BNP Calls For Return Of Death Penalty Outside Lee Rigby Murder Trial

BNP Demands Return Of Death Penalty..
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A clutch of British National Party supporters have gathered outside the Old Bailey, replete with black banners and images of the hangman's noose, demanding the restoration of the death penalty for soldier Lee Rigby's alleged killers.

Calling themselves "Veterans Against the Islamification of the UK", roughly a dozen protesters stood outside the criminal court, where the two men accused of murdering Fusilier Rigby are due to appear.

Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, are charged with murdering the Fusilier as he walked back to Woolwich Barracks in south-east London on May 22.

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MEP Nick Griffin of the British National Party takes part in a protest at Old Bailey

They are also each accused of attempting to murder a police officer on the same day, and conspiracy to murder a police officer on or before that day.

BNP leader Griffin, who attended the protest, had earlier warned supporters on Twitter that he would not tolerate "swastikas or Stars of David" at the protest, and added that members of the English Defence League were welcome to join the protest.

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The protesters, who timed their march to coincide with the start of the trial for the murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby, are calling for the restoration of Capital Punishment in the UK

"The horrific ritual slaughter of British soldier Lee Rigby on the streets of Woolwich ‘allegedly’ by two savage Islamists has shocked the nation, but it's just one example of a deluge of savage, vicious and deliberate crimes being perpetrated against the British people," said BNP spokesman Simon Darby in a post on the group's website.

Father-of-one Fusilier Rigby, 25, from Middleton, Greater Manchester, died of multiple cut and stab wounds when he was attacked as he returned to the barracks after spending the day at the Tower of London.

Adebolajo, from Romford in Essex, has asked to be known as Mujaahid Abu Hamza in court, while Adebowale, from Greenwich, south-east London, has asked to be called Ismail Ibn Abdullah.