Le Maire de Londres, Ken "le rouge" devant un jury pour la tenue de propos antisémites à un journaliste juif

Last update - 10:37 13/12/2005
London mayor to face hearing for 'Nazi' jibe to Jewish journalist
By Reuters
London mayor Ken Livingstone faces a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday that will rule on whether he should be disciplined for comparing a Jewish journalist to a concentration camp guard.Livingstone, a member of Britain's ruling Labour party, won widespread praise for rallying Londoners after the July 7 bomb attacks on the city but he has frequently courted controversy.He will appear before the Adjudication Panel for England which rules on the conduct of local authority members.
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The panel has the power to impose sanctions ranging from a censure to a five-year ban from public office.Livingstone clashed in February with journalist Oliver Finegold of the Evening Standard newspaper - which has been involved in a long-running feud with the mayor - who tried to ask him questions after a function at city hall.When Finegold told him he worked for the Standard and tried to ask questions, Livingstone asked: "Have you thought of having treatment?" and then asked "What did you do? Were you a German war criminal?"Finegold said he was Jewish and found the remark offensive. Livingstone then said the reporter was "just like a concentration camp guard, you are just doing it because you are paid to, aren't you?"Livingstone has maintained his remarks were not anti-Semitic and simply reflected his annoyance at a newspaper he has accused of hounding him. At one time Livingstone wrote restaurant reviews for the newspaper.