Calls for neo-Nazi Satanist group to be banned as terrorist organisation
Anti-racism charity Hope Not Hate says below-the-radar online platforms used by far-right groups are 'awash' with the organisation's propaganda
A neo-Nazi Satanist group that promotes extreme violence and sexual abuse should be banned as a terrorist organisation in the UK, anti-racism campaigners said today.
The counter-extremism charity Hope Not Hate urged the government to proscribe the Order of Nine Angles (O9A) in an annual report on Monday.
The State of Hate 2020 report says O9A is believed to have originated in the UK in the 1970s and has “openly promoted extreme violence for decades.”
The charity says members seek to “harness supernatural forces” to overthrow what they describe as the Jewish “Nazarene/Magian” influence on society.
According to Hope Not Hate, O9A members are encouraged to perform “acts of extreme barbarism, and usher in a new imperial aeon (age) ruled by a race of Satanic supermen who would colonise the solar system.”
A teenager from Durham said to have been influenced by the O9A was convicted of planning a terrorist attack in the UK in January.
Nick Lowles, chief executive of the charity, described O9A as “the most extreme and disturbing group I have ever encountered.”
He said: “The danger isn’t just confined to the followers of O9A – the movement believes in propagating these tactics across the far-right, even going so far as infiltrating other far-right movements.”
Hope Not Hate says below-the-radar websites used by far-right groups are “awash” with O9A propaganda.
“Some such material focuses on pure Nazism, while others gleefully promote sexual violence,” the report says.
The Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who chairs the home affairs select committee, described the report as “important and sobering”.
“The evidence they have uncovered about the far-right terror group Order of Nine Angles is deeply disturbing and the home secretary should immediately refer it to the Government’s proscription review group,” she said.
“The combination of Nazi-Satanism, extreme violence and sexual abuse makes it particularly troubling and action needs to be taken to prevent them grooming and radicalising other people,” she added.
A spokesperson for the Home Office said its list of banned terrorist groups was kept “under review.”
“The Government is taking action to root out and dismantle the groups that promote extreme right-wing views and we are giving police the tools and resources they need to tackle this threat,” the spokesperson added.
The far-right group Sonnenkrieg Division (SKD) – which saw two members jailed last year over terror offences – was proscribed last week.
Another group banned was System Resistance Network, an alias of the proscribed organisation, National Action.
Members or anyone found to offer support to either group could face up to ten years behind bars.
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