Irish Voters Approve Elimination of Blasphemy As A Crime

In a referendum held last Friday, voters in Ireland approved removal from Sec. 40.6.1 of the Irish Constitution the language that makes blasphemy a crime.  As reported by BBC News, the vote was 64.85% voting in favor of decriminalizing blasphemy, and 35.15% against.  The removal of the language from the Constitution permits the Oireachtas to amend or repeal Sec. 36 of the Defamation Act of 2009 in order to eliminate blasphemy as a crime. (Background on referendum). See prior related posting.  [Thanks to Law & Religion UK for the lead.]

European Court Upholds Conviction For Calling Muhammad A Pedophile

As reported by the Daily Mail, in E.S. v. Austria, (ECHR, Oct. 25, 2018) the European Court of Human Rights ruled unanimously in a Chamber Judgment that Austria did not violate free speech protections of the European Convention on Human Rights, Sec. 10, when it convicted a speaker of disparaging religious precepts.  The speaker, a woman identified as E.S., made a statement disparaging Muhammad at a seminar titled “Basic information on Islam” presented at the right-wing Freedom Party Education Institute. Her presentation labelled Muhammad's marriage to Aisha as pedophilia  As summarized by the Court's Information Note on the decision, the Court held:

The applicant’s statements had been capable of arousing justified indignation given that they had not been made in an objective manner aimed at contributing to a debate of public interest, but could only have been understood as aimed at demonstrating that Muhammad was not a worthy subject of worship.... Presenting objects of religious worship in a provocative way capable of hurting the feelings of the followers of that religion could be conceived as a malicious violation of the spirit of tolerance, which was one of the bases of a democratic society....

The applicant had subjectively labelled Muhammad with paedophilia as his general sexual preference, while failing to neutrally inform her audience of the historical background, which consequently did not allow for a serious debate on that issue, and had thus made a value judgement without sufficient factual basis.... As to the applicant’s argument that a few individual statements had to be tolerated during a lively discussion, it was not compatible with Article 10 of the Convention to pack incriminating statements into the wrapping of an otherwise acceptable expression of opinion and deduce that this would render the statements, exceeding the permissible limits of freedom of expression, passable. Moreover, the applicant had been wrong to assume that improper attacks on religious groups had to be tolerated even if they were based on untrue facts.

Chamber judgments may be appealed to the Grand Chamber. [Updated to provide link to full text of decision. Thanks to Seth Tillman for the link.]

Pakistani Judges Receive Threats Over Upcoming Blasphemy Decision

According to DAWN, last week, a 3-judge panel of Pakistan's Supreme Court heard the appeal in Aasia Bibi's blasphemy case.  Bibi, a Christian, had been sentenced to death by lower courts. (See prior posting). After the hearing, the Supreme Court enjoined electronic and print media from discussing or commenting on the case until the Court's decision is handed down. Christian Post reported yesterday, however, that Supreme Court justices are receiving threats of death if they grant clemency to Bibi. The threats are coming from "hardline Muslim extremists affiliated with political parties like Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan."  TLPis threatening paralyzing nationwide sit-in protests if Bibi is freed. Leaders of Pakistan's Red Mosque movement have petitioned the court to place Bibi on a no-fly sit to prevent her from taking advantage of asylum in another country if she is freed.

Spanish Case Charges Actor's Facebook Post Violated Blasphemy Law

El Pais yesterday reported on a high profile battle in Spain over a prosecution under the country's blasphemy law:

A Madrid court has issued an arrest warrant for Spanish actor and activist Willy Toledo after he twice failed to show up in court, where he had been summonsed after a lawyers’ association accused him of offending religious sentiments.

The Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers filed a complaint with the public prosecutor after Toledo published a post on Facebook in 2017, in which he expressed his indignation over a court probe into three women in Seville who, in 2014, paraded a large model of a vagina through the city streets, in an imitation of a religious procession, dubbing it the “coño insumiso,” or “Insubordinate pussy.”

Indonesian Blasphemy Trial Underway For Woman Who Complained About Mosque Loudspeakers

AP reports on the blasphemy trial of an ethnic Chinese woman in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra. The woman was charged after she complained in 2016 about the volume of a mosque's loudspeakers. Reports of her complaint led to a July 2016 riot in which 14 Buddhist temples were burned and ransacked. Two people have been charged for instigating that riot.  Prosecutors are asking for an 18 month prison term in the blasphemy trial.

Indonesia Sentences Student To 4 Years In Jail For Anti-Muslim Facebook Post

AFP reports that on Tuesday a court on the Indonesian island of Sumatra sentenced a 21-year old Christian university student to 4 years in jail and a fine of $70,000 (US) for a Facebook post that compared the Prophet Muhammad to a pig and said that Muhammad approved bestiality.  The student, Martinus Gulo, had been charged under Art. 28 of Indonesia's Electronic Information and Transactions law (with unrelated 2016 amendments) that outlaws spreading hatred or dissension against individuals or groups based on their race, religion or ethnicity.

Czech Cardinal Sues Over Blasphemous Plays

According to Radio Praha yesterday:

The head of the Czech Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal Dominik Duka, has filed a lawsuit over a pair of theatre plays staged in Brno in May.... The ... plays Our Violence, Your Violence and The Curse included a scene in which Jesus rapes a Muslim woman as well as a depiction of Pope John Paul II in a state of tumescence....

Cardinal Duka says that the theatre show represented an attack on his rights guaranteed by the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms ... specifically ... freedom of religion and the right to dignity and honour....

Ireland To Hold Referendum To Remove Blasphemy From Constitution

Ireland's Justice Minister announced last week that the Government has approved the holding of a referendum on a constitutional amendment to remove the offense of blasphemy from the constitution.  Currently Art. 40, Sec. 6 of Ireland's Constitution provides: "The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law." In announcing the referendum, Justice Minister Flannigan said:

In terms of Ireland’s international reputation, this is an important step.  Regrettably, there are some countries in the world where blasphemy is an offence, the punishment of which is being put to death.  In these countries, such laws are not an anachronism but a very real threat to the lives of those who do not share the views of those enforcing the laws.  Such situations are abhorrent to our beliefs and values.  By removing this provision from our Constitution, we can send a strong message to the world that laws against blasphemy do not reflect Irish values and that we do not believe such laws should exist.

Ireland's legislature must take additional steps to implement the referendum decision. [Thanks to Law & Religion UK for the lead.]

Indonesia Sentences Christian Man To 4 Years For Facebook Post Urging Conversion

According to World Watch Monitor and the Jakarta Post, in Indonesia on Monday a Christian cleric was sentenced to 4 years in prison and a fine equivalent to $3,565(US) for religious discussion on a video he posted online.   Abraham Ben Moses, a convert from Islam, was convicted of violating the Electronic and Information Transactions Law No. 11/2008 by intentionally spreading information intended to incite hatred against an individual or group based on religion. According to the Post:

Abraham was known for recording his conversations with an online taxi driver identified only as Supri.

In a video he uploaded to his Facebook account, Abraham quoted a Quran verse about marriage and tried to convince the driver to convert to Christianity.

Brazilian Court Rejects Censorship of Play Depicting Jesus As Trans Woman

In Brazil last week, the São Paulo Court of Justice (the highest state court) lifted an emergency injunction that had been issued by a local court banning further performances of the play "The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven." The art news site Hyperallergic reports on developments.  The play is a one-woman show that depicts Jesus living in the present as a trans woman.  The controversial show was described by the lower court as  "disrespectful to a religion," "aggressive," and of  an "extremely low intellectual level." The appellate court, however, held that the injunction was unconstitutional censorship that effectively forbids artistic activity.

Pakistani Court Sentences 31 In Lynching of Student Falsely Accused of Blashpemy

Agence France-Presse today reports that a court in Pakistan has sentenced one person to death, five others to life in prison and 25 to three years in prison in the lynching of a student who was falsely accused of blasphemy.  26 others were acquitted. According to the report:

Mashal Khan, 23, was stripped, beaten and shot by a gang made up mostly of students last April before being thrown from the second floor of his dormitory at Abdul Wali Khan University in the northwestern city of Mardan....

Around two thousand people gathered at the main entrance of Mardan city, Khan's hometown, showering the acquitted students with flowers, chanting slogans against the provincial government and demanding the release of those convicted.

European Court Upholds Company's Religiously Objectionable Ads

In Case of Sekmadienis Ltd. v. Lithuania, (ECHR, Jan. 30, 2018), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment held that Lithuania's State Consumer Rights Protection Authority violated a clothing company's freedom of expression when it imposed a fine because of a series of the company's ads that were seen as offending Christians. The Economist, reporting on the decision, described the ads:

The case refers to a Kalinkin campaign in 2012 which featured a bare-chested young man and a woman, both with halos: the man was sporting jeans and tattoos, and the female figure wore a white dress with a string of beads. The captions consisted of lines such as: “Jesus, what trousers!”, “Dear Mary, what a dress!” and “Jesus, Mary, what are you wearing?”

The European Court concluded that Lithuanian courts "failed to strike a fair balance between, on the one hand, the protection of public morals and the rights of religious people, and, on the other hand, the applicant company’s right to freedom of expression."  The Court issued a press release summarizing the decision. Chamber judgments may be appealed to the Grand Chamber.

Pakistan Troops Clash With Islamic Protesters Who Accuse Law Minister of Blasphemy

According to a report yesterday from BBC News, the government of Pakistan has deployed troops to the city of Islamabad to deal with protesters who have been blocking a key highway interchange for several weeks.  Protesters from the Islamist Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Party  are demanding the firing of Law Minister Zahid Hamid, claiming that he is guilty of blasphemy because of a provision in his 2017 Election Reform Bill passed by the National Assembly.

Here is the issue, as explained by Daily Pakistan. Under prior law, the nomination form that a candidate for office was required to complete included the following for all Muslim candidates:

I, the above mentioned candidate, solemnly swear that--

(i) I believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad (Peace be upon him), the last of the prophets and that I am not the follower of anyone who claims to be a Prophet in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever after Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), and that I do not recognize such a claimant to be Prophet or a religious reformer, nor do I belong to the Qadiani group or the Lahori group or call myself an Ahmadi.

In the 2017 legislation, this statement became an unsworn declaration by the candidate. Hamid said that this was a clerical error, and earlier this month Pakistan's National Assembly amended the 2017 Bill to restore this anti-Ahmadi provision as a sworn statement in the candidate nomination form. (TheNation).  That apparently did not assuage protesters' objections.  AP reports that at least 6 people were killed and 200 wounded in clashes yesterday between police and protesters in Islamabad.  Other opposition members of Parliament have different kinds of objections to other parts of the 2017 Bill.

UPDATE: Reuters (11/28) reports on the negotiated settlement of the conflict, though the military's role in the negotiations has raised questions.

Italian Artist Charged With Criminal Blasphemy

The art blog Hyperallergic this week reports that in Italy, the anonymous artist known as Hogre was arrested and charged with publicly insulting religion in violation of Sec. 403 (Criminal Blasphemy) of Italy's Criminal Code.  According to the blog's report:

Hogre was one of two artists who, on June 1 of this year, placed satirical posters in bus stop advertising spaces in the Italian capital. Hogre’s poster “Ecce homo erectus” depicts Jesus with a conspicuous erection, resting one hand on the head of a praying, kneeling child. This was a response to sexual abuse charges against Cardinal Pell, the third highest-ranking Vatican official.

If convicted, the artist could face a fine of €1000 to €5000.  Hyperallergic's blog post includes a photo of the offending poster.

Egyptian Court Bans TV Show That Criticizes Traditional Sunni Doctrine

Yesterday Egypt's Administrative Court banned the broadcast of the TV show "With Islam."  As reported by Al-Ahram and Egypt Daily News, the show, hosted by Egyptian reformer Islam El-Beheiry, features video excerpts of talks by respected Salafi preachers followed by El-Beheiry's criticism of their statements.  The show appears on the privately-owned TV channel Al Qahera Wel Nas.  The suit was originally filed in 2015 by Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed El-Tayeb who contended that El-Beheiry falsely criticized religious doctrines to make individuals question their beliefs. Yesterday;s court order bans showing of future as well as past episodes of With Islam, and also prohibits inviting El-Beheiry to appear on any other satellite TV channels.  In December 2015, El-Beheiry was sentenced to one year in prison for contempt of religion after he questioned the authenticity of certain Sunni religious texts. He was released one month early with a pardon from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and his show resumed in May.

USCIRF Condemns Pakistan's Blasphemy Convictions of Ahmadis

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a press release yesterday condemning Pakistan for sentencing three Ahmadis to death for blasphemy.  Voice of America reports that the three were sentenced Wednesday by a court in Pakistan's Punjab province.  The men were arrested in 2014 after village residents claimed they were tearing down a religious poster-- apparently an anti-Ahmadi poster.  Ahmadis consider themselves Muslims, but Pakistan does not recognize them as such and considers them heretics. USCIRF called on Pakistan to repeal their blasphemy laws and to release those in prison on blasphemy charges.

USCIRF Issues New Report on Blasphemy Laws Around the World

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom this week released a report titled Respecting Rights? Measuring the World’s Blasphemy Laws. The report Overview describes the content:

This report examines and compares the content of laws prohibiting blasphemy (“blasphemy laws”) worldwide through the lens of international and human rights law principles.... This study seeks to evaluate the language and content of blasphemy laws to understand what aspects of these laws adhere to—or deviate from—international and human rights law principles.

Particularly useful to researchers is the Compendium of Laws set out as an Annex to the Report which reproduces the actual language of blasphemy provisions in the more than 70 nations that have such provisions.

In A First, Pakistan Imposes Death Sentence For Online Blasphemy

As reported by the Hindustan Times and The Sun, for the first time a Pakistani court has handed down a death sentence for blasphemy disseminated on social media. On Saturday, an Anti-Terrorism Court sentenced a 30-year old Shia Muslim who posted derogatory remarks about Sunni religious figures as well as about the Prophet Muhammad on Facebook.  Apparently the defendant engaged in a religious debate on Facebook and the person on the other side turned out to be a counter-terrorism agent. Defendant was charged under Pakistan Penal Code Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet) and Sections 9 and 11W of the Anti-Terrorism Act (inciting sectarian hatred).

Egyptian Muslim Cleric Accused of "Contempt of Religion"

In Egypt last Thursday, members of the Egyptian Parliament filed a lawsuit against Muslim cleric and former deputy minster in the Endowments Ministry, Salem Abdel Galil.  According to Egypt Daily News, the suit, and another one filed by different complainants, accuse Galil of contempt of religion and threatening national unity because of statements he made on May 3 during his television show "Muslims Ask."  In explaining a verse from the Qur'an, he said that Christians and Jews follow corrupt religions and are non-believers.  In a statement on his Facebook page, Galil apologized for "hurting Christians’ feelings," but said he would never apologize for his religion. Al-Mehwar TV has canceled Galil's contract, and Minister of Endowments Mokhtar Gomaa said that Galil would not be allowed to lead Friday prayers unless he retracted his comments.

Indonesian Governor Sentenced To 2 Years In Jail for Blasphemy

In Indonesia on Tuesday, Jakarta's outgoing governor, a Christian, was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to two years in jail.  Comments about a verse in the Qur'an made during the campaign by the governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (also known as "Ahok"), played a major role in his defeat by a Muslim candidate.  According to The Atlantic:

While on a work trip late last year, Purnama claimed that Jakarta’s Islamic leaders were misrepresenting a principle in the Koran for political gains. The verse in question, which comes from the fifth chapter of the Koran, suggests that Muslims should not have non-Muslim leaders. Purnama implied that his opponents were using the verse to discriminate against Christian candidates like himself. He later apologized for the comments, but did not admit to any wrongdoing.