Schwarzenegger faces 'Tookie' backlash in Austria (Revoke Citizenship)

[Clara T]

Schwarzenegger faces 'Tookie' backlash in Austria

Luke Harding in Berlin
Wednesday December 21, 2005
The Guardian


Already in trouble with voters in California, Arnold Schwarzenegger was facing a backlash in his native Austria yesterday over his decision last week to allow the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams.

Leftwing councillors in Graz yesterday announced that they are seeking to strip Mr Schwarzenegger - who was born and grew up near the town - of his Austrian citizenship. In a further protest, they also want to rename the local sports complex, now the Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium, as the Tookie Williams Stadium.

"People have had enough of him," Peter Pilz, a Green MP in the regional parliament of Steiermark, told the Guardian yesterday. "He was an idol across Austria. But since the death of 'Tookie' Williams, the public mood has changed.

"Stripping him of his citizenship would send a message to opponents of the death penalty in the US. Austria has signed up to the European human rights convention, which forbids the death penalty. For us, he has committed a state crime."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/austria/article/0,2763,1671800,00.html