Mohammed Hasnath, 18, has been fined £100 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge for posting "Gay Free Zone" stickers in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets.
He is also on bail for allegedly defacing a women's fashion advertising board.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the stickers were posted at Bow Church Docklands Light Railway station, on the inside of a bus, at a Whitechapel bus stop and outside the Royal London Hospital.
Each sticker shows a rainbow flag with a black line through it. Above the flag is "Arise and warn" and below "And fear Allah: Verily Allah is severe in punishment."
Hasnath also handed out the revolting stickers to young Muslim men in the Tower Hamlets area.
Statement by Rainbow Hamlets:
Rainbow Hamlets, the local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual forum for one of the most homophobic areas of London, issued this statement:
The outcome of today’s proceedings raise three important issues.I've seen a number of these stickers in both Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest. Why aren't the council out taking them down in these boroughs?
Firstly there must be concerns about the adequacy of the BTP investigation.
We find it difficult to believe that anyone could accept at face value the notion that Mr Hasnath put these stickers up without intending to cause distress.
We had previously pointed out to BTP and to the CPS that a Facebook page for one Mohammed Hasnath contains links to Khalid Yasin who has been described in court proceedings elsewhere in the UK as a Jihadi recruiter.
In passing sentence it is clear that District Judge Coleman took a similar view, stating:
“I think you used these stickers deliberately to offend and distress people, you certainly succeeded in doing that.
“You have upset people and they deserve an apology, you are not entitled to behave in this way.”
Secondly we feel that decisions relating to the prosecution of this case have been taken in isolation by people without any real understanding of the issues involved.
We explained in some detail in meetings and in Victim Impact Statements read today in court how LGBT people had told us that the stickers carried with them a threat of violence against them as LGBT people.
While we welcomed the opportunity to discuss those concerns with the CPS, it seems to us that our representations have not been taken on board.
Thirdly, Mr Hasnath was not the only person involved in these offences.
However existing hate crime legislation does not allow the criminal justice system to take that view when sentencing an individual for the role they played in such cases.
This case calls into question whether existing hate crime legislation is actually fit for purpose.
Rainbow Hamlets will be writing to Government ministers, police advisory groups and to the Mayors of London and Tower Hamlets to express our concerns and to explore ways in which we can prevent this from happening again.
Tackling the problem at its root:
Harry's Place calls for more action against mosques who preach homophobia, saying:
Chief amongst those institutions is the East London Mosque and the London Muslim Centre.
We know that the ELM/LMC has given a platform, again and again, to the most vile and outspoken hate preachers, who tell religious people that gays ought to be executed.
We know that it hosted Abdul Karin Hattin’s “Spot the Fag” event.
Was Mohammed Hasnath in the audience?
As I’ve argued before, gays have a right to an apology from the East London Mosque for its role in the promotion of homophobia.
I also think that the East London Mosque should make a public statement, banning by name those hate preachers who have appeared on their premises in the past, and who have made extreme homophobic statements.
Finally, the East London Mosque needs to put in place a procedure by which public concerns as to the nature of the events that they continue to host can be brought to their attention, and resolved.
An end to the promotion of hatred against gays is something that every one of us has a right to expect.
In particular, we should expect it from an institution like the East London Mosque – a cornerstone member of London Citizens – which receives millions of pounds of public money.
The double standards of the left:
Sadly, most other media organs haven't reported this case. Full marks to the Daily Telegraph for not giving in to liberal double standards.
Some left-wingers, such as Moderate Fundamentalist on this Harry's Place thread, scream Islamophobia at any criticism of a person or organisation.
Aside from meaning that double standards are in effect (if a homophobic offence was committed by a Christian there would be dozens of angry posts on UK Indymedia, if committed by a Muslim not a single post) there is an element of bigotry against Muslims here, as people are effectively saying that people who adhere to this religion are unable to do wrong.
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