British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin who is accused of stirring up racial hatred said that he stood by his secretly filmed speech in which he denounced Islam as a “vicious, wicked faith.”
The 46-year-old leader told Leeds crown court on Wednesday that Islam was "a dragon, the terrible mortal enemy of all our fundamental values and something which, unchecked, will bring misery and disaster to this country".
Griffin and his fellow BNP activist Mark Collett, 24, face a series of race hate charges arising out of speeches given two years ago in small West Yorkshire towns, and aired in an undercover BBC documentary last summer. About 12 BNP activists were arrested by the police after the screening of the documentary.
Although Griffin admits that he is critical of the Islamic religion, he claims that he didn’t object to "Muslims as a group and most definitely not Asians".
"Although I believe that multiculturalism and mixing cultures up is a bad thing because it destroys different human cultures," he said.
"I was brought to the conclusion that in many of the trouble spots around the world... in the vast majority there's a common denominator, not different cultures per se. The common denominator in these problems is Islam."
He also said that Europe would soon be forced to choose either to remain as a democratic settler society or to become an Islamic republic.
Griffin denies four charges of using words or behavior intended or likely to stir up racial hatred.
Collett, of Swithland Lane, Rothley, Leicestershire, denies a total of eight offences.
Source: BBC
The 46-year-old leader told Leeds crown court on Wednesday that Islam was "a dragon, the terrible mortal enemy of all our fundamental values and something which, unchecked, will bring misery and disaster to this country".
Griffin and his fellow BNP activist Mark Collett, 24, face a series of race hate charges arising out of speeches given two years ago in small West Yorkshire towns, and aired in an undercover BBC documentary last summer. About 12 BNP activists were arrested by the police after the screening of the documentary.
Although Griffin admits that he is critical of the Islamic religion, he claims that he didn’t object to "Muslims as a group and most definitely not Asians".
"Although I believe that multiculturalism and mixing cultures up is a bad thing because it destroys different human cultures," he said.
"I was brought to the conclusion that in many of the trouble spots around the world... in the vast majority there's a common denominator, not different cultures per se. The common denominator in these problems is Islam."
He also said that Europe would soon be forced to choose either to remain as a democratic settler society or to become an Islamic republic.
Griffin denies four charges of using words or behavior intended or likely to stir up racial hatred.
Collett, of Swithland Lane, Rothley, Leicestershire, denies a total of eight offences.
Source: BBC