News: Europe – Page 75 – Eye on Islamism

Prevent review: Shawcross reforms risk ‘slide into authoritarianism,’ critics warn Coalition of civil society organisations, community leaders and rights groups urge the British government to withdraw Shawcross report

March 21, 2023 Simon Hooper and Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) The UK is facing a “slide into dangerous authoritarianism” if the government proceeds with the recommendations of a contentious review of Prevent, critics of the counter-terrorism strategy have warned. In a joint letter issued on Tuesday, a coalition of […]

Toulouse and the birth of modern jihadism The attack exposed the myth of the lone wolf

March 20, 2023 Liam Duffy

(UnHerd) When two young men embellish a Toulouse FC replica shirt with the name of the city’s most notorious mass murderer, is it just a sick and provocative gag, or evidence of sympathy for the killer’s worldview? Earlier this month, the French […]

Man retweeted praise of terrorist for more followers, jury told

March 20, 2023 Liam Barnes

(BBC) A man who retweeted praise of a terrorist on Twitter told a jury he only did it “to have more followers.” Ajmal Shahpal said he did not believe the killer of a French teacher was “as brave as a lion.” Prosecutors […]

Danish far-right leader banned from UK over threat to burn Quran in Wakefield

March 20, 2023 Chris Baynes

(BBC) A Danish far-right politician has been barred from the UK after threatening to burn a copy of the Quran in Wakefield. Security minister Tom Tugendhat said Rasmus Paludan, founder of the anti-Islam party Stram Kurs, had been added to the UK’s […]

Former UK student union head sues body after being ousted for alleged antisemitism Shaima Dallali’s lawyers argue she was removed because of ‘antipathy’ to pro-Palestinian views, Islamic faith, despite apologies and inquiry finding tweets were only ‘discourteous’

March 18, 2023 Michael Horovitz

(Times of Israel) The former head of the United Kingdom’s largest student representative body announced Friday that she is suing the union, claiming her removal after a months-long investigation into antisemitism allegations against her was discriminatory. Shaima Dallali’s lawyers argued in a […]

Refugees protest tough Greek migration policy

March 18, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AFP) Hundreds of refugees protested against Greece’s tough migration policies in Athens on Saturday, accusing the conservative government of “murdering” asylum seekers through illegal pushbacks. “Stop pushbacks, down with the government of murderers,” read one of the banners at the rally in […]

Family of Utrecht tram attack victim blames bus company, provincial officials Relatives hold the carrier and the province responsible for the Utrecht tram attack

March 18, 2023 Unlisted Author

(NL Times) Relatives of Rinke Terpstra, who died during the terrorist attack on a tram in Utrecht, are holding the public transport company Qbuzz and the province of Utrecht jointly responsible for his death. Axel Beijersbergen van Henegouwen, the lawyer representing the […]

Norway rules out asylum based on gender for Afghan women

March 17, 2023 Frazer Norwell

(Local) Norway will not follow in the footsteps of neighbours Denmark and grant asylum to Afghan women based on their gender, Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl has said. Afghanistan is currently the world’s most oppressive country for women, according to the […]

Denmark deems Syrian province safe for returning refugees, worrying UNHCR

March 17, 2023 Johannes Birkebaek and Nikolaj Skydsgaard

(Reuters) The Danish Refugee Appeals Board on Friday deemed it safe for Syrian refugees to return to Latakia province in the western part of the country, raising concerns at the UN Refugee Agency. When the Danish Immigration Service decides to take away […]

Asad Bhatti: Redhill man guilty of making homemade bomb

March 17, 2023 Christian Fuller

(BBC) A financial analyst has been found guilty of making a homemade bomb and having explosives. Asad Bhatti, 49, from Redhill, Surrey, was reported to police by the owner of a computer repair shop who became suspicious of content on his laptop. […]

Scholz says Germany wants to curb ‘irregular migration’

March 16, 2023 Kirsten Grieshaber

(AP) Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Thursday that Germany will have to do a better job at clamping down on “irregular migration” and deporting those who don’t legally reside in the country. Scholz said that Germany, however, would continue to provide protection for […]

Austria narrows down threat of attack in Vienna mainly to Syrian locations

March 16, 2023 Francois Murphy

(Reuters) Austria’s domestic intelligence service has narrowed down primarily to Syria-related locations the threat of an Islamist attack in Vienna that was made public on Wednesday, the city’s police said on Thursday. The police took the unusual step on Wednesday of warning […]

Police raid suspected human traffickers in Berlin, Halle Some 400 police officers have taken part in raids against suspected people smugglers in eastern Germany.

March 15, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Deutsche Welle) German police carried out a large-scale operation against suspected human traffickers in the capital Berlin and the eastern German city of Halle an der Saale on Wednesday morning. The gang of traffickers is accused of having smuggled mainly Turkish and Iraqi […]

Somaiya Begum: Uncle who killed niece who refused marriage jailed

March 15, 2023 Unlisted Author

(BBC) A man who murdered his 20-year-old niece and dumped her body on wasteland after she refused a forced marriage has been jailed for life. Mohammed Taroos Khan, 53, killed Somaiya Begum at her home before leaving her body wrapped up in […]

Austrian police: Possible threat to Vienna places of worship

March 15, 2023 Kirsten Grieshaber and Philipp Jenne

(AP) Austrian police warned Wednesday of a possible “Islamist-motivated attack” in Vienna against churches and other houses of worship, citing undisclosed information received by the country’s intelligence service. Police in Vienna tweeted that they had heightened security in front of certain buildings […]

Luton: Bomb-making and explosives guides found on mobile phone

March 15, 2023 Unlisted Author

(BBC) A man has been convicted of terrorism offences after extremist material was found on his mobile phone. Mohammed Adnan Saleem, 22, of Montrose Avenue, Luton, had saved several banned documents, including a bomb-making manual and a file on explosives. He was […]

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is responsible for shooting at German synagogue, officials say

March 14, 2023 David I. Klein

(JTA) After a century-old synagogue in Essen, Germany, was struck by two bullets last November, news reports connected it to the shooting at a synagogue in Halle three years earlier that had been perpetrated by a far-right German extremist. But authorities quickly […]

Utrecht commemorates tram shooting that left 4 dead in 2019

March 14, 2023 Unlisted Author

(NL Times) Utrecht will again commemorate the attack on a tram in the city four years after the incident. Gökmen T. shot inside and around a tram on the 24 Oktoberplein on March 18, 2019, killing four people and injuring many others. […]

EU urges members to deport more migrants ineligible to stay

March 14, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AP) The European Union on Tuesday urged its member countries to deport more people who enter Europe without authorization and who are not eligible to stay, saying that only around one in five would-be migrants who should be sent home actually is. […]

Court acquits nine suspects accused of plotting terrorist attack in Eindhoven

March 14, 2023 Unlisted Author

(NL Times) On Tuesday, the court at Schiphol acquitted nine men suspected of preparing a terrorist attack from a garage in Eindhoven. They were arrested in September 2021. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) had previously demanded acquittal against seven suspects, a sentence […]

Somaiya Begum: Uncle guilty of killing niece who refused marriage

March 14, 2023 Unlisted Author

(BBC) A man has been found guilty of murdering his 20-year-old niece after she refused a forced marriage. Mohammed Taroos Khan, 53, killed Somaiya Begum before dumping her body on wasteland in Bradford in July 2022. Jurors heard the university student was […]

Brussels terror trial: ‘I served the terrorists just before the explosions’

March 13, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Brussels Times) Valérie Mbokanga was working at Zaventem airport when the bombs exploded there seven years ago. She told the Brussels Court of Assizes at the trial of 10 persons suspected of involvement in the 22 March 2016 attacks that she served […]

Brussels attacks trial: Belgian state condemned for strip searches of defendants

March 13, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Brussels Times) The Brussels Court of Appeal has ordered the Belgian police to stop the daily strip searches of the defendants in the trial for the 22 March 2016 terror attacks in Brussels. The daily strip searches of the defendants accompanied by […]

North Macedonia: 3 migrants and suspected smuggler injured

March 12, 2023 Konstantin Testorides

(AP) Three migrants and a suspected smuggler were seriously injured in North Macedonia when a car that police were pursuing overturned early Sunday, authorities said. Police said the car was carrying 11 migrants, five from Pakistan, three from India and three from […]

Italy estimates 680K migrants might cross sea from Libya

March 12, 2023 Frances D'Emilio

(AP) Intelligence reports indicate nearly 700,000 migrants are in Libya awaiting an opportunity to set out by sea toward Italy, a lawmaker from Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party said Sunday, but a U.N. migration official called the number not credible. Tommaso Foti, […]

‘Allahu akbar!’ — Migrant knifeman attacks police

March 12, 2023 Chris Tomlinson

(Breitbart) A Tunisian migrant attacked French police with a knife in southern France this week, yelling the phrase “Allahu akbar!” The incident took place in the commune of Hyères, which lies on the Mediterranean Sea near Toulon. It saw the Tunisian, said to […]

Islamic schools trust apologises for Facebook post calling gay people ‘evil’

March 11, 2023 Joe Ali

(Pink News) The Abu Bakr Trust has released an apology after staff used its social media channels to urge followers to pray for protection against the LGBTQ+ community and called gay people “evil.” Bosses of the Abu Bakr Trust — a charity […]

Police investigating if arrested jihadist had any contacts in Mallorca He arrived in Mallorca on Wednesday; he was arrested on Thursday

March 11, 2023 Andrew Ede

(Majorca Daily Bulletin) Police investigating Rachid, the jihadist arrested in Campos on Thursday, are continuing to check whether he had any contacts in Mallorca and who may have been the reason for him having come to the island. As yet, there is […]

Manchester Arena: Ex-bomb suspect regained citizenship in MI5 U-turn

March 11, 2023 Daniel De Simone

(BBC) A former suspect in the Manchester Arena bombing had his British citizenship revoked and then returned after MI5 changed its view of his role in the attack, the BBC can reveal. Mohammed Soliman, 26, was arrested in Libya after being stripped […]

Mallorca terror suspect jailed and denied outside contact Jihadist tried to enter Sudan via Egypt earlier this year

March 10, 2023 Humphrey Carter

(Majorca Daily Bulletin) The Spanish Audiencia Nacional (High Court) in Madrid today ordered the incommunicado detention (generally understood as a situation of detention in which an individual is denied access to family members, an attorney, or an independent physician) for the jihadist […]

Sunak and Macron summit: UK to give £500m to help France curb small boat crossings

March 10, 2023 Damian Grammaticas and Kate Whannel

(BBC) The UK will give France almost £500m over three years to help stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats. The cash was announced at a summit in Paris between UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Emmanuel Macron, who said […]

Man arrested at Luton Airport denies string of terrorism offences

March 10, 2023 Unlisted Author

(BBC) A British Muslim convert who allegedly travelled to Syria for terrorism has denied a string of charges. Aine Davis was arrested at Luton Airport in August and charged. The 39-year-old, formerly from London, pleaded not guilty to possession of a firearm […]

Mallorca Islamist anti-terrorist operation launched, arrest made National Police swamp village of Campos

March 9, 2023 Humphrey Carter and Javier Jiménez

(Majorca Daily Bulletin) On Thursday, National Police officers from Madrid and Palma carried out an anti-terrorist operation related to alleged Islamists in Campos. The officers searched a property on C. Jaume II and one person is in custody. He is reportedly a […]

Europe struggles to make progress in migration quagmire

March 9, 2023 Raf Casert

(AP) Europe continued its decade-old struggle Thursday to devise a migration system that would both better protect its extensive borders and avoid tragedies like last month’s shipwreck off Italy, which killed at least 70 migrants. Interior ministers from the European Union’s 27 […]

German police nab man suspected of planning Frankfurt attack

March 9, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AP) An 18-year-old man suspected of having planned an extremist attack in Frankfurt has been arrested near Germany’s border with Austria as he attempted to leave the country for Iraq and join the Islamic State group, German investigators said Thursday. The man, […]

Manchester Arena attack: Mosque criticised in inquiry faces probe

March 9, 2023 Daniel De Simone

(BBC) The charity watchdog has opened a probe into a mosque that was criticised by the Manchester Arena bomb inquiry. Didsbury Mosque in south Manchester had been attended by the suicide bomber Salman Abedi and his family. The public inquiry into the […]

German woman risks tougher sentence over Yazidi girl’s death

March 9, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AP) A German appeals court on Thursday ordered a new sentencing hearing for a German convert to Islam who was given 10 years in prison on charges that, as a member of the Islamic State group in Iraq, she allowed a 5-year-old […]

Brussels terror trial: Court hears from parents and victims

March 8, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Brussels Times) Victims and relatives of victims gave testimony on Wednesday at the Brussels assize court in charge of trying 10 men — one of them in absentia — for the 22 March 2016 terror attacks in the Belgian capital. Before the […]

EU tells UK its asylum plan ‘violating international law’ Commissioner Ylva Johansson takes aim at Illegal Migration Bill as U.K.‘s Suella Braverman pushes back.

March 8, 2023 Suzanne Lynch

(Politico) The European Union warned Britain its crackdown on Channel migrant crossings violates international law — as the U.K. urged it to read the details. In an interview with POLITICO in Brussels, European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said she had spoken […]

France, Britain working on new migration deal ahead of summit: French aide

March 8, 2023 Unlisted Author

(AFP) France and Britain are working on a new deal to thwart migrants crossing the Channel, which could be agreed at a summit between leaders Emmanuel Macron and Rishi Sunak later this week, a French official said Wednesday. Macron is set to […]

London’s counter-terror Prevent referrals buck UK trend — meeting

March 8, 2023 Jess Warren

(BBC) Most of London’s anti-terrorism referrals are for “Islamist activity,” bucking a national trend, London’s Police and Crime Committee has heard. Latest figures from Prevent show there were more than three times the number of referrals compared to right-wing extremism, the meeting […]

Lisa Smith loses appeal over severity of sentence

March 8, 2023 Paul Reynolds

(RTÉ) The former member of the Defence Forces Lisa Smith has lost her appeal against the severity of her sentence for membership of the Islamic State terrorist organisation, ISIS. The 41-year-old mother of one was jailed for 15 months at the Special […]

Terror-accused man posted image of severed head on Twitter, jury told

March 8, 2023 Liam Barnes

(BBC) A man posted an image of a terrorism victim’s severed head on Twitter while encouraging others to decapitate anyone who insulted Islam, a trial has heard. Ajmal Shahpal is alleged to have praised the killer of a French teacher for being […]

Somaiya Begum: Jury told accused had no motive for murder

March 8, 2023 Stuart Harratt

(BBC) A man on trial for murdering his niece had no motive, unlike her father who was “humiliated” after her failed forced marriage, a jury has heard. Mohammed Taroos Khan, 53, is accused of killing Somaiya Begum at her home in Bradford, […]

Small boats bill: What’s in the plan to stop Channel crossings?

March 7, 2023 Lewis Denison

(ITV) A long-awaited plan to “stop the boats” has finally been unveiled, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman announcing the Illegal Migration Bill in Parliament. The new law will force detention on virtually everyone who enters the UK illegally and make it impossible […]

Small boats: Sunak to outline plan to stop migrant crossings

March 7, 2023 Michael Sheils McNamee and Dominic Casciani

(BBC) A new law set to go before Parliament later will introduce new measures aimed at removing migrants entering the UK on small boats. The Illegal Migration Bill is set to prevent those arriving illegally from claiming asylum, and will block them […]

Bulgarian supreme court confirms life sentences for Bourgas Airport terrorist attack

March 7, 2023 Unlisted Author

(Sofia Globe) Bulgaria’s Supreme Court of Cassation has confirmed at final instance the life sentences without parole for Meliad Farah and Hassan El Hajj Hassan for their role in the July 2012 terrorist attack at Bourgas Airport in which five Israelis and […]

Finland: Police arrest suspected jihadi for plotting terror attack

March 7, 2023 Chris Tomlinson

(Breitbart) Finnish police and domestic intelligence have arrested a 21-year-old suspected radical Islamic extremist who had procured materials on developing explosives to train to carry out a terrorist attack. Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, the Helsinki police and the Finnish Security Intelligence Service were […]

Four out of ten Norwegian Muslims ‘made to feel they do not belong’

March 7, 2023 Richard Orange

(Local) Being discriminated against by public institutions, feeling as if they had to hide their religious identity and harassment were some of the experiences Muslims in Norway told a report they had been through in the past year. A full 43 percent […]

High Court rules Ed Husain defamed MCB official Miqdaad Versi in tweet Versi will now seek further compensation of £25,000 and an injunction against Husain's defamatory tweets not to be republished

March 7, 2023 Areeb Ullah

(Middle East Eye) The High Court in London has ruled that a tweet sent by the author and commentator Ed Husain had defamed a senior leader of the Muslim Council of Britain. Husain, also known as Mohammed Mahbub Husain, founded the defunct […]