Convictions Under New Bill

[Copland bear 7,966]

Convictions under the new laws have been released, Conviction are down over the past year but the satistics are very worrying for Rangers fans.

We as fans are 3 time more likely to face arrest and a conviction over Celtic fans and twice as likely to be convicted than Aberdeen fans.

We Rangers fans take up 30 percent of convictions, Aberdeen I think was 14 percent or there abouts, and Celtic to my surprise only 10 percent.

The problem I have with these figures is that if it was some other minority group this was happening against there would be an uproar, but because it's us it goes unnoticed.

Our fan boards and our board should be asking why this is? Our fans are still being targeted while others are going unpunished.

These figures prove beyond doubt that we are been targeted and something must be done.

We can no longer sit back and except this, and it's every Rangers fans duty to ask why this is the case when Celtic fans rioted at Dundee, Tynecastle a couple of times and Motherwell of late.

How many arrests were made at these grounds on the night? We already know they backed off at Dens park for their own safety and let Celtic fans do as they please, this has already been well documented within the media.

Time for those in power and fans boards to start demanding answers.

We are been racially targeted and this would never happen to any other race in this country and we should be demanding answers now.

[Brian Fantana 28,894]

Its simple really - the police deem almost all our songs sectarian while the scum songs about terrorism are just bants apparently or they view them as political which they most certainly are not.

The countries fucked, simples.

[Sket 13,610]

It's because we are bigots, obv.

[Copland bear 7,966]

It's because we are bigots, obv.

Thats what they would have us believe.

We are targeted by the police from the minute we get anywhere near a football ground.

We should be treated the same as every other fan under the law, either we are being targeted or they are turning a blind eye towards Celtic and there fans and we should be demanding answers

We only want other fans to be treated the same as us no differently.

These figure prove beyond reasonable doubt we are being targeted..

Not because we are bigots, but because we are Unionists and Rangers fans and hate anything to do with Nationalism,

Time the law was used equally amongst football fans and not abused,.

Just imagine if these figures were of black people?

The police force would be branded racist and have to explain these figures, but because it's Rangers fans that's okay?

Well it not and we need to demand answers as these figures are nothing short of a disgrace.

[Wearethepeople72 1,845]

Any links to these statistics?

[Copland bear 7,966]

Any links to these statistics?

Was looking online can't see anything,

It was on ceefax on the bbc Scotland pages yesterday, but took down today I noticed.

I was disgusted when I saw them could not believe it, makes us out to be hooligans basically.

Found it, Rangers 30 percent, Aberdeen 16 percent, Celtic 10 percent and Hibs 8 percent.

[eejay the dj 31,964]

Brian .You are a right moaning bazza ,but for once I agree with you

[Domthenbud 899]

Saw it myself on BBC news. Was shocked that Cel*ic were less than Aberdeen. The volume of their respective fan bases would surely make this dubious. Think the point made earlier about ' what is considered sectarian' is very relevant. Thinking back was the Bill not supposed to be about ' liable to cause trouble' or something like that. Surely the cel*ic support would demonised by the whole of the UK due to their disgusting anti British chants at every game. Even their safe standing initiative is a joke. This is just to appease the most disgusting of their support and possibly keep them under some sort of control.

[mchammer 245]

Our fans get done because they don't lie and say guilty.

[OlegKuznetsov 10,816]

Saw it myself on BBC news. Was shocked that Cel*ic were less than Aberdeen. The volume of their respective fan bases would surely make this dubious. Think the point made earlier about ' what is considered sectarian' is very relevant. Thinking back was the Bill not supposed to be about ' liable to cause trouble' or something like that. Surely the cel*ic support would demonised by the whole of the UK due to their disgusting anti British chants at every game. Even their safe standing initiative is a joke. This is just to appease the most disgusting of their support and possibly keep them under some sort of control.

You wouldn't guess that they're now the scum's greatest rival and their player, Shay Logan, racially abused by the scum's Tonev, with the scum fans resorting to monkey noises in outrage at Logan's insistence on justice being done.

Between Tonev and Logan, they've been more guilty of hate crimes than our entire support all season.

We're a soft touch that we don't kick up a stink about all this and that's why it keeps on coming.

[Drunk and disorderly. 14,342]

Shocking stats. Just goes to show you that Police Scotland are guilty of heavy handed policing at our matches and go out of their way to arrest our supporters whilst taking the softly, softly aporoach with the dhims.

[linfield1690 4,249]

The polis are aw cunts that were bullied at school who then went hame tae their father who told them join the polis son then when they joined they got fucking rodgered as an induction lol useless pricks

[WadeWilson 4,670]

I didn't know I was a different 'race' from someone who comes from Aberdeen or Parkheid, but there ye go.

You learn something outlandish every day.

[Virtuoso 27,180]

The number of people charged under the controversial football hate crime legislation has fallen slightly, according to Crown Office figures.

They showed 193 people - all but four of them men - were charged in the year to the end of March.

That number was down from 206 in 2013/14 and 267 the previous year.

The figures showed that the accused had an affiliation with Rangers in 30% of the charges, Aberdeen in 16%, Celtic in 10% and Hibernian in 8%.

Some 16% of all charges were connected to the Dundee United versus Aberdeen match in December last year.

A further 7% were connected to Hamilton v Motherwell in September and 7% to the Scotland v England match in November.

Court proceedings have begun in relation to 168 of the 193 charges.

'Hateful behaviour'

The report on the figures said the average age of the accused had risen from 23 to 27.

Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012 criminalises hateful, threatening and otherwise offensive behaviour that is likely to incite public disorder in relation to football.

Last year people were accused of offences that were "threatening" in 61% of the charges and "hateful" in 30% of charges.

Behaviour was described as "otherwise offensive" - for example including a reference to celebration of loss of life or support of terrorist organisations - in 13% of charges.

Of the 58 charges relating to "hateful" behaviour, 50 charges involved incidents of religious hatred, down on previous years, while 4% involved racial hatred, and no charges involved sexual orientation.

As in the previous two years, derogatory behaviour towards Roman Catholicism (84%) accounted for the largest proportion of religious abuse.

Academic evaluation

Six charges (12%) included behaviour that was derogatory towards Protestantism.

One charge included derogatory behaviour towards Judaism, and one charge included derogatory behaviour towards Islam.

Fewer charges occurred in football stadiums than in previous years, with the majority relating to incidents outside grounds or in town or city centres on match days.

An academic evaluation of the act, published by the Scottish government, said football fans said they had not noticed any significant decrease in the amount of problematic behaviour since the new laws had come into force.

The report also said police and stewards in football grounds appeared to be concentrating on groups of young fans - terming them risk groups - and losing focus on more serious offenders, perhaps away from stadiums.

There has also been some criticism of the act from within the legal profession, with some sheriffs "emphatically critical" of it. Successful prosecutions have fallen from 73% to 52%.

Minister for Community Safety Paul Wheelhouse said: "We have seen a raft of encouraging statistics and evidence published today showing that hate crimes in Scotland are on the decrease, both on the streets of Scotland and in our football grounds and this is to be welcomed.

"Religious crimes are down, race crimes are down, crimes in relation to sexuality are down and we've seen a decrease in crimes of offensive behaviour at regulated football matches in Scotland. Whilst the legislation we brought in two years ago has had its critics, the latest statistics show a steady decline in offences at stadiums and a YouGov poll shows 80% of Scots support the Offensive Behaviour Act."

"We will not be complacent and will continue to monitor how the act is working very closely going forward. However, I believe the legislation is working. The evaluations, backed by the latest statistics out today, demonstrate that the act has had a positive impact and our approach has delivered real improvements in behaviour at football and online."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-33106460

[Ger77 742]

This is Scotland, get used to it.

[The Dude 20,026]

It's arrests not convictions. There is a huge difference.

[Guest]

This is down to the tarrier victim mentality that Scotland has pandered to for decades. They are seen as the victims of Loyalist oppression who have been forced into supporting groups like the IRA as if the British government in the 60s had some shoot to kill policy when it comes to Catholics, and we are seen as the aggressive oppressors for simply having pride in our Country and Culture.

Frankly if it were up to me celtic could sing what they like and we could sing what we like. All this bill does is ensure that frustrations felt by people all over the country that are released at football games via singing and shouting etc are now been forced to be released in the streets and pubs, i know this is a bit of an exaggeration bit this bill does nothing to stop sectarian hatred and violence in this country.

Whats the end game? Will the future see us as the victims? I doubt it. Will the government be happy when the sectarian violence spills onto the streets as long as no one is offended at the football?

A proper solution to this is to promote understanding of cultures. Most people in Scotland dont have a clue what the Orange Order or similar organisations stand for, but they are of the belief that its a bigoted sectarian group because the bigots in this country have allowed it to appear so.

Maybe instead of arresting people they should ask why they feel the way they do about these issues, maybe when groups like the OO organise days like Orangefest to promote friendship the government should encourage people to attend and see for themselves instead of pandering to the idea that everything associated with Loyalism is wrong.

Maybe promoting the fact that having pride in your culture and heritage is a good thing instead of making it out like all cultures should be hidden would make a difference. All i see is the finger being pointed at us, Loyalists arent some hidden undergound group, we march the streets in full view, we wear our colours, we have nothing to hide. Maybe if some of the people who just blindly signed a petition against Orangefest had actually just came and listened then people would have a change of view. Loyalists are a major part of this country, maybe we dont shout about it as much as the other side do, which gives people this mysterious impression of us. Most people in my work etc would be surprised to hear my political views because as Loyalist I tend not to talk about it as i know ill be the victim of assumptions about bigotry etc, but most tims and Yes voters i know wouldnt bat an eye about shouting about their beliefs.

The government acts like a spoilt wean over this. They should be trying to find the cause of these issues, religious schooling for example, instead of ignoring the issue and locking people up for speech. This country is a joke. And as ignorant as it may sound i believe if the IRA were brown skinned Muslims instead of White Christans then the tims would get away with a lot less. How would the country react if Anjem choudry wanted to march down Buchannan street with an Al Quaeda flute band carrying images of Bin Laden etc like the tims do with their terrorist heroes?

[Copland bear 7,966]

I didn't know I was a different 'race' from someone who comes from Aberdeen or Parkheid, but there ye go.

You learn something outlandish every day.

The majority of Rangers fans are Unionists and Protestant, call it faith then, but if you don't think your different from Celtic fans then that's your choice.

I am proud to say I am nothing like a Celtic fan in faith or politics.

[Tontospal 1,116]

Convictions under the new laws have been released, Conviction are down over the past year but the satistics are very worrying for Rangers fans.

We as fans are 3 time more likely to face arrest and a conviction over Celtic fans and twice as likely to be convicted than Aberdeen fans.

We Rangers fans take up 30 percent of convictions, Aberdeen I think was 14 percent or there abouts, and Celtic to my surprise only 10 percent.

The problem I have with these figures is that if it was some other minority group this was happening against there would be an uproar, but because it's us it goes unnoticed.

Our fan boards and our board should be asking why this is? Our fans are still being targeted while others are going unpunished.

These figures prove beyond doubt that we are been targeted and something must be done.

We can no longer sit back and except this, and it's every Rangers fans duty to ask why this is the case when Celtic fans rioted at Dundee, Tynecastle a couple of times and Motherwell of late.

How many arrests were made at these grounds on the night? We already know they backed off at Dens park for their own safety and let Celtic fans do as they please, this has already been well documented within the media.

Time for those in power and fans boards to start demanding answers.

We are been racially targeted and this would never happen to any other race in this country and we should be demanding answers now.

Until Rangers issue statements like this nothing will change.

The Rangers supporter jailed for singing should have been the event that brought this all to a head and United the club and all fan groups in taking the authorities on.

Of course, the politically correct brigade made this a non starter despite the fact that 99% of our supporters over 12 or so will have sung the 'offending' lyrics.

This should have been the line in the sand but it will only get worse.

[Guest]

The majority of Rangers and shellik fans are atheist. Most of our issues are political. Its a joke that the government seems to ignore this. Because most football fans share the same religious beliefs.

Most Rangers fans arent protestant, personally im an Atheist from Protestant stock so most of my values would probably be seen as protestant but i dont believe in God or the afterlife and most Bears are probably the same whether they admit it or not.

Sectarianism isnt the problem its religion full stop imo. Its just that politics and religion are intertwined in this part of the world. Guaranteed most people who hate the OO actually are more against their politics than their religion its just not perceived that way and the government's ignorance of this just makes the problem worse.

[slimjim1690 4,534]

All comes down to one word, APATHY, we have no one to stand our corner and fan groups are all split on their separate agendas that we are incapable of making a concerted stand against organizations who can do us harm.

I can't remember when we last had a chairman or board who would back our supporters, probably have to go back to John Lawrence, all they are interested in is how much money they can make out of us, nobody at the top cares about us and the new incumbents do not show any signs of change in that perspective, so it really is down to the supporters themselves to get organized and it has to be done politically,

But like I said above, apathy will set in again and we'll keep on moaning but nothing will change.