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BNP leaders acquitted

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: The British Government on Saturday promised to tighten up race hate laws after a court dismissed a high-profile case seeking to prosecute leader of the far Right British National Party (BNP) Nick Griffin and party member Mark Collett for spreading racial hatred following their abusive remarks about Asians, Islam and its followers.

The verdict came a day after a Muslim youth was convicted of stirring up hate for calling for "enemies of Islam'' to be "beheaded", during a rally in London. The case involving Mr. Griffin and Mr. Collett related to their remarks two years ago when they said Muslims posed a threat to white people and Britain had become a "multicultural hell-hole'' because of the influx of non-white immigrants, especially Muslims.

Their remarks were filmed by an undercover BBC reporter.

On Friday, an all-white jury in Leeds cleared the two after they argued that they had not attacked any ethnic group and that their aim was simply to canvass support for BNP's campaign on immigration. Reacting to the verdict, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown said the Government would review the laws to prevent preaching of religious or racial hatred.

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