Magazine staff threatened after Manson incident

Magazine staff threatened after Manson incident

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Magazine staff threatened after Manson incident

The staff of the alternative rock music magazine Side-Line ( www.side-line.com ) based in Brussels, Belgium has been threatened after publishing details on a new Charles Manson album holding demo material by the convicted murderer. Since the article regarding Manson's newest release went online on May 1st, the staff received a flood of phonecalls and hatemail in their mailbox including some really nasty ones. The magazine has now been obliged to inform the police of the threats as it really got out of hand: "Death threats were made toward me personally, much to my surprise really", chief editor Bernard Van Isacker said. Most of the mails attack the magazine for so-called supporting Manson.

The sudden aggressive outburst comes as a surprise as in the past the magazine often touched sensative subjects without running into problems. Some famous illegal download site also started harassing the magazine's members via phone and e-mail when they published some very negative news on their business. "I guess that Charles Manson was just a bridge too far for many, but I wonder if we are not confronted with an orchestrated hate campaign toward the magazine", Van Isacker says. Manson was convicted of conspiracy to commit the Tate-LaBianca murders, which members of the Manson Family commune carried out at his instruction. Although the magazine takes the threats very seriously, it still wants to handle the matter in a civilized way by inviting people to discuss the subject with the editorial staff.

The reaction against the magazine should be seen in the light of recent murders taking place in Europe against youngsters and immigrants. "I understand that people react against unnecessary violence but it is completely incomprehensible that people turn against a magazine that just reports on the music world", the chief editor says. Due to the continued pressure from certain groups, the magazine was forced to issue a press release to defend its point of view.

Kind regards,

Bernard Van Isacker
chief editor
www.side-line.com

ENDS

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