yet the Head Prosecutor Boris Velchev and his lap dog prosecutor Krassimira Velcheva have already tried to coerce me into retracting my transfer request.

I refused to retract my request and as such the Prosecutor’s Office of Bulgaria is refusing to answer my requests, based on Bulgarian laws, to transfer to Australia.

March 2012 solidarity demands are:

• Jock’s case be re-opened due to missing evidence primarily the two Roma witnesses/victims.
• The neo-Nazis are punished for their past race hate crimes and prevented from committing more.
• Jock is allowed to transfer to Australia and all foreigners who wish to transfer to their countries.

Letters of demand can be sent to the following relevant addresses:

• Head prosecutor of Bulgaria, Boris Velchev, Ns 2 Vitosha Boulevard, Sofia 1061, Bulgaria
• Directorate of International Legal Assistance and European Integration, Krassimira Velcheva, 2 Vitosha Boulevard, Sofia 1061, Bulgaria
• Minister of Justice, Diana Kovacheva, Ns 1 Slavanska Street, Sofia 1040, Bulgaria
Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Boiko Borrisov, Ns 2 Dondukov street, Sofia 1123, Bulgaria
• President of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneviev, Ns 2 Slavanska Street, Sofia 1040, Bulgaria
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, N2 29 “6th September” street, Sofia 1000, Bulgaria

Solidarity to all my comrades both outside and inside.

See : FreeJock for more infos on Jock’s case and watch Australian Story, Conviction (June, 2011).

Bonus!

HRLC assists Australian to take case to European Court of Human Rights
Human Rights Law Centre Bulletin, Vol.70 (February 2012)

An application has been lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of Jock Palfreeman, an Australian man who was convicted of murder in Bulgaria in 2009, who faced inconsistencies throughout the court process in Bulgaria. Mr Palfreeman appealed unsuccessfully against both his conviction and sentence to the highest court in Bulgaria. Mr Palfreeman’s application to the European Court is based on a violation of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights which enshrines the right to a fair trial. In particular, Mr Palfreeman claims that the Bulgarian courts failed respect his right to a fair trial by:

failing to respect his right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in violation of Article 6(2) of the Convention;
placing the prosecution at an unfair advantage in breach of the principle of ‘equality of arms’ enshrined in Article 6(1) of the Convention;
not providing him with adequate facilities for the preparation of his defence in breach of Article 6(3)(b) of the Convention; and
failing to provide reasoned judgments in violation of Article 6(1) of the Convention.

Mr Palfreeman is being provided with pro bono assistance by the HRLC, DLA Piper and Peter Morrissey, Julian McMahon, Ruth Shann and Phoebe Knowles of counsel.

Posted in Anti-fascism | Tagged | 13 Comments

Twits and Nazi flying saucers

Um… OK.

Twitter sued over Hardy tweet
Michelle Griffin
The Age
February 17, 2012

See also : Moaron Defamation (December 27, 2011) | #MTRsues.

In other news, NAZIS! FLYING SAUCERS!

Nazi sci-fi film Iron Sky becomes Berlin talking point
Emma Jones
BBC
February 15, 2012

Semi-professional Holocaust denialist Ernst Zündel wrote about Nazi flying saucers.

Posted in !nataS, Anti-fascism, Film, History, Media, State / Politics, That's Capitalism! | Tagged , | 2 Comments