Editor faces race charge
10 Aug 05
Peterhead-based newspaper owner charged over article attacking plans for refugee centre
A newspaper editor in the north east of Scotland has been charged with incitement to racial hatred after publishing an article which condemned proposals to build a refugee centre for 5,000 immigrants.
Alan Buchan of Peterhead, who owns and edits the free paper the North East Weekly, was charged under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1968 after police received complaints about the story which appeared in the paper on 16 June.
The article appeared under the heading "Perverts & Refugees" - the former referring to plans to build a new prison in Peterhead to replace the current prisons at Aberdeen and Peterhead. It also claimed, wrongly, that an immigration complex with capacity for 5,000 people was planned for the area. Mr Buchan wrote that people in England had rejected similar proposals for a refugee centre because they were afraid their communities would be turned into ghettoes where numerous crimes would take place.
The newspaper is distributed to homes and businesses in Buchan, Gordon and Aberdeen.
Mr Buchan is due to appear in court next month. Denying any racist intent, he said he had been surprised by the police action and would fight the charges, defending his actions as the right to free speech.