LONDON (AP) -- A 15-year ban that has kept Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan out of Britain is unfair and violates the fiery orator's rights, his lawyer argued Thursday.
Attorney Nicholas Blake told the High Court the ban was "unlawful" and interfered with the Chicago-based activist's freedom of expression. Blake said Farrakhan regretted the damage his highly charged rhetoric has caused in the past.
In November, then-Home Secretary Jack Straw decided to maintain the long-standing policy of prohibiting Farrakhan from entering Britain, citing his "anti-Semitic and racially divisive views."
"He recognizes some of the language associated with him in the past has caused offense and caused him problems, and he regrets that," Blake said. "He didn't intend to cause that offense."
Blake said Farrakhan particularly regretted the hurt he had caused to Jews.
The Nation of Islam leader once called Judaism a "gutter religion," and Straw's decision said a visit would be "an unwelcome and significant threat to community relations." Critics say Farrakhan is also anti-white and anti-gay.
Blake argued that the ban violated Britain's new Human Rights Act and its common law, and interfered with the rights of Britons interested in hearing views "of value to the black American and black British community."
The lawyer said Farrakhan had "moved on" from hurtful language and wanted to bring Britain's black communities a message of "self-reliance, dignity and discipline."
David Pannick, a lawyer for the Home Office, said Straw's decision to keep Farrakhan out was "unimpeachable."
Pannick said that while the activist had expressed regret for some of his language, he did not say anywhere that he was withdrawing his comments. He said the government still believed that a public Farrakhan speech could cause disorder, since Jews and others are offended by his views.
Farrakhan, 67, who underwent surgery last year for complications caused by treatment of prostate cancer, returned to the public spotlight in February. He organized the "Million Man March" in Washington, D.C., in 1995.
The hearing is expected to last at least two days.
AP-CS-07-12-01 1418EDT