Posts Tagged ‘blasphemy’
April 8th, 2013
Four Bangladeshi bloggers are being held on suspicion of “harming religious sentiment” amid protests calling for blasphemy to be made a capital crime.
On 31 March, hardline Islamists submitted a list of 84 “atheist” bloggers to authorities, demanding their arrest. Rasel Parvez, Mashiur Rahman Biplob and Subrata Adhikari Shuvo, were arrested on 1 April, and had laptops and other devices confiscated. Asif Mohiuddin was arrested days later.
The arrests take part against the backdrop of the Shahbag protests. The protests, which began as demands for the death penalty for figures convicted of war crimes during the 1971 war that led to independence from Pakistan — when many Islamist groups sided with Pakistan — have broadened to general demonstrations against the radical Jamaat-e-Islami and other “extremist” groups.
The secular movement has drawn a strong response from hardliners, who have called for a blasphemy law, along the way smearing activists as defamers of the prophet Muhammad.
The Islamist group Hefajat-e-Islam has said the capital Dhaka will face a “siege” unless the government meets its demand to introduce the death penalty for blasphemy.
However, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina has rejected calls for a blasphemy law, telling the BBC that “existing laws are enough”.
She went on to say that while Bangladesh is a “secular democracy”, where everyone “has the right to practice their religion freely”, it was “not fair to hurt anybody’s religious feeling”, and that the government “try to protect every religious sentiment.”
December 27th, 2012
As Egypt closes 2012 with the approval of a new constitution, Ashraf Khalil reflects on a tumultuous year, and looks ahead to an uncertain future (more…)
December 7th, 2012
An exhibition by British artists
Jake and Dinos Chapman is being
investigated by St Petersburg prosecutors after visitors complained that it was “blasphemous” and “extremist”.
The exhibition, at the world-famous Hermitage museum, features a crucified Ronald McDonald as well as the duo’s trademark Nazi figurines.
The museum’s director Mikhail Piotrovsky slammed the complaints and investigation as “culturally degrading to [Russian] society”.
Russia’s extremism laws have been criticised for being used to shut down free speech. Last week, a video of feminist art collective Pussy Riot’s protest in a Moscow Cathedral was categorised as extremist, and blocked on the web.
November 15th, 2012
Catholic groups in India have brought blasphemy charges against Sanal Edamarauku, the country’s most prominent rationalist. They may get more than they bargained for, says Caspar Melville
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October 31st, 2012
Polish heavy metal singer Adam Darski, AKA Nergal, could face two years in prison for tearing a bible on stage.
Nergal, singer with Behemoth, performed the stunt in 2007, before descrbing the Catholic church as “”the most murderous cult on the planet”. A court found has found that the act could be in violation of polish law as it “offended religious feelings”. Prosecutors may now pursue a criminal case.
In 2009, Polish pop singer Doda was fined after she said the Bible “was written by someone drunk on wine and smoking some herbs”.
October 18th, 2012
Fazil Say, a Turkish pianist and composer, was put on trial in Istanbul today (18 October) for insulting Islam in Twitter posts.
The musician is charged with inciting hatred and public enmity, and with insulting “religious values”. He could face 18 months in prison if found guilty.
Say, who has performed with the New York Philharmonic and served as a cultural ambassador for the European Union, has since received death threats, according to his lawyer. The trial has been adjourned until 18 February.
September 17th, 2012
Anti-Islam film: Padraig Reidy asks if this time is different from previous blasphemy rows
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