Blasphemy 'is no crime', says Macron amid French girl's anti-Islam row

Emmanuel Macron has waded into a row over a schoolgirl whose attack on Islam has divided France, insisting that blasphemy is “no crime”.

The French president defended the teenager, named only as Mila, who received death threats and was forced out of her school after filming an anti-religious diatribe on social media.

Macron’s intervention comes after his justice minister, Nicole Belloubet, was criticised for claiming Mila’s attack on religion was “an attack on freedom of conscience” while saying the death threats were “unacceptable”.

The case has sparked a furious public debate in France, a strictly secular republic with a large Muslim population. The education authorities have since found another school for the teenager.

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“In this debate we have lost sight of the fact that Mila is an adolescent. We owe her protection at school, in her daily life, in her movements,” Macron said in an interview with Le Dauphiné Libéré newspaper. [The Guardian] Read more

Mila: Teen who criticised Islam on Instagram moves school

A French teenager who criticised Islam on Instagram has moved to a new school after receiving death threats.

Education minister Gabriel Attal told broadcaster LCI on Monday that they had found a new school for Mila "to allow her to continue her life".

Mila, 16, sparked a national row over free speech when she called Islam a "religion of hate".

The teen's criticisms prompted fury but also drew support in France, where there are no laws against blasphemy.

Her comments about Islam came after she received homophobic abuse from a Muslim commenter. Supporters started the hashtag #JeSuisMila (I am Mila), while critics responded with #JeNeSuisPasMila.

.... The controversy began on 18 January, after Mila did a live broadcast on her Instagram account. After speaking about her sexuality she was called a "dirty lesbian" by a Muslim commenter.

In response, Mila posted an attack on Islam. "I hate religion. The Koran is a religion of hate," she said, before using stronger words to attack Islam. [BBC] Read more

France Quietly Reintroducing the Crime of Blasphemy

Today, in France, using freedom of expression to criticize Islam is clearly an extremely dangerous act, even if you, like Mila, are a child.

France is rapidly going from laïcité (secularism) to lâcheté (cowardice); from freedom of expression to unconditional surrender. France keeps trying to procrastinate while Islamism thrives on the elites' rapidly abandoning their Judeo-Christian values.

Feminist organizations, so quick to denounce "toxic masculinity" and "patriarchal structures of domination", were also silent.

Today, in France, the country of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which always sanctified freedom of expression and the right to criticize religion and ideologies, some within the justice system.... are quietly and de facto reintroducing the crime of blasphemy. [Gatestone Institute] Read more

Tory inquiry imam in free-speech row

A leading imam appointed by Theresa May to conduct a government inquiry into Islamophobia faced calls to stand down last night after he was accused of questioning free speech.

Qari Asim, the imam at the Makkah mosque in Leeds, was appointed to the government’s Islamophobia panel last July to help create a definition of anti-Muslim hatred.

However, a tape has emerged in which Asim told an interfaith workshop in September 2018 that, while Muslims “cherish free speech”, some want exceptions in instances where something is “distasteful to Muslims or they find it offensive”, particularly where it concerns the prophet Muhammad.

In his presentation, Asim suggested that some Muslims argue “we can have exceptions to the freedom of speech, on the basis of their being some words or some actions being offensive or distasteful”. [The Times (£)] Read more

French teenager who received death threats for saying Islam was a 's**t' religion says she 'does not regret' her online rant and defends her 'right to blaspheme'

The French teenager who received death threats after footage of her saying that Islam was a 's**t' religion went viral online has come out of hiding to defend her strong atheist convictions.

The teenager, identified only as Mila, appeared on the French TV programme Quotidien last night to say she 'does not regret' her comments.

It comes after France's left-wing elite was criticised for failing to support a 16-year-old girl who has faced death threats for insulting Islam.

She was removed from her sixth-form college in Lyon, south-east France, by police 'for her own safety' and has faced a torrent of insults and threats to rape and kill her.

During the interview Mila defended her right to her strong atheist convictions. She said: 'I would like to clarify that... I would like to come back to the subject about the fact that I absolutely do not regret what I said, that it was really what I thought.' [Daily Mail] Read more

Pakistan Delays Decision on Movie That Offended Islamists

Pakistan's government on Monday postponed its decision on whether to lift a ban on a movie that had offended hard-line Islamists in this Muslim-majority country, after asking a high council of clerics to weigh in on the film.

The Islamists had raised allegations of blasphemy over the film, "Zindagi Tamasha,” or “Circus of Life," by Pakistani director Sarmad Khosat, which was to be released in late January. Its debut was scrapped by the Punjab provincial government's information office, following objections from the Tehreek-e-Labbaik party and its followers.

Their claims drew attention again to Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law, which carries an automatic death sentence for a conviction of insulting Islam. There have been widespread complaints that the law is used to settle scores and intimidate religious minorities. [The Associated Press] Read more

Teenager in hiding over anti-Islam comments amid fierce row over right to criticise religion in France

A French teenager forced to go into hiding for criticising Islam was on Thursday at the heart of a ferocious secularism row after the justice minister claimed her comments breached "freedom of conscience”.

The row initially erupted after a 16-year old schoolgirl called Mila got into a heated exchange on social media that ended in her receiving a torrent of death threats and being taken out of school for her own safety.

An avid singer from Lyon, southeastern France, Mila had engaged in a live “chat” with followers of her Instagram account.

During the exchange, she rebuffed repeated advances by one online suitor, saying she was lesbian, prompting insults about her sexuality.

Then the attacks took a religious bent, with zealots online reportedly accusing Mila of insulting "our God Allah, the one and only" and hoping that she would "burn in hell." [The Telegraph] Read more

'Finally free': Asia Bibi breaks silence after Pakistani death row hell

Recounting the hellish conditions of eight years spent on death row on blasphemy charges but also the pain of exile, Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi has broken her silence to give her first personal insight into an ordeal that caused international outrage.

Bibi was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges by a Pakistani court in 2010 but then dramatically acquitted in 2018. She now lives in Canada at an undisclosed location.

French journalist Anne-Isabelle Tollet, who has co-written a book about her, was once based in the country where she led a support campaign for her.

She is the only reporter to have met Bibi during her stay in Canada. [France24] Read more

Councillor will not face police action over 'Islamophobic' Twitter posts

Stourbridge councillor Colin Elcock has been given an indefinite suspension by the Dudley Conservative Group after he was reported over the posts. He will now sit as an independent.

West Midlands Police launched an investigation but said the posts, which said Islam was “domination not integration” and asked whether people in Iran were “all on the dole”, did not "meet the threshold for criminal prosecution".

A force spokesman said: "Police launched an investigation into a complaint regarding social media comments.

"A thorough investigation was carried out, with all of the evidence obtained and reviewed. It was concluded that the comments did not meet the threshold for criminal prosecution." [Express & Star] Read more

French teenager in hiding after insulting Islam online

Police have told a French teenager to go into hiding after she received death threats for insulting Islam.

The 16-year-old has been advised to stay away from her lycée (sixth-form college) in southeast France after calls on the internet for her to be killed, raped or attacked.

The girl, named only as Mila, is understood to have been told by officials that she should avoid being seen in public until the controversy fades. She is being given psychological support by the local prosecutor’s office.

Prosecutors said two separate criminal inquiries were under way, the first to track the authors of threats to kill and rape the teenager, the second to determine whether her comments amounted to the offence of hate speech.

The case risks widening the gulf between mainstream French society and the country’s five to six million Muslims who often claim they suffer discrimination on a greater scale than their counterparts in the UK. [The Times (£)] Read more

Nigerian pastor who praised God in ransom video beheaded after refusing to deny Christ

A pastor who made headlines earlier this month for praising God in a ransom video has been executed by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria.

International human rights activists have condemned the killing of Rev. Lawan Andimi, the chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria’s chapter in the Michika Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

Andimi was declared missing on Jan. 3 following a raid by the Islamic extremist group in Michika. Video posted online appears to show Andimi being forced into a vehicle by his captors.

Days later, Andimi was seen in a video released by his captors calling on fellow Christian leaders and state government officials to secure his release. [The Christian Post] Read more

Press watchdog: Newspapers treating Muslims “differently”

“I have a suspicion that [Muslims] are from time to time written about in a way that [newspapers] would simply not write about Jews or Roman Catholics,” says the outgoing chairman of the Independent Press Standards Organisation

The press watchdog, the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) has stated the obvious: Muslims get unfair treatment in the UK printed press. The departing chief of the organisation told the Financial Times that the portrayal of Muslims in British newspapers had been the most difficult issue faced since the inception of IPSO in 2014.

IPSO is due to publish guidelines for journalists early in 2020, following criticism from a Home Affairs Select Committee hearing on Islamophobia, where it was concluded that IPSO was not doing enough to tackle the issue, citing inflammatory and inaccurate writing about Muslims. Sir Alan Moses, who is stepping down as chairman of IPSO, acknowledged the problem, commenting:

“I speak for myself, but I have a suspicion that [Muslims] are from time to time written about in a way that [newspapers] would simply not write about Jews or Roman Catholics.”

However, any such guidelines will only be voluntary and are therefore not likely to be followed by those with an Islamophobic agenda. Reacting to the mere talk of proposed guidelines, newspapers such as The Telegraph branded them a threat to free speech, a charge dismissed by IPSO as “groundless”. [Islam21c.com] Read more

Messiah: Jordan calls on Netflix to ban controversial ‘anti-Islamic’ drama series

The Royal Film Commission of Jordan has called on Netflix to ban a controversial US drama series due to stream in the country this week.

Messiah revolves around a CIA agent (Michelle Monaghan) investigating a man named Al-Masih (Mehdi Dehbi), who has sparked a legion of devoted followers after claiming to have been sent to earth by a higher being.

“Having been made aware of its content, the RFC has asked officially the management of Netflix to refrain from streaming it in Jordan,” the commission’s statement reads.

“The story is purely fictional and so are the characters, yet the RFC deems that the content of the series could be largely perceived or interpreted as infringing on the sanctity of religion, thus possibly contravening the laws in the country.” [The Independent] Read more

Muslims treated differently by newspapers, says press watchdog

The portrayal of Islam and Muslims in the British press has been “the most difficult issue” facing the press watchdog in the past five years, according to its outgoing chief.

“I speak for myself, but I have a suspicion that [Muslims] are from time to time written about in a way that [newspapers] would simply not write about Jews or Roman Catholics,” said Alan Moses, who is standing down after five years as chairman of the Independent Press Standards Organisation.

His comments come two months ahead of Ipso’s plans to publish voluntary guidance for journalists when writing about Muslims, who make up roughly 5 per cent of Great Britain’s population, according to 2017 data from the Office for National Statistics. The regulator has previously issued similar advice for journalists reporting on transsexual people and victims of sexual crime.

“A shock-jock Muslim story on the front page sells papers,” the former Conservative party chair Sayeeda Warsi told the committee at the time. “This is nothing new, we have been here before — some of the headlines we see now could have been written about the Jewish community in the 1930s and indeed were.” [The Financial Times] Read more

Pakistan blasphemy death sentence ‘travesty of justice’, say UN experts

Thirty-three-year-old Junaid Hafeez, a lecturer at Bahauddin Zakariya University in Multan, was sentenced to death – despite last year’s landmark Supreme Court ruling in which Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi was tried and condemned to hang for blasphemy but was later acquitted.

"The Supreme Court ruling in the Asia Bibi case should have set a precedent for lower courts to dismiss any blasphemy case that has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt," the experts said.

Moreover, they raised concerns in an urgent appeal to the Government over the legal merits of the case

"In the light of this ruling, the guilty verdict against Mr. Hafeez is a travesty of justice, and we condemn the death sentence imposed on him”, spelled out the independent experts.

“We urge Pakistan's superior courts to promptly hear his appeal, overturn the death sentence and acquit him." [UN News] Read more

Academic sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan

A university lecturer in Pakistan has been sentenced to death for blasphemy.

Junaid Hafeez, 33, was arrested in March 2013 and accused of posting derogatory comments about the Prophet Muhammad on social media.

Allegations of blasphemy are taken very seriously in Pakistan, and even an accusation is often enough to make someone a target for hardliners.

Mr Hafeez's first lawyer, Rashid Rehman, was shot dead in 2014 after agreeing to take on the case.

The lecturer has also spent years in solitary confinement, after repeated attacks by other prisoners.

The sentence was delivered by a court in the Central Jail in Multan, where Mr Hafeez was being held.

Mr Hafeez had studied a Master's degree in the US on a Fulbright Scholarship, specialising in American literature, photography and theatre. [BBC] Read more

Pakistan court hands down death sentence to scholar accused of blasphemy

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Saturday sentenced a liberal scholar and former university lecturer to death on blasphemy charges.

In 2013, Junaid Hafeez was accused by students at the university where he taught of making blasphemous Facebook posts. Insulting Islam’s Prophet Mohammad carries a mandatory death penalty in Pakistan, which is about 95% Muslim.

His lawyers say he was framed by students from an extremist Islamist party for his liberal and secular views and this month a U.S. religious freedom commission placed Hafeez on its list of global victims.

“He (Junaid Hafeez) shall be hanged by neck till his death subject to its confirmation by the honorable high court,” a court order stated. [Reuters] Read more

Pakistani professor sentenced to death for blasphemy

A Pakistani court on Saturday sentenced a university professor to death for blasphemy under a law that critics say is often used to target minorities and liberal activists.

Junaid Hafeez, 33, was arrested in March 2013 for allegedly posting derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed on social media.

Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in conservative Muslim-majority Pakistan, where laws against it carry a potential death sentence. Even unproven allegations have led to mob lynchings and vigilante murders.

Hafeez's sentence was announced in central city of Multan, where he was a university professor at the time of his arrest, and his counsel Asad Jamal slammed the decision as "most unfortunate".

"We will appeal against this verdict," Jamal told AFP. [France24] Read more

Pakistan scholar's blasphemy trial enters final stages as U.S. raises alarm

A Pakistani court will hear final arguments on Thursday in the blasphemy trial of a liberal scholar and former university lecturer a week after a U.S. religious freedom commission placed his name on its list of global victims, his lawyer said.

Junaid Hafeez, who quit his studies at Pakistan’s top medical college to pursue a passion for art and literature, secured a Fulbright scholarship and attended Jackson State University in 2009 where he majored in American literature, photography and theatre with distinction.

He has been in solitary confinement in Pakistan for fear of being attacked by fellow inmates in jail since his arrest in 2013 on blasphemy charges linked to online posts.

Insulting Islam’s Prophet Mohammad carries a mandatory death penalty in Pakistan, which is about 95 percent Muslim and has some of the harshest blasphemy laws in the world. [Reuters] Read more

Britain’s blasphemy problem

Blasphemy laws infringe upon the right to freedom of expression, freedom of religion and the necessary need to freely critique ideologies. A 2016 study by Freedom of Thought found that 43 countries allow a prison term for blasphemy, while it is punishable by death in six countries: Afghanistan, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Somalia.

The UK is free from such laws. And yet blasphemy laws are being tacitly enforced in Britain on a community level.

In 2016, extreme anti-blasphemy attitudes in the UK resulted in the murder of Asad Shah, a shopkeeper from Glasgow, murdered for “disrespecting the Prophet”. He was stabbed multiple times, dragged into the street and stamped on with such force that every bone in his face was broken.

Afterwards, the murderer claimed that, “If I had not done this, others would have and there would be more killings and violence in the world.” He receives fan mail and visits from people who regard him as a hero. [TheArticle] Read more