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From Yorkshire
Post, 31.03.09:
US asylum case of web race-hate
pair 'could drag on'
TWO men who jumped bail and claimed
political asylum in the United States after spearheading an internet
race-hate campaign could see their case drag on for months, a court
heard yesterday.
Simon
Sheppard, 51, from Selby, and York University graduate Stephen Whittle,
42, went on the run after being found guilty of publishing racially
inflammatory written material on a website viewed by thousands of Far-
Right supporters.
The
pair have claimed asylum, complaining of "a three-year campaign of
legal harassment by the governing British Labour Party", and are in
Santa Ana Jail, California, while an immigration judge mulls over their
case.
They
were due to be sentenced at Leeds Crown Court yesterday but the hearing
was adjourned until May to await the outcome of the asylum claim.
Sheppard's
barrister Adrian Davies, who gave evidence at the immigration hearing,
yesterday told the court that US judge Rosa Peters would deliver her
judgment within 30 days.
He
said Sheppard and Whittle would "certainly" lodge an appeal in the US
if their claim was refused.
This
would first be considered by the Board of Immigration Appeals, the
highest administrative body in the US for interpreting and applying
immigration laws.
Mr
Davies said the matter could eventually be heard by the Court of
Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a higher court that deals with cases
from nine US states.
Prosecutor
Jonathan Sandiford said the US authorities would also have the right to
appeal if the immigration court found in favour of Sheppard and Whittle.
"Therefore,
whichever way it goes in the US, it seems the procedures could drag on
and on," he said.
Sheppard,
of Brook Street, Selby, and Whittle, of Avenham Lane, Preston, are
believed to be the first UK citizens to be convicted of publishing
racist material online.
They
claimed they should be acquitted because the articles were posted on a
server registered in the US beyond the reach of UK law.
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/US-asylum-case-of-web.5123741.jp
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