German Halal Butcher Encounters Bureaucratic Resistance Despite Court Wins

Public Radio International yesterday reported on the problems faced by a Muslim butcher, Rüstem Altinküpe, in obtaining a license to engage in halal slaughter of animals without first stunning them. Even though Altinkupe has repeatedly won in German courts, a Hessen district administrator, Reinhard Strack-Schmalor, is resisting.  Strack-Schmalor-- under pressure from animal rights activists and the extreme political right-- takes the position that there are ways around the Islamic law ban on stunning animals. Altinküpe is particularly concerned that a local German bureaucrat can impose his interpretation of Islam on on a Muslim.