Category Archives: Anti-Muslim violence

Pavlo Lapshyn in court on terror and murder charges

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A 25-year-old Ukrainian man has appeared in court charged with the “terrorist-related” murder of 82-year-old Mohammed Saleem in Birmingham. West Midlands Police said that Pavlo Lapshyn has also been charged in relation to explosions at three mosques. Mohammed Saleem was stabbed as he walked home after prayers from a mosque in Small Heath on 29 April.

Mr Lapshyn was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Thursday.

Mr Lapshyn, who comes from the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk, appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court flanked by three police officers. He was dressed in black and only spoke to confirm his name and date of birth as 12 March 1988.

West Midlands Police charged the postgraduate student with murder on Monday evening. Mr Saleem was stabbed a matter of days after Mr Lapshyn began a work placement in the UK. In a statement on Monday morning, police confirmed Mr Lapshyn had also been charged in relation to incidents at mosques in Walsall, Tipton and Wolverhampton.

The court heard that Mr Lapshyn was accused of causing explosions on 21 June and 12 July, contrary to Section 2 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883. Mr Lapshyn is further charged under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 with intending to commit acts of terrorism between 24 April and 18 July.

It is alleged that he bought batteries, a lunch bag, clock and green container as part of the construction an explosive device. It is further alleged that he carried out internet research to identify locations to plant explosive devices and that he visited at least one area in the West Midlands as part of that planning. He is further accused of buying chemicals online to make an explosive device and of modifying mobile phones to be used as detonators.

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Man arrested after stone attack on Bletchley mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence after stones were thrown at a mosque in Bletchley.

Police were called at 3.29am yesterday, following reports of a man throwing stones and threatening the occupants at the mosque, located in Manor Road. The incident occurred just a couple of months after another mosque in Bletchley had been attacked, following the death of Drummer Lee Rigby.

Investigating officer Detective Inspector Dave Dachtler said: “A man has been arrested and is currently in custody where he will be questioned later today (Sunday). We will not tolerate any kind of hate crime in our community and we always treat any occurrences extremely seriously.”

MK News, 22 July 2013

Police investigate threats against New Jersey mosque

Posted on by Bob Pitt

ENGLEWOOD — Police say they have “several significant leads” as they investigate a series of threatening phone calls made to a city mosque over the weekend.

According to Det. Capt. Timothy Torell, officers were first called to the Mehfil-e-Shah-e-Khorasan Charitable Trust Mosque on Liberty Road at around 4 p.m. on Sunday.

After speaking with staff who had received the threats, police called in a bomb squad from the Bergen County Police Department as a precautionary measure. The squad teamed with a K-9 unit to comb the building for any explosives, and turned up nothing suspicious, Torell said.

NJ.com, 22 July 2013

See also “CAIR asks Feds to probe threats to NJ mosque”, CAIR press release, 23 July 2013

MCB calls for coordinated, national response to anti-Muslim terrorism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

MCB banner

Anti-Muslim terrorism: Time for a coordinated, national response

* Muslim Community has borne the brunt of attacks, often violent, patiently and with dignity
* MCB Leadership visits West Midlands mosques
* MCB Writes to the Home Secretary and Communities Secretary, Urging a Concerted National response

The Muslim Council of Britain today wrote to the Home Secretary urging a serious national response to the spate of terrorist and arson attacks against mosques and Islamic institutions since May.

In the last month alone, three mosques have been targeted by terrorists who have left viable explosive devices at each site, a fourth mosque in Liverpool has had a controlled explosion carried out following reports of a suspicious package at the site. This follows the arson attack against a mosque in North London in June, which saw the building destroyed. This unprecedented escalation of violence against the Muslim community must be met by an urgent, coordinated national response by politicians, police and domestic security services.

Visiting the mosques at Walsall, Tipton and Wolverhampton on Saturday MCB secretary general, Farooq Murad and Deputy Secretary General, Dr. Shuja Shafi were briefed by the mosque and community leadership about the prompt response from the police and the solidarity within the community. They also gave suggestions for a better and more coordinated approach to the threat including MCB preparing a toolkit for its affiliates.

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Mohammed Saleem death: Man charged with ‘terror’ murder

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A 25-year-old Ukrainian man has been charged with the “terrorist-related” murder of Birmingham grandfather Mohammed Saleem, police say. Mr Saleem, 75, was stabbed as he walked home after prayers from a mosque in Green Lane, Small Heath, in April.

Pavlo Lapshyn, a student from Dnipropetrovsk, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday. He was arrested following two explosions near West Midlands mosques. The 25-year-old is still being questioned by detectives investigating the blasts near the mosques in Walsall and Tipton, and a third in Wolverhampton, between 22 June and 12 July.

Mr Lapshyn, who has been in the UK on a temporary work placement since 24 April, was initially arrested on Thursday. He was arrested again on suspicion of the murder of Mr Saleem on Saturday.

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Mosque blast terror suspect released

Posted on by Bob Pitt

One of two Ukrainian men held over bomb attacks near three mosques has been released without charge. The 22-year-old was arrested by detectives investigating explosions near mosques in Walsall, Wolverhampton and Tipton between 22 June and 12 July.

Another man, aged 25, is still being questioned about the explosions and the murder of 82-year-old Mohammed Saleem. He was arrested under the Terrorism Act and on Saturday police were given an extra seven days to question him.

Police said Mr Saleem’s death formed part of the wider West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit investigation. The grandfather of 22 was stabbed in the back in Green Lane, Small Heath, in Birmingham, on his way home after attending prayers at his local mosque in April.

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Crown court date for man accused of attacking Jamia Mosque in Gillingham

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A labourer accused of damaging a mosque hours after the Woolwich murder of soldier Lee Rigby will stand trial before a jury.

Andrew Grindlay, 45, of Kingswood Road, Gillingham, reiterated his intent to fight the allegations following a brief hearing before Medway magistrates today. He pleaded not guilty to two charges: burglary with intent to commit damage, and racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage.

The charges say a door frame, carpet, windows, shelves, a money box and a bookcase were all damaged at the Jamia Mosque in Canterbury Street, Gillingham, on May 22.

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The government’s silence over attacks on Muslims is worrying, and divisive

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Nesrine Malik exposes the government’s double standards over terrorist attacks in the UK. She writes:

Last week, a nail bomb partially exploded at a mosque in the West Midlands – the fourth attack in two months on mosques in Britain during Friday prayers. A suspect in one of those attacks is also being questioned in connection with the killing of Mohammed Saleem, a Muslim pensioner in Birmingham, who was stabbed to death as he returned home from prayers. The police response to these attacks has been heartening, but the silence from government, and the establishment in general, has been deeply worrisome.

When Lee Rigby was murdered, politicians of every stripe scrambled to condemn and reassure. Cobra, the country’s top emergency response mechanism, was convened under the home secretary, Theresa May. David Cameron reassured Britons that “we will never buckle in the face of terrorism”. Compare this with near-silence that greeted the recent mosque attacks. Muslims have become accustomed, almost resigned, to media double standards – there is no example starker than the wildly different coverage of Rigby and Saleem’s killings. But the failure to mobilise, condemn and reassure on the part of the political class is potentially far more dangerous.

The significant (and some would say disproportionate) political and intelligence engagement in the wake of the Rigby murder wasn’t entirely for practical purposes. Strong rhetoric combined with a show of force is a necessary response on behalf of a government in order to calm and instil a sense of safety in its citizens. The same sense of duty and urgency when British Muslims come under fire has not been in evidence.

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Gloucester: Protests at court as men charged with setting fire to mosque appear

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Gloucester mosque arson protestProtesters campaigning against racism waved placards outside court as two men faced charges of setting a mosque ablaze.

Clive Michael Ceronne, 37, and Ashley Henry Juggins, 20, are charged with conspiracy to commit arson on the Masjid-E-Noor mosque. Ceronne, a former security guard of Redwood Close, in Gloucester, entered no plea to the charges. Juggins, of Brooklyn Road in Cheltenham, was due to appear via videolink. But he was being transferred between prisons and his appearance was adjourned.

The pair are accused of buying lager, vodka and a petrol can of fuel from a London Road garage and using the fuel to set fire to the Muslim place of worship in Ryecroft Street. A passer-by saw the fire last month and helped put it out before severe damage was caused.

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Offenbach: Muslim youth allege police brutality

Posted on by Bob Pitt

In a new attack against German Muslims, a group of police officers targeted young Muslim worshippers after finishing their tarawih prayer last week, handcuffing and beating them severely. “We asked them for their names and papers, but they gave us no information,” Soufian D., one of the victims told Deutsch Türkisches Journal.

The incident dates back to last Wednesday when up to 15 Muslim youths of Turkish and Moroccan descent were subjected to excessive police force after leaving the tarawih prayer at a mosque in the city of Offenbach. The police officers who wanted to check the identification of the young Muslims acted in an aggressive manner and beat the youth after handcuffing them.

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