Tuesday, May 21, 2013




Must not criticize Islam in Belgium

In Belgium a man was convicted for ‘racist hate speech’ because he publicly tore up a Koran, before the eyes of a group of Muslims. The case illustrates the need to protect free speech against those seeking to criminalise ‘Islamophobia’.

On 8 June 2012 a man, identified as Arne S., participated in a demonstration organised by a radical right-wing political party, Vlaams Belang (‘Flemish Interest’), opposing the construction of a mosque in the Belgian coastal city of Ostend. In the aftermath of the demonstration S. tore up a Koran in the presence of a small group of Muslims, with whom he had exchanged words. The public prosecutor indicted S. for incitement to hatred, discrimination and violence on the basis of race and ethnic origin.

The defendant’s attorney called for an acquittal, arguing that no infraction on the anti-racism legislation had occurred. The criminal court in Bruges convicted the man, however, on 11 March 2013.

The court held that the facts were serious and testified to “a blatant lack of tolerance and a highly questionable attitude”.

Source

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

tearing up paper really hurts them, so easy to offend that it's a big weakness.

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Anonymous said...

If he tore up a bible,all would be OK

Bird of Paradise said...

Europe pays the price for Open Borders and amnesty

Anonymous said...

When it became convenient.

Anonymous said...

You can now be criminalised for having a questionable attitude? Geez - my kids better stay away from Belgium or they'll all end up locked away.

Anonymous said...

I assume the heated words uttered by the offended Muslims weren't exactly charitable. Where is their arrest and charge for hate speech?