Posted on 12/26/2005 8:22:33 AM PST by knighthawk
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Officials in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown quietly removed his name from a soccer stadium overnight, complying with the California governor's demand in a bitter dispute over his death penalty stance. Authorities late Sunday night or early Monday removed the large metal letters spelling out the action star-turned-politician's name from the 15,300-seat stadium in the southern city of Graz, taking advantage of the Christmas lull to avoid attracting attention.
Schwarzenegger had written to the mayor of Graz a week ago asking that his name be removed after local activists called for the stadium to be renamed because of Schwarzenegger's refusal to block the Dec. 13 execution of convicted murderer Stanley (Tookie) Williams in California.
Capital punishment is illegal in Schwarzenegger's native Austria, where many people consider it barbaric. Opposition had run especially high in Graz, whose official slogan is "City of Human Rights."
The governor, turning the tables on his critics, ordered his name removed and said he was returning a ring of honour that Graz officials gave him in 1999.
With the Hollywood star's name gone, the sign atop the stadium in Graz, about 200 kilometres south of Vienna, read simply: "Stadium Graz Liebenau." Officials had renamed the arena in Schwarzenegger's honour in 1997.
Calls to the city hall in Graz went unanswered Monday, a national holiday in Austria.
Last week, Graz Mayor Siegfried Nagl wrote to Schwarzenegger urging him to reconsider his decision to cut ties to the city and to keep the ring. Nagl said he reassured Schwarzenegger that he remains admired by most local residents despite the fierce opposition to his support of the death penalty.
Nagl said he was worried that severing ties to Schwarzenegger, one of Austria's most famous sons, potentially could cost the city millions in tourist revenue.
But a movement to scrap Schwarzenegger's name from the stadium had gained momentum in recent weeks, and a majority of the city council in Graz was said to support the idea, making Schwarzenegger's demand a pre-emptive move.
Many Europeans have scorned the United States' use of capital punishment in general, and Schwarzenegger's refusal to grant clemency to convicts on California's death row in particular. They are now waiting to see how Schwarzenegger deals with the scheduled Jan. 17 execution of a 75-year-old inmate.
Schwarzenegger was born in 1947 in the village of Thal just outside Graz, where he began his bodybuilding career. He emigrated to the United States in 1968 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1984, but has retained his Austrian citizenship.
He remained quite popular in Austria, enjoying a surge in popularity after his 2003 election as governor, but many Austrians began to sour on him last January after he allowed California's first execution in three years to go forward.
Donald Beardslee, 61, was given a lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco. His Jan. 19 execution triggered protests in front of the U.S. Embassy in Vienna.
Ping
Clarence Ray Allen, who has breathed far too long.
Let's hope so.
"He emigrated to the United States in 1968 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1984, but has retained his Austrian citizenship."
If you are a citizen of any country other than the United States, then go there, and stay there.
Wasn't dual citizenship illegal in the past?
Barbaric? Guess these weeners thought Conan was make believe.
Arnold should buy it, tear it down and build a mall.
Clarence must die.
All the polls I have seen have Europeans, greater than Americans, supporting the death penalty. Only the leftist rulers, command the 'we're too nice, soft, cowardly and it's too decisive for us' policy.
Sloppy, low quality use of the phrase "many". Typical wire service dreck.
So America is barbaric huh?
Hmmmm . . . well other than Arnold and maybe Mozart, can anyone think of another notable Austrian?
Who comes to mind . . . .?
Ahnold ze Barbarian!
The guy who invented the Sacher Torte?
"Who comes to mind . . . .?"
Hmmm, well there was the homeless water color artist who hung around the streets trying to sell his art....he did become someone of reknown later. He was kind of mean though....
I suppose that's easy for someone who may not hold citizenship (or heritage) in two countries to say.
Wasn't dual citizenship illegal in the past?
Nope, and it still isn't. In the past, however, there were stipulations to holding dual citizenship; the owner of both had to choose one by his/her 18th birthday (among other things - the two countries couldn't be at war with each other, or something like that). These days, however, the laws regarding that have changed in that a person holding citizenship for the U.S. and another country may keep both citizen rights as long as he/she does not vote (pledge allegiance) in the other country.
Adolf Hitler was Austrian but I don't think they want to go there.
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