I read that the recent vandalism case at Belfast City Hall when former DUP Mayor Wallace Browne’s portrait was damaged by a Sinn Féin member is now being treated by the PSNI as a ‘hate crime’.
Now, my understanding of the criteria of a hate crime is that a crime must first be committed and in order for it to be considered a hate crime there needs to be a further aggravating factor surrounding the motivation of the crime, that there needs to be an element of racism, sectarianism etc involved.
In the City Hall portrait case there was certainly a crime committed in that the portrait was vandalised but what could the aggravating factor be? Racism? I think that’s pretty unlikely. Sectarianism? I’m not sure but being a member of the DUP it’s likely that Wallace is a member of the reformed faith but as the portrait is amidst a sea of portraits of others from the reformed faith is that the reason it was targeted?
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has suggested that the reason for attacking the portrait might be ‘anti-Semitic’ as the artist is Israeli. The artist, Israel Zohar, has himself however has stated that:
I no longer regard myself as Jewish or Israeli so I do not believe any kind of antisemitism was behind this incident
I don’t know if that could be the case.
Or maybe disliking the DUP is now considered sufficient to warrant the ‘hate’ element of a hate crime? It would be interesting to hear the PSNI’s thinking behind this latest development.
But here’s the thing I don’t get, if the vandalism of Wallace Browne’s portrait is a hate crime, for whatever reason surely then putting posters and emblems of politicians and nationalities on bonfires every year is also a hate crime and if that’s the case then shouldn’t the PSNI be preventing the hate crime taking place by removing the offending materials? If that’s further the case then don’t these bonfires have organising committees and shouldn’t these committee members be made accountable for any hate crimes which occur?
Unless of course releasing noxious gasses into the atmosphere is no longer illegal and vandalism on an enormous scale is no longer a criminal offence?
Hugh is a West Belfast native and recovering legal scholar who spends lots of time in his spouse’s native Basque Country
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