Search the Community

The European Court of Human Rights ruled against an Austrian woman who claimed calling the Prophet Muhammad a pedophile was protected by free speech. .. The woman in 2009 held two seminars entitled "Basic Information on Islam," during which she likened Muhammad's marriage to a six-year-old girl, Aisha, to pedophilia. The marriage according to Islamic tradition was consummated when Aisha was nine and Muhammad was around 50. Aisha was the daughter of Muhammad's best friend and the first caliph, Abu Bakr. The court cited the Austrian women stating during the seminar that Muhammad "liked to do it with children" and "... A 56-year-old and a six-year-old? ... What do we call it, if it is not pedophilia?" An Austrian court later convicted the woman of disparaging religion and fined her €480 ($546). Other domestic courts upheld the decision before the case was brought before the ECHR. On today’s ruling, the ECHR said it “found in particular that the domestic courts comprehensively assessed the wider context of the applicant’s statements and carefully balanced her right to freedom of expression with the right of others to have their religious feelings protected, and served the legitimate aim of preserving religious peace in Austria.”

via .ORGWorld News

RT has filed for registration as a ‘foreign agentÂ’ in the US, as November 13 is the deadline, Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has announced. The broadcaster has been threatened with legal action should it refuse to comply.

A generously funded “online hate crime hub” has been set up to tackle online vitriol by identifying suspects and encouraging citizens to report them to police, but critics fear the newly-established unit might endanger freedom of speech.