Right or wrong?A man who filmed a pet dog giving Nazi salutes before putting the footage on YouTube has been convicted of committing a hate crime.
Mark Meechan, 30, recorded his girlfriend's pug, Buddha, responding to statements such as "gas the Jews" and "Sieg Heil" by raising its paw.
But police were alerted and he was arrested for allegedly committing a hate crime.
The original clip had been viewed more than three million times on YouTube.
Grossly offensive
Meechan, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, went on trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court where he denied any wrong doing.
He insisted he made the video, which was posted in April 2016, to annoy his girlfriend Suzanne Kelly, 29.
But Sheriff Derek O'Carroll found him guilty of a charge under the Communications Act that he posted a video on social media and YouTube which was grossly offensive because it was "anti-semitic and racist in nature" and was aggravated by religious prejudice.
Sheriff O'Carroll told the court he did not believe Meechan had made the video only to annoy his girlfriend and ruled it was anti-Semitic.
Image copyrightPRESS TEAM
He also said he believed Meechan - who was supported at court by Tommy Robinson, former leader of far-right group the English Defence League (EDL) - left the video on YouTube to drive traffic to other material he had on there.
He added: "In my view it is a reasonable conclusion that the video is grossly offensive
"The description of the video as humorous is no magic wand.
"This court has taken the freedom of expression into consideration.
"But the right to freedom of expression also comes with responsibility."
'Intelligent and articulate'
Sheriff O'Carroll said Meehan was "quite obviously an intelligent and articulate man".
But he added: "The accused knew that the material was offensive and knew why it was offensive.
"Despite that the accused made a video containing anti-Semitic content and he would have known it was grossly offensive to many Jewish people."
Ross Brown, defending, said Meechan had only intended the video to be seen by a small group of friends and to annoy his girlfriend.
He said the material had been leaked and gone viral but Police Scotland then wrongly pursued Meechan despite his later videos attempting to "set the record straight".
Mr Brown said: "His girlfriend testified that Mr Meechan had never made known to her any any anti-Semitic views whatsoever.
"The accused possesses both tolerant and liberal views.
"His girlfriend is in no doubt it was an example of his sense of humour."
Famous support
Mr Brown told the court it was wrong to focus on the phrase "gas the Jews" when it had been taken out of context of the whole video.
He claimed Jewish comedian David Baddiel had voiced his support for Meechan and had asked for him to walk free.
He added: "I can see that the video may not be to everyone's taste.
"Others may be able to see the comedic or satirical element to it.
"The court should seek to acquit Mr Meechan for no other reason but to show it is 2018 and not 1984."
Prosecutors had earlier asked for Meechan to be convicted and branded the video "an odious criminal act that was dressed up to look like a joke."
Comedian Ricky Gervais took to Twitter to comment on the case after the verdict.
He tweeted: "A man has been convicted in a UK court of making a joke that was deemed 'grossly offensive'.
"If you don't believe in a person's right to say things that you might find 'grossly offensive', then you don't believe in Freedom of Speech."
Scottish comic found guilty of hate crimes for training nazi pug
Scottish comic found guilty of hate crimes for training nazi pug
Massive stalker
If you don't believe in a person's right to deny historical events like the holocaust, then you don't believe in freedom of speech. The United States is the only country that has freedom of speech. In backward European countries, people are regularly thrown in prison for thought crimes."If you don't believe in a person's right to say things that you might find 'grossly offensive', then you don't believe in Freedom of Speech."
The man clearly is a vile antisemite and he clearly is inciting racial hatred and bigotry. Jews have suffered at the hands of white Europeans for centuries and they have been kicked out and expelled from various European countries, states, and principalities literally hundreds of times.
Antisemitism is widespread in the UK and Jews have been persecuted by Englishmen and Scotsmen for nearly a thousand years. For this man to make an antisemitic joke about the holocaust is simply beyond the pale. He deserves to be ostracized but what he did should not be illegal.
- Hanno
- I am a Special Snowflake !!?!
- Reactions: 206
- Posts: 8098
- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:07 pm
- Location: Siem Reap
- Contact:
In backward USA, people can sprout any sort of vile crap under the convenient pretence of the first amendment. That's how we ended up with Hitler and I, for one, am damn glad that people cannot just say anything in a modern. forward, country like Germany.Harold wrote:In backward European countries, people are regularly thrown in prison for thought crimes.
"I realized that If I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes."
Charles Lindbergh
Charles Lindbergh
I think the best part is that the dog's name is Buddha.
Shouldn't the dog be impounded as well?
Shouldn't the dog be impounded as well?
But not if they've already been shot dead at school by somebody defending the second amendment!Hanno wrote:In backward USA, people can sprout any sort of vile crap under the convenient pretence of the first amendment...Harold wrote:In backward European countries, people are regularly thrown in prison for thought crimes.
Meum est propositum in taberna mori,
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
There was another thread recently about how an alt right activist had run afoul British authorities for saying that "Allah is gay."amirite wrote:I think the best part is that the dog's name is Buddha.
Shouldn't the dog be impounded as well?
http://www.khmer440.com/chat_forum/view ... =9&t=62681
What I find interesting is that the girlfriend is not being charged with a hate crime for naming a dog "Buddha." Naming a dog "Buddha" is undoubtedly an act of hate. In most Buddhist countries, dogs are considered a lowly animal and in Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan, Thai, Lao, Sinhalese, Khmer, Vietnamese, Burmese, Korean, and I assume in Mongolian and Bhutanese, the word "dog" is used a pejorative. In the Pali language itself the word "dog" is used as an insult. In Lokapala Sutta, the unprincipled man is said to behave like dogs.
Why does the UK government protect the rights and dignity of Muslims and Jews but not the rights and dignity of Buddhists?
-
- Impin' Aint Easy
- Reactions: 22
- Posts: 1750
- Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2011 11:07 am
Mark Meechan AKA 'Count Dankula' has been issued a court-ordered fine of £800 for teaching his girlfriend's Pug, Buddha, to do a Nazi salute and react to the phrase 'Gas the Jews' in a video uploaded to YouTube back in 2016.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-gla ... t-43864133
Responding to the penalty via his YouTube channel Meecham declared that he intended on challenging the verdict and appealed to his followers to support him by donating to his GoFundMe campaign where he hoped to raise £100,000 for his projected legal fees.
1 day later...
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-gla ... t-43864133
Responding to the penalty via his YouTube channel Meecham declared that he intended on challenging the verdict and appealed to his followers to support him by donating to his GoFundMe campaign where he hoped to raise £100,000 for his projected legal fees.
1 day later...
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
- 1 Replies
- 272 Views
-
Last post by rektj00
Sun May 07, 2023 5:47 am
-
-
Texas woman who fled to Cambodia ahead of trial found guilty of murder in stabbing of Seattle woman
by Bong Burgundy » Sun Dec 17, 2023 7:12 am » in 'Not' Cambodia - 0 Replies
- 465 Views
-
Last post by Bong Burgundy
Sun Dec 17, 2023 7:12 am
-
-
-
Scottish sterling in The Motherland
by spitthedog » Tue Jul 12, 2022 2:26 am » in Money, Banking and Insurance - 10 Replies
- 1578 Views
-
Last post by YaTingPom
Tue Jul 12, 2022 4:21 pm
-
-
- 4 Replies
- 1422 Views
-
Last post by Fred Edwards
Sun Jun 20, 2021 9:14 pm
-
- 3 Replies
- 1075 Views
-
Last post by Sonic1
Tue May 07, 2019 3:26 am