Dangerous neo-Nazi death cult to be outlawed alongside Palestine Action

A deadly neo-Nazi cult aiming to spead the "flames of Lucifer" across the world is set to be outlawed in the UK.

Yvette Cooper will this week set out plans to proscribe the Maniacs Murder Cult (MMC). The vile organisation, which is believed to have been founded in Ukraine, has been linked to dozens of racist attacks and murders in Europe and America.

One terrifying plot in the US would have seen a supporter dressed as Santa hand out poisoned sweets to children, prosecutors said. And sick videos shared on the Telegram messaging app show bloodied victims lying dead after savage knife attacks by newly-recuited fanatics.

MMC has been named in draft legislation which also outlaws Palestine Action and the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) - a hard-line nationalist group that has sent units to fight in Ukraine. Membership or support for any of these groups will carry hefty prison sentences.

READ MORE: Palestine Action seeks court showdown over ban using anti-terror laws

Last month MMC chief Michail Chkhikvishvili, nicknamed "Commander Butcher", appeared in a US court accused of plotting and inspiring killings around the world. The court in New York heard he “spent years soliciting gruesome attacks from his followers”.

He helped publish a manifesto known as the Hater's Handbook, the New York Times reports. This book called on readers to commit chilling acts of mass murder.

Palestine Action has voiced its outrage at being included alongside MMC. It said in a statement: “Bundling Palestine Action – a domestic civil disobedience protest group – in with foreign neo-Nazi organisations (the Moldovan ‘Maniacs Murder Cult’ and the Russian ‘Imperialist Movement’) further highlights how unjustified and preposterous the Home Secretary’s proposed proscription of Palestine Action is.

“These foreign organisations are the kind of groups proscription was created to target – not protesters who disrupt arms factories and spray paint on war planes to protest war crimes and genocide.”

And suspended Labour MP John McDonnell wrote: "The order published today by Yvette Cooper to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group lists them alongside the Maniacs Murder Cult & Russian Imperial Movement/Legion. To compare a protest movement like PL with these violent, murdering terrorists is beyond all credibility."

It comes as Palestine Action launched a legal challenge over the decision to proscribe it. Lawyers for co-founder Huda Ammori are seeking an interim order blocking Ms Cooper from outlawing the group.

An urgent hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice was told a decision is expected next month on whether Palestine Action can mount a full legal challenge.

READ MORE: Join our Mirror politics WhatsApp group to get the latest updates from Westminster