THE TELEGRAPH: A self-styled Muslim cleric is facing up to 14 years in jail after he was accused of sending hate mail to the families of Australian soldiers killed fighting in Afghanistan.
Police charged a 45-year-old man from Sydney, named in local press as Sheikh Haron, with sending "harassing and offensive letters to family members of soldiers killed whilst serving in Afghanistan."
One letter was reportedly delivered to a grieving widow at her husband's funeral. Another, allegedly written to the family of a commando killed in January, read: "I feel bad that you have lost your son but I don't feel bad that a murderer of innocent civilians has lost his life."
Mr Haron is accused of sending letters to the families of seven soldiers who died in Afghanistan, calling them "criminals", "murderers" and "killers" who were fighting a war of invasion.
He described one of the deceased soldiers, a Jewish man, as a "1,000 times worse" than a pig and a "murderer of innocents."
"Some people don't eat the meat of a pig but they are dirtier than (a) pig," Mr Haron wrote of Private Greg Sher, according to The Australian newspaper.
"What's the point if some people don't eat pork while their behaviour is worse than dirty animals? Why should we call a pig a hero?" he allegedly wrote.
Felix Sher, Greg's father, said the letter deeply shocked his family.
"Anti-semitism isn't something that is strange to us," Mr Sher said.
"However, what really affected us was when we found out it went to people like Breanna Till, and people like that - that's what hurts more. Why would these people be subject to such abuse?" >>> Bonnie Malkin in Sydney | Thursday, October 22, 2009
