LONDON, Aug. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- London mayor Ken Livingstone will face a disciplinary hearing for likening a Jewish reporter to a Nazi concentration camp guard, Sky news reported on Tuesday.
The Mayor will have to appear before the independent Adjudication Panel for England and face allegations that he failed to treat others with respect or brought his office into disrepute.
Livingstone could be banned from office for five years, told to make an apology, suspended, made to undergo training or censured if the panel decides he breached the Greater London Authority's code of conduct.
The public hearing could take place in early December.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews referred the matter to the The Standards Board for England in February after Livingstone asked Evening Standard reporter Oliver Finegold whether he had ever been a "German war criminal".
On hearing that Finegold was Jewish, the mayor likened him to a Nazi concentration camp guard.
Livingstone came under fire after refusing to apologize, despite calls from the Jewish community, concentration camp survivors and other politicians.
He declared there would be no apology to the journalist or to the Jewish community who had been offended by his remarks.
Livingstone argued that he had been rude to reporters for nearly 25 years and that he would continue to be so.
He claimed he had not meant to downplay the horror of the Holocaust but had hit back after a 24-year hate campaign.
It is speculated that a five-year-ban is the least likely punishment he will receive. Enditem |