LONDON MAYOR SUSPENDED FOR NAZI COMMENTS

Mayor suspended in Nazi jibe row. (CNN)
The three-man Adjudication Panel for England unanimously ruled that Livingstone had been “unnecessarily insensitive and offensive” to Evening Standard reporter Oliver Finegold last year. The suspension will start March 1, the UK’s Press Association reported. Livingstone’s punishment could have included being barred from office.

“This is extremely disappointing,” said Tony Child, a lawyer for the mayor. “We will be considering our right to appeal to the High Court.” Because Livingstone lost the case he must pay his own costs, estimated at more than £80,000 ($175,000), The Associated Press reported. The panel made no recommendation whether his salary should be suspended.

“His treatment of the journalist was unnecessarily insensitive and offensive,” said David Laverick, chairman of the disciplinary panel sitting in central London. “He persisted with a line of comment likening the journalist’s job to a concentration camp guard despite being told that the journalist was Jewish and found it offensive to be asked if he was a German war criminal. The reasonable onlooker would regard Mr. Livingstone’s reputation as being damaged as a result of the exchange,” Laverick said. “The case tribunal has also concluded that the remarks have also had the effect of damaging the reputation of his office of mayor.”